Hardcore and the Music Industry

So why is it, compared to much of the rest of the music of the past 30 or so years, that hardcore has had so little involvement with major record labels? And the few that actually do, for example Bad Religion or more recently Nails, are slated among the community for ‘selling out?’

Partly, I believe it’s because of the incredible do-it-yourself work ethic of hardcore kids around the world. The two somewhat prolific hardcore labels, SST and Dischord, were both started up from the basement of a few people in their late teens who needed a medium to be able to distribute their music and have their message spread and do the same for their peers- at the time, bands like Minor Threat and Black Flag were at the cutting edge of fast, angry, aggressive music- derided by the general public who did not understand it- they were operating outside of social norms and they liked it.

This, I believe, is why the aforementioned bands, or any other band emerging from hardcore culture into a major record deal are seen as ‘selling out’ and eschewing the culture that got them to that point- joining a major label is their way of assimilating into the same mainstream culture which had previously derided and ignored the music that they make. Labels like Sony and EMI have a tendency to sanitise band’s sounds, making them suitable for the masses- again, going against one of the central philosophies of hardcore- doing what one wants, when one wants to.

Summed up neatly, corporate record labels could arguably be considered the antithesis of hardcore, do-it-yourself ethics. But are those who sign to these labels so wrong to choose financial security and the ability to make music for a stable living, over some loosely defined moral code? I personally believe it’s for the individual to decide.

Vinyl Collecting

As I’ve started to dip my toes into the freezing and deep waters of record collecting, I decided it’d be a good idea to go over and give a little review of my latest couple of pick-ups. But I’d also like to cover a little bit about why I started collecting in the first place and why these plastic discs are making a comeback.

So through the magic of the internet, I’ve managed to pick up two of my favourite hardcore records from this little genre/era- Turning Point’s massively influential It’s Always Darkest… Before the Dawn and Flagman’s Restraint EP. Both come from the early ‘90s and were very influential in the emotive hardcore (or ‘emo’) movement which was beginning to take shape. Both were records that went against the grain and chose to move in a more melodic, emotional direction at a time where hardcore in general was moving towards heavy metal influences, with chugging riffs and cookie-monster vocals starting to become the norm. I’m incredibly happy with the Turning Point record’s presentation, including a nicely printer lyric sheet with a poster on the back. The Flagman EP is nice too although didn’t come with much, although you can’t blame them for being on a record label with a much smaller budget.
            So why exactly is it that collecting records is making such a comeback, given that it’s so much less convenient than practically every other medium of delivering music, save perhaps cassette tapes? From my experience, many can become disillusioned with the digital world, and retreat to the safety of actually being to hold something, to gently place it down on the turntable and put the needle on top- there is something comfortable about being actually able to hold the thing you’re listening to. For many of the older guys; those who may have been around to pick up these records when they released, they seem to hold memories of their halcyon days, waiting weeks and weeks for their mail-order slip to be processed for a record they hadn’t even heard yet. In all honesty, this time I think it’s here to stay.

Outbreak Day 2 and the UKHC scene

After the utter euphoria of the first day of Outbreak, I suspected that day 2 might be a little bit bleak; half of my friend group had gone home, and my favourite band of all-time, Turning Point (who were the main reason I'd bought a ticket to Outbreak in the first place) had pulled out at the last minute, leaving only a few bands on the line-up I was interested in. However, things quickly began to brighten up. Leeds-based metalcore band Stranded were tuning up as we arrived, and although their style is not my thing, I was very pleasantly surprised by the progressive aspect of their songwriting, dealing with more than just straight-edge and veganism, as well as their vocalist's excellent, foreboding stage presence. After that, I discovered one of the best advantages of the Sunday- less people in attendance means actually having a chance to eat! After tucking into a few slices of excellent vegan pizza I marched on through the day. After an excellent, grinding set from Mizery, the final act of the weekend, the legendary Cro-Mags were on. Frontman John Joseph gave a performance with more energy than many teenagers despite being in his early fifties- although by this time even I was too tired to get up front and chilled at the back for most of the set. Overall? An incredible weekend with great people which really summed up what hardcore is about.

