Heart Attack (band)
| Heart attack | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| origin | New York City (USA) |
| Genre (s) | Hardcore |
| founding | 1980 |
| resolution | 1984 |
| Founding members | |
Vocals, guitar |
Jesse Malin |
guitar |
Jack Flanagan (1980) |
Bass, vocals |
John Frawley (1980-1982) |
Drums, vocals |
Javier Madriaga |
| Last occupation | |
Vocals, guitar |
Jesse Malin |
guitar |
Danny Sage (1980-1984) |
bass |
Paul Praver (1982-1984) |
Drums |
Javier Madriaga |
Heart Attack was one of the first bands and a pioneer of New York Hardcore .
history
The band was formed in 1980 in the Queens borough of New York . The youngest member, the singer Malin, was twelve years old when it was founded; the Mexico City drummer Madriaga was the oldest member at the age of 19. The first recordings were influenced by the English punk rock of the late 1970s, but after attending a Bad Brains concert, the band developed towards hardcore . The guitarist Flanagan left the band after the first demo recordings to form The Mob ; Heart Attack initially continued as a trio, with bassist Frawley also playing for The Mob at times. In 1981 Heart Attack released their first EP , the cover of which was designed by Nick Marden of the Stimulators and which is the first release on the New York hardcore scene. In 1982 the band was represented with two tracks on the groundbreaking sampler New York Thrash ; then the trio hired another guitarist with Danny Sage to relieve Malin. Heart Attack was the first band on the New York hardcore scene to tour the USA. The departure of bassist Frawley coincided with the turning point between the first and second generation of New York Hardcore: While many bands of the first wave, including Heart Attack, became politicized during Ronald Reagan's presidency , a new generation of more apolitical hardcore bands like the Cro-Mags came along or Agnostic Front , which from then on were associated with the term New York Hardcore. From around 1983 Heart Attack expanded their music to include alternative elements, which opened up a new target group; Concerts with the Swans and Sonic Youth were the result. With a farewell concert at the CBGB , the band broke up in July 1984 because they believed they were in an artistic dead end. In 2001 the Californian label Broken Rekids posthumously released a compilation album with the band's three EPs and some demo recordings.
The band's small estate is explained by a peculiarity of the New York hardcore scene, which, unlike other local hardcore scenes in the USA, was not recruited from the middle class, but rather consisted of children from families with financial demands. Since the hardcore scene followed the DIY idea, publications had to be financed largely with their own money, which New York bands like Heart Attack had only very limited available.
The singer Malin was active in various smaller bands after the breakup of Heart Attack and started a solo career in the 2000s. Guitarist Sage is also a solo artist and worked as a live guitarist for Debbie Harry and Joey Ramone . Drummer Madriaga joined Reagan Youth after Heart Attack broke up .
Style and reception
Jack Rabid described Heart Attack's music for Allmusic as a “high-speed clash ” with “jackhammer-like rhythms and an explosive, primitive, but strangely tense sound”. The music journalist Matthias Mader describes the band's music as a mixture of British Oi from the early 1980s and “typical New York hardness and hectic pace”. He sees the band as "completely undervalued" and describes the EPs as classics of New York Hardcore. The music journalist Steven Blush counts Heart Attack together with the Beastie Boys , Kraut , Reagan Youth and the Undead to the first wave of New York Hardcore and describes the bands as the DIY idea, open-minded, urban outsider kids.
The memorial plaque on the former A7 club lists Heart Attack as one of 18 “Pioneers of American Hardcore”.
Discography
- 1981: God Is Dead (EP, Damaged Goods Records)
- 1983: Keep Your Distance (EP, Serious Clown Records)
- 1984: Subliminal Seduction (EP, Rat Cage Records)
- 2001: The Last War 1980-84 (compilation, Broken Rekids)
Web links
- Heart Attack at Discogs (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Allmusic.com: Heart Attack - Last War 1980-84. Retrieved November 6, 2016 .
- ^ A b DangerousMinds.net: Jesse Malin on "New York before the War" and his Early Days with Heart Attack: A DM Interview. Retrieved November 6, 2016 .
- ↑ Dementlieu.com: Heart Attack. Retrieved November 6, 2016 .
- ↑ Tony Rettman: New York Hardcore 1980-1990 . 2nd Edition. Bazillion Points, New York 2015, ISBN 978-1-935950-12-7 , pp. 229 .
- ↑ a b c Steven Blush: American Hardcore. A tribal history . 2nd Edition. Feral House, Port Townsend 2010, ISBN 978-0-922915-71-2 , pp. 192 .
- ^ Matthias Mader: New York City Hardcore - The Way It Was ... IP Verlag, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-931624-10-1 , pp. 78 .
- ^ VillageVoice.com: Controversy Surrounds Punk Plaque Hanging in Niagra. Retrieved November 6, 2016 .