Tag: Hardcore Punk
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Scream ‘Still Screaming’ (1983)
Scream’s debut album Still Screaming cemented their place as one of the most vital voices in the D.C. hardcore punk scene alongside legends like Minor Threat, Bad Brains, and Government Issue. The 80’s were a time when the city was becoming a hotbed for raw, politically charged music. Known for their blend of speed, aggression,…
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Stormtroopers of Death ‘Speak English or Die’ (1985)
Despite being a side project of Anthrax’s Scott Ian, Stormtroopers of Death have had a pretty significant legacy in the American hardcore and metal scene. They were one of the first bands to fuse hardcore punk and thrash metal together, garnered pretty significant controversy for their deliberately offensive lyrics, and were credited with popularizing the…
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Hüsker Dü ‘Zen Arcade’ (1984)
In the canon of American underground hardcore music few bands have cast a shadow as long and as quietly commanding as Hüsker Dü. These dudes basically wrote the playbook for hardcore punk becoming commercially viable, transitioning into a more alternative-focused band in the 80’s based off the sheer strength of the songwriting from guitarist/vocalist Bob…
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Related to Strangers ‘GHOST’ (2025)
Today we cover the creative process behind the debut album of my band Related to Strangers. You’ll get an inside look at what the songs are about and the process we took to write the album. Hope you enjoy.
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Fiddlehead ‘Between the Richness’ (2021)
Between the Richness explores the stickiness of trauma without ever getting lost and succumbing to the overbearing weight of grief. A blast of hardcore energy filtered through the melodic shine of ‘90s alternative and the heart-on-sleeve intensity of emo from the mid-80’s.
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Leatherface ‘Mush’ (1991)
One of my favorite part of writing about an album every single day for the past two and a half years (this is #844 for the record) is when you stumble upon a band that you’ve never heard of before but one that still sounds so incredibly familiar. And about halfway into the second song…
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Turnstile ‘Step 2 Rhythm’ (2013)
Formed in Baltimore by veterans of the local hardcore circuit Turnstile came up playing packed basements and DIY shows and developed a pretty devoted cult following for the energy they brought live. Their debut EP captures that early energy, featuring raw breakdowns, gang vocals, and a sense of self-expression that feels less like aggression and…
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Jawbreaker ’24 Hour Revenge Therapy’ (1994)
24 Hour Revenge Therapy is one of those records that echoes far louder than its initial release might suggest. Dropping in 1994, it helped shape what punk would become over the next decade, offering a version of hardcore that was emotional without being soft, smart without being smug. Blake Schwarzenbach’s lyrics read like scuffed-up poetry,…
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Four Year Strong ‘Four Year Strong’ (2015)
It’s always funny to me when bands are like four albums into their discography, sit down to write a new album, and then someone in the room is like “Hey we never did a self-titled album, we should probably do that yeah?” and then they inevitably put it out. It was sort of commonplace for…
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D.O.A. ‘Hardcore ’81’ (1981)
D.O.A.’s Hardcore ’81 not only helped define a genre but gave it a name—it was the first record to explicitly use “hardcore” to describe the raw, aggressive offshoot of punk rock. Hailing from Canada’s underground scene, D.O.A. blended the fury of classic punk rock a la The Ramones with the muscle of 1970’s rock ‘n’…
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Misfits ‘Walk Among Us’ (1982)
Walk Among Us marked the Misfits’ official album debut (although it was actually the third record they had recorded). A curious blend of 1950s pop sensibilities and blistering punk energy, the album reimagined doo-wop harmonies and rockabilly-inspired melodies through the chaotic, snarling lens of punk rock. Misfits have always had a knack for crafting infectious…
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Dag Nasty ‘Can I Say’ (1984)
Emerging from the vibrant hardcore punk scene of Washington, D.C. in the mid-1980s Dag Nasty was a band that bridged the visceral intensity of their peers with melodic sensibilities. Formed by guitarist Brian Baker—who was already a hardcore legend from his days with Minor Threat—Dag Nasty’s sound on their first-full length 1986 debut Can I…
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The Story So Far ‘Under Soil and Dirt’ (2011)
The Story So Far arrived in 2011 like a shot of adrenaline to a pop-punk scene that had grown relatively complacent in the late 2000’s. Recorded at the now-legendary Panda Studios in Fremont, California (which is about a 20 minute drive north of me), the album captured the Bay Area’s burgeoning pop-punk scene with anthemic…
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Bad Brains ‘Bad Brains’ (1982)
Bad Brains stood out from their early 80’s hardcore punk peers in nearly every single– here was four Rastafarian black men playing fusing punk rock and reggae while staying grounded with their “Positive Mental Attitude” in their native Washington DC, drawing a stark contrast to the primarily white male bands with angry screeds against the…
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Militarie Gun ‘Life Under The Gun’ (2023)
Music had always been a lifeline for Militarie Gun frontman Ian Shelton. Growing up in a small Washington town, Shelton was drawn to the raw intensity of hardcore punk as an outlet for pent-up frustrations (a love affair I can certainly understand). After years of honing his craft in other bands, most notably as the…
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Descendents ‘Milo Goes To College’ (1982)
