An Articles of Faith show featured in the documentary "American Hardcore"
When I'm writing papers or otherwise slamming myself into a ridiculously large pile of homework, as is currently the case, I often find myself drawn into dark corners of the internet my unoccupied mind would have no reason to go. But these little hitches down the information superhighway often wind up with me coming across a little gem of modern culture which I am able to realize in retrospect my life was relatively bleak without.
This characterizes my encounter with Tony Rettman's
history of the early 1980's Detroit hardcore punk scene. While their costal comrades in places like Washington DC (Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Youth Brigade, Void, SOA, etc.) and Southern California (Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Agent Orange, Angry Samoans, the other Youth Brigade, etc.) were already pressing and mailing the vinyl that would make kids drink, sweat, and slam into each other from coast to coast, the pissed off youth of the Detroit suburbs were finding the means to communicate the frustration and ennui of the young, alienated, and suburban.
As someone who has shared the experience of being reared in the suburbs of the midwest, it's not too surprising that such a backwards shitwater of boredom and banality would produce such legendary acts as
Negative Approach,
Necros, and
Bored Youth in Michigan but also bands like
Husker Du,
Die Kreuzen, and
Articles of Faith from other parts of what can be colorfully (and accurately) referred to as "America's taint".
And more good news, the midwest still, by and large, sucks ass if you're under 30 or so...so there's still lots of great bands keeping it short, fast, and loud (both to have a good time and blow off enough steam to avoid punching the bloated fucker breathing/sweating down your neck in the line at Brown's Chicken and Pasta). If Rettman's article and the vast, entwining archives of last.fm don't fill your order for procrastination, there are plenty of great midwest-based punk bands that carry (or recently carried) on the tradition of their often tragically underrecognized forebears while also pushing the boundaries of what "punk" could mean. There's far too many to name, but a few either recent favorites or near and dear to my heart classics include:
Code 13: Including founder of longstanding Minnesota-based DiY punk label Havoc Records, Felix Havoc, this powerhouse of punishment manages to artfully blend multiple iterations of loud, angry, fast music (e.g. 80's hardcore, grindcore, crust) in usually under a minute per song.
Fourteen or Fight: Unfortunately not a band anymore, but in high school these guys kicked my ass more times in more basements around Chicago than I can count. No fucking holds barred thrashy hardcore from a buncha dudes whose beer guts and ill-fitting little league t-shirts tell endless stories of the "better days" of the 1980's. Some members of this band, along with former parts of Rat Bastards and The Repos went on to form the contemporary radness factory known as Chronic Seizure
Charles Bronson: Also now defunct, but this Dekalb, Il wrecking crew merits a mention. Although unmistakably indebted to the American hardcore explosion of the 80's, CB's uber-short song lengths and often Neanderthalic composition usually gets them categorized as powerviolence. Songs like "Marriage Can Suck It" and "The Obligatory Jock Slaughter Song" characterize the apathy and futureless suffering of the suburban midwest like few others.
Tras de Nada: Another nostalgic high-scool holdover, Tras De Nada delivers thrashy, crust-infused political hardcore along with other labelmates on Southkore Records, longtime lap of the heavily Latino and often politically radical thrashcore scene concentrated on Chicago's West side. Check out other Southkore bands like No Slogan and Eske for more rad shit like this.
Retainers: Mpls motherfuckers who crank out hyper-fuzzed garage punk that sounds like it just got let out of a pressurized can. Definitely more representative of that side of punk rock which had rediscovered, recognized, and embraced its place within the trashy, seedy, conflict-ridden history of rock n' fuckin' roll.
Pedestrians: Another Chicago-basedd wrecking crew who should not be missed. Aside from playing some of the best basement show sets I've ever seen anyone do, Pedestrians are the rare breed of hardcore band that can carry the mantle of 1980's hardcore with the resolute purpose of a religious zealot without ever getting boring or predictable.
Los Crudos: No post on midwestern hardcore would be complete without mentioning Crudos, the grandaddies of the intensely creative, productive scene which bands like
Tras de Nada,
Eske, and
No Slogan, amongst others, call home. Crudos played a lightning fast political thrashcore capable of making everyone within earshot either run for cover or run to the front of the crowd. Martin, Crudos' singer who now lives in California, went on to form the equally essential
Limp Wrist who, in my opinion, are the best queercore band I'm aware of right now. But, I'm also inclined to like just about any band with a song called "I Love Hardcore Boys, I Love Boys Hardcore."
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