Hardcore punk, characterized by fast, aggressive beats and often politically aware lyrics, developed in the United States in the late 1970s.[91] According to author Steven Blush, "Hardcore comes from the bleak suburbs of America. Parents moved their kids out of the cities to these horrible suburbs to save them from the 'reality' of the cities and what they ended up with was this new breed of monster".[15] Hardcore was the American punk standard for much of the 1980s.[92]
Described by critic Jon Savage as "a rush of claustrophobic nihilism",[93] hardcore emerged in the southern California punk scene in 1978–79, followed shortly in Washington, D.C., and then spreading throughout North America and internationally.[94][95][96] Among the earliest hardcore bands, regarded as having made the first recordings in the style, were California's Black Flag and Middle Class.[95][96] Bad Brains and Teen Idles launched the D.C. scene.[94] They were soon joined by such bands as the Minutemen, The Descendents, Circle Jerks, The Adolescents, and TSOL in southern California, and D.C.'s Minor Threat and State of Alert. Some second wave punk bands, such as San Francisco's Dead Kennedys, redefined themselves as hardcore. A substantial New York hardcore scene emerged around 1981, led by bands such as Agnostic Front, The Cro-Mags, Murphy's Law, and Youth of Today.[97] Other major hardcore bands included Minneapolis's Hüsker Dü and Vancouver's D.O.A. By 1981, hardcore was the dominant punk style in California and much of the rest of North America.[98]
Black Flag, June 1985
The lyrical content of hardcore songs, typified by Dead Kennedys' "Holiday in Cambodia", was often critical of commercial culture and middle-class values.[96] Straight edge bands like Minor Threat, Boston's SS Decontrol, and Reno, Nevada's 7 Seconds rejected the self-destructive lifestyles of many of their peers, and built a movement based on positivity and abstinence from cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs.[99]
In the early 1980s, bands from the Southwest and southern California such as JFA and NOFX created a rhythmically distinctive style of hardcore known as skate punk. Skate punk innovators also pointed in other directions: Austin, Texas's Big Boys helped establish funkcore, while Venice, California's Suicidal Tendencies had a formative effect on the metal-influenced crossover thrash style. Toward the end of the decade, crossover thrash spawned the metalcore fusion style, and the superfast thrashcore subgenre developed in multiple locations. In 1985, Embrace and Rites of Spring, formed by veterans of the Washington, D.C., hardcore scene, launched the less musically restrictive emo movement.
Described by critic Jon Savage as "a rush of claustrophobic nihilism",[93] hardcore emerged in the southern California punk scene in 1978–79, followed shortly in Washington, D.C., and then spreading throughout North America and internationally.[94][95][96] Among the earliest hardcore bands, regarded as having made the first recordings in the style, were California's Black Flag and Middle Class.[95][96] Bad Brains and Teen Idles launched the D.C. scene.[94] They were soon joined by such bands as the Minutemen, The Descendents, Circle Jerks, The Adolescents, and TSOL in southern California, and D.C.'s Minor Threat and State of Alert. Some second wave punk bands, such as San Francisco's Dead Kennedys, redefined themselves as hardcore. A substantial New York hardcore scene emerged around 1981, led by bands such as Agnostic Front, The Cro-Mags, Murphy's Law, and Youth of Today.[97] Other major hardcore bands included Minneapolis's Hüsker Dü and Vancouver's D.O.A. By 1981, hardcore was the dominant punk style in California and much of the rest of North America.[98]
Black Flag, June 1985
The lyrical content of hardcore songs, typified by Dead Kennedys' "Holiday in Cambodia", was often critical of commercial culture and middle-class values.[96] Straight edge bands like Minor Threat, Boston's SS Decontrol, and Reno, Nevada's 7 Seconds rejected the self-destructive lifestyles of many of their peers, and built a movement based on positivity and abstinence from cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs.[99]
In the early 1980s, bands from the Southwest and southern California such as JFA and NOFX created a rhythmically distinctive style of hardcore known as skate punk. Skate punk innovators also pointed in other directions: Austin, Texas's Big Boys helped establish funkcore, while Venice, California's Suicidal Tendencies had a formative effect on the metal-influenced crossover thrash style. Toward the end of the decade, crossover thrash spawned the metalcore fusion style, and the superfast thrashcore subgenre developed in multiple locations. In 1985, Embrace and Rites of Spring, formed by veterans of the Washington, D.C., hardcore scene, launched the less musically restrictive emo movement.
