American Hardcore (Second Edition): A Tribal History

American Hardcore chronicals and/or documents the history of the early 80's Hardcore(Punk)scene. Started by angry,fustrated,violent kids in the suburban seaside coastal middle class towns of Los Angeles, this movement spread from city to city and coast to coast. With each location holding thier own individuality, from L.A. to New York, to Chicago to San Francisco, to D.C. to Boston, Hardcore was more than music it was a social movement. Hardcore was a brand new fresh form of punk rock that was all it's own. While it branched off of the 70's Punk scene, it was it's own genre, who's participants constituted a tribe onto themselves. These kids were angry fustrated violent and fed up Regan-Era misfit kids. Becoming intertwined with Surfing and Skateboarding and becoming very close with it(As most of the bands were surfers and skateboarders), Hardcore redifined the status quoe of what was possibele when you did things your own way and you did it yourself(D.I.Y.). Hardcore's music was fast,with songs usually clocking in at around 2 minutes or less,energetic, and contained lyrics dealing with everything form political and social unjustice, to projecting anti-racist anti-war anti-conservative anti-reagan(Ronald Reagan) content and/or rants, with the lead singer usually screaming his or her head off in an angry manner that scared the crap off of (many) new wave fans,Hardcore was one of the most important musical movements in american history.While the mainstream refused then and refused now to give Hardcore the credit that it deserves(Although Hardcore was not looking at all for mainstream acceptance, in fact it was also a rebellion against the mainstream)Hardcore influenced countless things in the mainstream. From the pop-punk movement, to the crappy emo scene currently riding the charts rite now. Hardcore was a new form of radicalism,music,social outrage,political and socail commentary,and altogether one of the most important (musical)movements to ever take place in American History, and this book tells that story.

AMERICAN HARDCORE, for what it is, is a fascinating read, albeit as a reference book. Author Steven Blush gives us his unique inside look to a scene that helped spawned other sub-genres such as "grunge", "Alternative" and even "indie rock". The writing at times is a bit biased and downright degrading to some bands (especially when he talks about metal bands; it seems that, to Mr.Blush, virtually all metal sucked, save thrash metal bands). The books gives great detail on regional scenes and the bands that flourished there. Whole chapters are devoted to BLACK FLAG, DEAD KENNEDYS, BAD BRAINS and MISFITS, 4 key players in the hardcore scene. Although I really enjoyed the MISFITS chapters, I believe there were other, more important and transcendental bands that deserved whole chapters, like HÜSKER DÜ (their legacy on modern music can't be denied and they were there, at the dawn of the hardcore movement)and CIRCLE JERKS (they are mentioned on several occasions but they are never given the in-depth treatment). Other bands such as D.O.A., MINOR THREAT, 7 SECONDS, CRO-MAGS, AGNOSTIC FRONT and D.R.I., among others, are prominently mentioned. After you finish reading this, you wish there was more. One thing I disliked though, was the fact that Mr.Blush frames the hardcore era squarely between 1980 and 1986. Everything before or after that is "out" of Hardcore's golden era. It would have been nice to see a chapter that mentioned the legacy of hardcore and the bands it helped spawn: PIXIES, LEMONHEADS and NIRVANA, but maybe that needs a book of its own!

If you're looking for a book on the underground music of the `80's that takes a simple story and turns into a grandiose tale of good vs. evil, right vs. wrong, heroes and martyrs, then you should read Our Band Could Be Your Life. But, if you want a story about how things really were from the mouths of the people that were there, then you should read American Hardcore. The author, Steven Blush, was actually a part of the `80's hardcore scene unlike the author of Our Band Could Be Your Life, Michael Azerrad, who is a professional music journalist for Spin Magazine. While Blush's writing style may not be great, he gives it all he has. The fact that he isn't a professional music journalist adds to the sincerity of his writing and he is not able to hide his bias' as well writers like Azerrad. If you want to read a book that is completely unbiased then read... Oh wait, there has never been an unbiased book written, ever! Blush begins the book with what you could call a "mission statement" and disclaimer, which gets everything out in the open. Then, he goes on to give you the who, what, where, when, how, and why of hardcore before covering the bands. A whole chapter dedicated to Black Flag begins the section on the bands. It was appropriate to begin with their story since they kick started the whole thing. It was impressive to see him site the downfall of Black Flag as Greg Ginn instead of Henry Rollins. Indie rock enthusiasts like to blame Rollins' because of his ego and machismo. No, it was Ginn's band from the beginning to the end, and Rollins was just a temporary part of it. However, if you want to hear a typical and false view of how Rollins ruined Black Flag, then read Our Band Could Be Your Life. Blush also doesn't give the Minutemen special treatment and puts them in as a footnote to the Black Flag story. Even Mike Watt admits that the Minutemen were not popular in the hardcore scene. The way Azerrad treated the Minutemen in his book made them sound as if they were a band put together by God himself and more important than Jesus. The Southern and Northern California scenes covered very well since they did produce some of the greatest hardcore bands. It was especially funny to see him shed some light on Bad Religion's second album "Into the Unknown," which was a cheesy attempt at progressive rock and has since been buried out of embarrassment. The whole chapter dedicated to Bad Brains was actually very good. Blush showed that they were respected musically, but disliked as individuals. The section on Minor Threat was good because you got to hear how Ian McKaye was young, angry man who made mistakes, instead of the Gandhi like character that Azerrad would have you believe. The NYHC and Misfits chapters are a couple of the highlights of the book. The mystique around the Misfits finally had some light shed on it after twenty years. Most people thought Danzig would never talk about the Misfits again. Blush did his best to cover the

Great, and Personal overview of the American Underground Hardcore Rock scene. Steven Blush gives a Fantastic first hand account of this American Scene Phenomenon. I was there too, working in an indie Record store. I remember struggling to get these records into the hungry hands of Rock Fans desperate for more than Just Rush & Def Leppard! He captures the Great Music & the Attitudes that shaped the short lived scene. Excellent Band, & Scene Information as well as an Excellent comprehensive discography. It did end in '86, but it's Music, Attitudes, Drive & Style are to be celebrated not just imitated!

I finished this book last night and I really *loved it* Blush hits every note perfectly, IMHO. A really great job of defining what that scene was all about and where it emerged from. I could find no faults with the book and one aspect of it that I especially find worth lauding is the chronology. It's certainly in the right "running order" (conveying so much to the reader as a result). Looking back at my own teenage years, I found that I myself initially learned about "hardcore" in the very same manner that he and his childhood posse did and from the same media outlets, both mainstream and fanzine alike. I had the same experiences with my friends vs. the jocks, drugs (acid, PCP and speed were plentiful in the scene), "Nazi" assholes, etc. The discussions of how hardcore became "political" was also note perfect. So is his assessment of how juvenile it all was, what idiots the MRR crew were, etc.... Blush understands the "motivation" --broadly defined-- of what made that scene tick. What made all of them tick, actually, as it was, at base, the same thing going on in so many places, all a result of the same forces working their way into the culture one kid at a time. A brilliant book and again, I loved it. Also worth checking out is the old "Hardcore California" by Peter Belsito and photographer F Stop Fitzgerald if you can find it. It goes in and out of print.