Milo Goes to College by the Descendents is widely celebrated as a punk essential, landing on critics best-of punk rock lists from industry luminaries like Spin and Rolling Stone. Critics praise its punchy, fast-paced tracks that capture teenage angst with humor and honesty– it was effectively the blueprint for modern pop punk as we know…
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AFI ‘All Hallows EP’ (1999)
If you’re looking for an absolute ripper of a Halloween album to put on today it’s hard to beat AFI’s 1999 extended play All Hallows EP. Clocking in at a tidy 13 minutes across four songs, the band blasts through some Halloween-inspired fare in a way that only old school AFI could muster. The songs…
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Adolescents ‘Adolescents’ (1981)
Emerging from Fullerton, California, in 1980, Adolescents carved a significant niche within the punk rock movement, helping to shape its sound and ethos during a transformative period. With their self-titled debut album the band blended melodic hooks with raw, energetic instrumentation, setting a template that would influence countless punk bands in the years to come.…
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Refused ‘The Shape of Punk To Come’ (1998)
When you look at the history and development of punk rock music it’s easy to reference some of the most iconic albums throughout it’s forty year run– there is of course what I refer to as The Holy Trinity of Punk Albums (Ramones self-titled debut, The Clash’s London Calling, and Sex Pistols’ Never Mind The…
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Rise Against ‘Appeal to Reason’ (2007)
As a certified Warped Tour kid I’ve always had a deep appreciation for some of the more veteran punk rock acts that are still going strong and cranking out meaningful music. Much like their contemporaries Bad Religion and Hot Water Music, the Chicago-based hardcore punk outfit Rise Against has carved out a really nice career…
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Fucked Up ‘David Comes To Life’ (2011)
The words “rock opera” and “hardcore punk” usually don’t go together for obvious reasons– rock operas are typically self-indulgent affairs with highly detailed musical accompaniment that unveils the story over a protracted period of time, while hardcore punk is raw and emotionally charged that attempts to get to the point quickly. Marrying the two together…
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No Pressure ‘No Pressure’ (2022)
I’ve been a huge fan of The Story So Far for a long time now. Their album Proper Dose is one of my favorite pop punk albums of all-time, a seminal record in the genre. As I wrote earlier about it: Whether it be the perils of substance abuse (“Keep This Up”) or a triumphant…
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Thrice ‘Identity Crisis’ (2001)
If there’s one band who I’ve truly grown up with throughout the course of my life, enjoying every single one of their permutations and watching as their sonic evolution mirrored that of my own tastes, it is undoubtedly Thrice. Their career is one of epic scope, from their early SoCal skate punk meets Bay Area…
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Every Time I Die ‘Radical’ (2021)
Any time I’m looking for a shot of straight adrenaline to get the juices flowin’ there’s few bands I’ll turn to more regularly than Every Time I Die. Their 2007 album The Big Dirty is a personal favorite of mine (“We’rewolf” being the best song in their entire discography in my opinion), but despite that…
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Minor Threat ‘First Two Seven Inches’ (1981)
Despite playing together for a mere three years Minor Threat’s influence on the American hardcore punk scene is indisputable. They were the harbingers of the DIY aesthetic (eschewing corporate influence to do everything from music production to concert promotion themselves), were fiercely unapologetic in their straight edge ideals (avoiding illicit drugs, alcohol, and promiscuous sex),…
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Minutemen ‘Double Nickels on the Dime’ (1984)
Double Nickels on the Dime is a massive album comprised of 45 songs. Yes, you read that correctly. And as you’d expect with such a prolific output it covers a wide range of influences from hardcore punk to jazz to funk. The best way I can describe them to people unfamiliar with their material is…
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Circle Jerks ‘Group Sex’ (1980)
If you’re looking for nuance or subtlety you’ve arrived at the wrong album. Circle Jerks 1980 cut Group Sex is a landmark album in the American hardcore punk scene for a variety of reasons— its anti-establishment screeds, double-time blitzkrieg, and nearly unintelligible perspective on life. But mostly Group Sex is known for its impressively succinct…
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Bad Religion ‘Suffer’ (1988)
It’s hard to overstate just how influential Bad Religion was on the punk rock I grew up on during the mid-2000’s. Bands like NOFX, Pennywise, Green Day, The Offspring, Hot Water Music, Alkaline Trio, and Rancid all owe a debt of significant gratitude to the forebears of that distinct sound for a handful of reasons,…
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Pennywise ‘Land of the Free?’ (2001)
As a middle schooler Pennywise was one of my first forays into politically oriented punk rock, with Land of the Free? being one of the most prominent albums in my rotation. I spun this specific CD too many times to count on my blue Walkman, and later in high school actually covered “Fuck Authority” with…
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Dead Kennedys ‘Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables’ (1980)
Known for their brutal and sardonic political commentary, Dead Kennedys were a prominent figure in the early wave of punk that rose to prominence in the early 80’s. Their satirical take on everything from political figures, the punk movement itself, and the banality of American consumerism was controversial at the time and led to a…
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