Something I really loved around the weekend was the sense of community and unity between everyone in attendance- there was no clique-yness or different groups making fun of eachother for not liking what they think is 'cool' which seems to happen a lot in the US scene. There are some advantages to being a part of a smaller hardcore scene- there is no room for fragmentation or being cliquey; there are so few people making true, angry hardcore music that everyone who wants to be apart of it has to stick together, which I personally think is an incredible attribute to have in a music scene- a true spirit of friendship. So thanks, Outbreak, for not only letting me see some of my favourite bands ripping, but also for making me think profoundly about how amazing the UK hardcore scene is as a whole.

Outbreak Day 1

So it's finally rolled around once again to the most important date on every UK hardcore fan's calendar- Outbreak Festival. The annual event brings hardcore heads from not just the UK but all over Europe to tropical Leeds for a weekend of moshing- here's a little write-up of the first day of the event. (Spoiler- it was a good 'un.)

Other than a little last-minute change of set times, the first day seemed to run pretty smoothly. Myself and the guys we were with arrived just after 3pm, when Blind Authority were tuning up. Honestly the band were a little disappointing, and I felt like their live performance didn't quite live up to the expectations set by their absolutely ripping two-track EP they put out a couple of weeks prior to the festival. During Bitter Youth's set, we had planned to grab some pizza courtesy of the numerous vegan food stands in the outside portion of the venue, but the lines were massive and by the time we had gotten near the front, we were turned around and told they had run out- poor show, it was only 5 o'clock!

After a fast, very angry set from The Flex, the two up-and-coming Americans on the bill- Freedom and Fury, both played incredible sets. With Freedom chanelling early 80s Boston sounds, and Fury's vocalist feeding the crowd with a truly powerful stage presence, these two were not to be missed. Both bands are working on full-length albums which will be out on their Bandcamps soon.

Title Fight were a strange one; since their more melodic, indie sound stands out against the rest of the bill, you could one-hundred percent tell exactly who was just here to see them. Regardless, they put on an excellent, emotional show, and it may not have completely fit the bill but they certainly got the crowd moving and played a good mix of their early, faster stuff so as not to completely throw off the vibe.

Gorilla Biscuits are special to me and to many other people who were in that room. Their music inspired many positive changes in my life and influenced who I am today, so call me biased all you like. For a man approaching his 50s, frontman Civ is still as energetic as ever, cracking wise about the band having a concise enough discography that they can play the whole thing in a set. In all honesty, I can barely give them a proper review because their 40 minute set feels like a five-minute blur of total euphoria to me!

Once the day's event came to an end, the squad and I spent roughly 40 minutes at a kind-of weird afterparty, hung out with some of the guys who had played that day and went home, fully satisfied with what we'd experienced and already excited for what the Sunday would hold.

Looking Back: Cap'n Jazz

Although it’s not a new release- and album (technically a compilation) that’s been on my mind is Cap’n Jazz’s 1998 compilation of all their released music- Analphabetapolothology. If you haven’t heard Cap’n Jazz, they’re pretty much the essence of teenagerdom, condensed into a sloppy, loud, and often euphoric mess of jazzy post-hardcore.

            The music of Cap’n Jazz, particularly in the amateurish vocal delivery of Tim Kinsella (Owls, Joan of Arc) have a strange quality of inducing intense nostalgia, in particular, the track We are Scientists! with its feverish, swelling group chorus and the strange, discordant French horn running through the track is almost guaranteed to leave the listener reminiscing on the summer nights of their teens in a much more interesting, involving way than looking through old textbooks. Musically, the band did quiet-loud dynamics in a way that was new and exciting, with a hardly audible bassline accompanied by hushed whispers bursting into a frenetic, spastic mess of atonal yelling and distorted guitars without a moment’s notice, and then quietly fizzling back out.

            The compilation, like any other, does have its low-points too- some songs simply don’t say as much as others; none of the tracks on this album are ‘bad’ per se, it’s just that they don’t have quite the same ability to provoke such intense feelings as the best tracks on this album. All in all, it’s an eclectic, nostalgic hardcore record with plenty of material and definitely worth hearing if you haven’t already.
FFO: American Football, Title Fight, Braid