The hardcore thread

Can't say I'm up to date with recent HC-releases. This EP by Haunted Mansion is a total ripper though.

Misanthropic Minds are great as well

I'd say I own the most amount of hardcore punk records, but rarely am I 'blown away' by the genre in a visceral way as I've gotten older. It's definitely a younger person's genre. That said, I generally check out and enjoy most Sorry State releases.

These were some recent standouts for me:

MURO and YELLOWCAKE are the best two current hc bands

new RAPID DYE LP from Sydney rules; been the best post OILY BOYS hc band in town for years now, and great to settle down with a full-length:

also been really enjoying the BAD ANXIETY EP from Hattiesburg, MS... no less than two diss tracks, so my heart was easily won

outside of those two, MURO as mentioned, OSBO in sydney and GOLPE from Milano, haven't been very tuned in to the hc world... lots of big brand sponsorship deals running around the genre lately which has been such a fkn bummer and feels like the stories i got told about the Scion Records years that i missed tbh

BARELY HUMAN lots of big brand sponsorship deals running around the genre lately which has been such a fkn bummer and feels like the stories i got told about the Scion Records years that i missed tbh

Oh man the Scion years. I remember being on tour and a band jumped on like three of our shows that had a Scion deal. Scion would give them a few hundred dollars per night if they set up all the Scion shit on the merch table. It was all the Scion singles, scion hats, scion socks, the scion zine. It was a huge spread that the shamelessly took over the entire merch table. A few years later Scion went out of business

Randall A few years later Scion went out of business

justice is served!

SF homies (feat. members of the Circs)

BARELY HUMAN lots of big brand sponsorship deals running around the genre lately

Hey Max, could you give a few examples? Im curious.

I only occasionally dip my old-man toes into the modern HC waters - mostly Poison Idea-type heavy HC. Really dig Kriegshog and would go see them if they played my city - Hiroshima, which is pretty heavy on the HC tip as Guy from Gudon etc. has a record shop here. He has a version of Gudon going now that started up for the 25th anniv. of his shop last year. They played with Boris, who covered a Gudon song as the guitarist grew up in Hiroshima!
Anyhow, I was semi-surprised to see Cliff from the legendary Blast! has a new HC band. Some great Blast/Black Flag riffin going on.

Trae from Electric Chair stopped by the XRAY radio station last night (this morning technically) for the latest episode of Laced Punch. Electric Chair and his new project Excess Blood are crucial PNWHC. Trae brought his own records for the show, and he picked some gems, more punk than HC.

In general, Laced Punch has become a great resource for fans of the Portland punk and HC scenes. Check it out:

https://xray.fm/broadcasts/62667

Lincoln Trae uses they/them pronouns just so you know.

Gonna have to check out the show, thanks for the link!

ratcharge Hey Max, could you give a few examples? Im curious.

I'd imagine the most egregious one is Scowl being sponsored by Taco Bell or something like that. But then it opens the can of worms of whether they are "real hardcore" or not.

And then there's the aspect of seemingly every 'big Capital H' hardcore fest being sponsored by like Monster Energy or something.

Woodstock 99's first 7" was really good. Bad Anxiety and The Losers sound great too!

ratcharge > sicboy I'd imagine the most egregious one is Scowl being sponsored by Taco Bell or something like that. But then it opens the can of worms of whether they are "real hardcore" or not.

yeah that was a big one.. makes ya distrust the whole enterprise! there's a few deals snaking around oz, some banks trying to license images from bands, etc.. a non-alcoholic beer company called HEAPS NORMAL has started a record label in Sydney, mostly for smaller groups, not always hardcore, but still gives me the willies (echoes of SCION). here Speed (who are all lovely people etc) are probably the bigger ones with deals with Foot Locker, Monster, some instrument brands etc, but as sicboy mentioned, i feel like Scowl, Speed etc are a part of a new commercial hc world that's kind of a different thing entirely.. or at least not in this wheelhouse? was also pretty surprised when in Europe recently to see how common the booking agency set up was! when did that become a thing? i was really sold on Bad Breeding when their last record came out, enjoyed the fact that they had a lengthy anarchist booklet as insert... and then overseas saw that they no gods, no mastered their way into a booking agency supported tour with no engagement with local bands (sorry to sound very '90s here...)

i try not to get bogged down in this stuff and appreciate the labels doing the good stuff tho. everything coming thru SENTIERO FUTURO AUTOPRODUZIONI for e.g., and TOTAL PEACE from Arizona are reliably really really good with what seems from afar to be a spotless DIY ethos..

BARELY HUMAN I've always wondered how big Speed is within Aus. They seem huge here in the US in certain markets.

sicboy I've always wondered how big Speed is within Aus. They seem huge here in the US in certain markets.

they're enormous... i swear you see a Speed t-shirt every time you leave the house. their music and business decisions are really not my thing, and i think have played a part in telling the next generation of hc bands in oz that "you too can work hard and get sponsored by a shoe company" which really bums me out... howeeever, i gotta admit it's been impressive to see em play the game and get to that level. just need more community-focused HC bands in their wake to level the playing field and provide that alternative, which is around here and there..

The guests on that "What Are You Listening To" YT show I posted somewhere were talking about some "giant separate HC scene" and I imagine Turnstile fits that - are they sponsored by anyone? It's a band name that would fall under, don't wanna hear them just from the name but had to investigate...This is a huge show and the sound is definitely more of a hybrid...

googling them, there is a big sponsorship company with the same name!
https://turnstilegroup.com/

Randall those free scion split singles were sweet though. my fav local shop would included coupons in their weekly emails - show the coupon, get a single while they lasted

May have mentioned this before; I'm digging this snotty Hattiesburg hardcore. Six songs, around 6 minutes. Silo Kids demo

The Sorry State weekly newsletter is my fount of hardcore knowledge. The staff picks section isn't limited to genre though so has a nice range of tips, which can include Daniel going deep into The Stranglers or The Undertones. I like it.

https://www.sorrystaterecords.com/pages/sorry-state-s-weekly-newsletter

Ha! In my world, Kasshuve's EP is recent, but it was released in 2020. Anyway, really good stuff

Al Dorado May have mentioned this before; I'm digging this snotty Hattiesburg hardcore. Six songs, around 6 minutes. Silo Kids demo

sick! i missed this one... the hattiesburg crew are so fucken cool. played there in 2018 and was blown away by what they were doing in such a small town with limited resources. and just the love of putting on shows and trying to find ways to keep things interesting. we were the only out of towner when we played so they set up a support band battle royal with this big digital clock counting down 10 minutes, each band had to play one song, change instruments, and were eliminated if they were still playing when the timer was out. winner got to headline the show with a full set. coolest thing i've ever seen!

Uptown ruler 666 420 MURO and YELLOWCAKE are the best two current hc bands

Holy shit, Yellowcake are intense

BARELY HUMAN when we played so they set up a support band battle royal with this big digital clock counting down 10 minutes, each band had to play one song, change instruments, and were eliminated if they were still playing when the timer was out. winner got to headline the show with a full set. coolest thing i've ever seen!

Wow! That is so hilarious and genius

Toxic State coming out with a Nisemono LP sometime soon most exciting thing for me

sicboy
in light of the egg punk drama i'll enthusiastically +1 the "members of snooper" band G.U.N. being one of the best recent LPs i've heard

Vinnie Vacuum bought their lp and tape. going to see them on March 1st

FoolDiddly hell yeah

Fresh new combo out of Truro, Nova Scotia, featuring 50% of the people who made the aforementioned Misanthropic Minds 7".

Ruby I swear every new Nova Scotia punk band that comes across my various feeds includes Cody haha