Bridge Nine Records
Bridge Nine Records is an American independent label that has mostly hardcore bands under contract.
General
The label mainly publishes records: vinyl singles and LPs with mostly different vinyl colors. Editions are in the three or four-digit range, each release appears in several variants. This particularly appeals to record lovers and collectors.
history
The Boston- based label was founded as a DIY label by Chris Wrenn in 1995 and made its first money with a straight-edge sticker. The first single (a split single by the bands Tenfold and Sum of All Fears ) followed in August 1996.
With the first two 7 "releases by the band American Nightmare (later renamed Give Up the Ghost ) in 2000 and 2001 and the associated hype, the label began to make a positive international name for itself in the hardcore scene. American Nightmare were pioneers a new wave of hardcore bands, mostly from Boston, who turned away from the posicore that was previously established in the hardcore scene and played fast, noisy, pissed off and often more metallic hardcore, which was mainly characterized by its negative, personal lyrics.
Bridge Nine quickly became synonymous with such modern hardcore. The label established its reputation through the following releases of similar sounding bands like Panic , Terror or The Hope Conspiracy , who also played dark hardcore. At the latest with the breakup of Give Up the Ghost in 2004, which switched to Equal Vision Records for their two albums , this style lost its importance both within the hardcore scene and for Bridge Nine.
From around 2004/2005 Bridge Nine concentrated on different musical priorities within the inhomogeneous hardcore genre, which is rather unusual for a hardcore label.
These include the more metal-oriented, so-called New School Hardcore groups such as Death Before Dishonor , Terror or Ramallah, or New York Hardcore-oriented bands such as No Turning Back .
But there are also groups that relate more to original hardcore forms. These include the hardcore band Paint It Black . Furthermore, records by classic youth crew / posicore bands, such as Project X , but also by modern youth crew bands such as the Seattle hardcore group Champion or Have Heart and Verse are and have been released. In this context, melodic hardcore bands like H₂O and Strike Anywhere can also be mentioned, who publish on the label.
Since around 2009, the label's genre framework has been expanded again to include a selection of pop-punk bands. Artists like New Found Glory , Polar Bear Club or Lemuria fall into this category .
Another indication of the label are re-releases of no longer available hardcore classics such as releases by Project X , Agnostic Front , Wrecking Crew , DYS or Antidote .
According to the official website, the label's unofficial motto is Almost breaking even after years of turning a dollar into 50 cents - founder Chris Wrenn had to work for years on the side to pay for the release of music he valued.
Relevant publications (excerpt)
- Agnostic Front - For My Family (EP, 2007)
- American Nightmare - American Nightmare ( EP , 2000)
- Death Before Dishonor - Friends Family Forever (2005)
- Defeater - Empty Days & Sleepless Nights (2011)
- Good Riddance / Kill Your Idols - Split (EP, 2001)
- H2O - Nothing to Prove (2008)
- New Found Glory - Tip of the Iceberg (2008)
- Ramallah - But a Whimper (EP, 2001)
- Sick of It All - Relentless (EP, 2003)
- Slapshot - Digital Warfare (2003)
- Terror - Lowest of the Low (2003)
- Wrecking Crew - 1987-1991 ( compilation , 2005)