DC Hardcore

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With Washington, DC hardcore punk ( DC Hardcore , DC Sound , rare DC Core ), the then and today is hardcore scene in and around Washington, DC describes its protagonists and their sound.

History and Development

Ian MacKaye, founder of the Dischord Records label, played a key role in shaping hardcore punk from Washington

One of the first hardcore punk scenes in America formed in Washington. The Bad Brains were founded as early as 1977, and a short time later they would serve as a model for subsequent bands. The bands that formed first alongside the Bad Brains were the Teen Idles and the Untouchables . Ian MacKaye , one of the founders of Teen Idles , is inseparable from DC hardcore punk . It was he who founded the straight edge idea with his texts , which quickly spread to other regional hardcore scenes. The label Dischord Records , which he co-founded, is also one of the cornerstones of the Washington hardcore scene. It still publishes most of the bands.

A great wave of bands followed in the early 1980s. Important bands were formed with Minor Threat , Government Issue , Youth Brigade , SOA , Scream , The Faith , among others . An underground scene with fanzines and its own labels quickly formed .

The movement weakened towards the mid-1980s. The scene, which was literally exploding at the beginning of the 80s, increasingly found it difficult to orientate itself, and some bands broke up. But not only in Washington, also in other cities such as New York , there was a phase in which the hardcore punk scene seemed to be partially disintegrating. Andi Radin, former Funeral Diner bassist , describes it this way:

" After Minor Threat broke up in late 1983, the vibrant DC hardcore-punk scene that exploded in 1981 seems to start to run out of steam and fresh ideas within the established DC hardcore sound. The wistful, posthumous Minor Threat 7 "'Salad Days' comes out in 1984 and drives the final nail into the coffin of DC hardcore punk. Bands all over the country begin casting about for new things to do [...] “

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In the spring of 1984, Rites of Spring, the first band called an emotional hardcore punk band , was formed. 1985 is referred to as Revolution Summer in DC Sound . The new sound, which is also shaped by quieter post-hardcore bands like Embrace , gives rise to many new bands. In addition to the bands of the first wave of Revolution Summer , bands such as Rain emerged with the second wave .

In addition to bands such as Swiz , Touchdown or Device , a new wave of emo and post-hardcore bands emerged from around the mid-90s, above all Anascara , Sleepytime Trio , Four Hundred Years , Engine Down , and later Q And Not U or Pg. 99 , City of Caterpillar and Others.

In addition, with Better Than a Thousand and Good Clean Fun , classic hardcore punk-playing groups were founded again and again.

Sound and style

In contrast to other East Coast hardcore punk centers, such as New York Hardcore (NYHC), the hardcore punk sound from the capital of America was and still is more a return to punk roots.

While the sound from New York City is one of the hardest in the hardcore punk scene and also appears technically more mature, more aggressive, usually not quite as fast and more strongly inspired by metal , the hardcore punk bands from Washington DC and from the west coast of the USA is musically a counterweight based more on the origin of punk.

The post-hardcore band Fugazi live

Characteristic, for example, is the mostly scruffy sound of the guitars, which shaped the sound of Minor Threat. This not only influenced hardcore punk bands, but also early emo bands from Washington and was also considered a musical basis for other hardcore bands.

The later - sometimes quieter - post-hardcore and emo sounds also count as DC hardcore or DC sound . Ian McKaye's band Embrace and later Fugazi and Hoover set the style for the quieter post-hardcore . Bands that are more likely to be described as emotionally hardcore and that have had a defining influence are above all Rites of Spring , Fire Party and Moss Icon .

Emocore and post-hardcore

Main articles: Emo and post-hardcore

Washington DC and the local hardcore scene are also considered the starting point for the post-hardcore and emo subgenres . Especially related to emotional hardcore: What began as a criticism of the emerging mackerel behavior - i.e. machismo - within the scene, soon developed into an independent sub- genre of hardcore punk that quickly spread to all other hardcore / punk centers Moving in.

Of course, DC Hardcore was also shaped by the so-called three substantive cornerstones of anti-fascism , anti-capitalism and anti- sexism . Precisely for this reason, the emergence of these behaviors - contrary to the principles - seemed to meet with visible and tangible resistance.

Starting with the fact that many musicians, including Ian MacKaye , were disappointed with the patriarchal and "tough-marking" behavior of men from the hardcore scene, which was sometimes emerging . Thereupon, among other things, he also committed to building emotional moments into the music.

He coined a quieter sound with Embrace and later with Fugazi, which also served as inspiration for many later indie rock bands. The lyrics, especially by Embrace, are very self-critical and self-reflective.

Rites of Spring are more oriented towards the original hardcore punk sound. They combine mid-tempo hardcore with deeply emotional lyrics, the new kind of vocals by Guy Picciotto , which alternates between almost whispering and angry, between clean, melodious, rough and emotionally screamed words. This was later followed by bands with Moss Icon, Fire Party and in other cities who developed this emo sound further.

Ian MacKaye, like many others, has always rejected the term emo. His statement at an Embrace concert is legendary, where he said something like:

" I must say, 'emocore' must be the stupidest fucking thing I ever heard in my entire life. BUT, just in case you were wondering, I read in my Trasher the other day that in fact what my band along with other bands in the city was playing was emocore. I'm thinking 'Emo'? Emo Philips ? Comediancore? ' WHY NO, emotionally hardcore…. AS IF HARDCORE WAS NOT EMOTIONAL TO BEGIN WITH. "

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Others expressed a similar opinion, such as the singer of the band Rites of Spring, Guy Picciotto.

Bands

The following is an incomplete list of relevant bands.

Start time

Late 1985 to early 1994

Beginning of 1995 until today

Labels

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.fourfa.com/history.htm ; Accessed December 24, 2007
  2. ↑ cf. with an article on Minor Threat ; Accessed December 23, 2007; Quote: "The scratchy guitar sound from Washington DC, which is still popular today, also influenced many early emo hardcore bands and, in contrast to the metallic sound of the New York hardcore school with bands like Sick of It All, is considered a return to the roots of punk "
  3. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbdh0Qm_5A0 ; Accessed December 24, 2007