120-513: Vatican Commandos were an American hardcore punk band formed in Darien, Connecticut . The band features members James Spadaccini, John Farnsworth, Lindsey Anderson, Chip Moody, Chuck "Wheat" Weaver, and Richard Hall (who went on to success under the name Moby after the VC disbanded). The band was formed in 1982 and released its first 7-inch EP entitled Hit Squad for God in 1983. Richard Hall (Moby)
240-645: A Frisbee 7-inch cover artwork was drawn by Rob Zombie , founder and lead singer of White Zombie . The Vatican Commandos disbanded in 1985. After 25 years, the band has reformed and played a reunion show July 17, 2010, at the Mercury Lounge in New York City with Up Front, Our Gang, Ed Gein's Car, and Loud Youth. The VCs played a West Coast reunion show on February 5, 2011, at The Dragonfly in Hollywood, California, with D.I. This article on
360-506: A United States punk rock band is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc ) is a punk rock subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk scenes in San Francisco and Southern California which arose as
480-602: A band which, apart from Bad Brains , has arguably had the biggest influence on the hardcore punk genre, and whose contributions to the music, ethics, aesthetic, and ethos are still widely acknowledged by hardcore bands of the 2020s. The band used faster rhythms and more aggressive, less melodic riffs than was common at the time. Minor Threat popularized the straight edge movement with its song " Straight Edge ", which spoke out against alcohol, drugs and promiscuity. MacKaye and Nelson ran their own record label, Dischord Records , which released records by D.C. hardcore bands, including
600-552: A bunch of sissified poseurs". The term poseur was used in several late-1970s punk songs, including the X-Ray Spex song "I Am a Poseur", which included the lyrics "I am a poseur and I don't care/I like to make people stare/Exhibition is the name." Another song using the term was the Television Personalities song "Part-Time Punks". The Television Personalities' song "was a reaction to the macho posturing of
720-523: A giant red mohawk and the band continued to wear swastikas , an approach influenced by the wearing of this symbol by 1970s punks such as Sid Vicious . Because of this, the Exploited were labeled by others in the scene as "cartoon punks". Other influential UK hardcore bands from this period included GBH , Anti-Establishment , Antisect , Broken Bones , Chaos UK , Conflict , Dogsflesh , English Dogs , and grindcore innovators Napalm Death . There
840-538: A hardcore scene known as "nardcore" developed with bands like Agression , Ill Repute , Dr. Know , and Rich Kids on LSD . Whilst popular traditional punk bands such as the Clash , Ramones, and Sex Pistols were signed to major record labels, the hardcore punk bands were generally not. Black Flag, however, was briefly signed to MCA subsidiary Unicorn Records but were dropped because an executive considered their music to be "anti-parent". Instead of trying to be courted by
960-673: A hardcore style (shaved head and boots) as being based on needing more functional clothing. Skateboard culture, streetwear, and workwear are also major influences on clothing worn by participants in both past and present eras of hardcore. Music writer Barney Hoskyns attributed hardcore being younger, faster and angrier than punk rock, to adolescents who were sick of their life in a "bland Republican " America. Hardcore punk lyrics often express antiestablishment , antimilitarist , antiauthoritarian , antiviolence , and pro- environmentalist sentiments, in addition to other typically left-wing , anarchist , or egalitarian political views. During
1080-447: A metal band, dude. We're not a metal band. We've always been looked at as what they called the nu-metal thing. But we've always been the black sheep and we never fitted into that kind of thing so … We're always ever-evolving, and we always piss fans off and we're gaining other fans and it is how it is. Ron Quintana wrote that when Metallica was trying to find a place in the LA metal scene in
1200-461: A motorcycle gang or membership in the Mafia; part-time participants were derided as "poseurs", while any deviation from orthodoxy was a "sellout"...; this punk militancy created "... an economic and social ghetto which was nearly impenetrable to corporate infiltration and which only adventurous or deranged souls dared enter." In a review of The Clash film Rude Boy , a critic argued that this "film
1320-486: A once socially feared and critically infallible genre" of punk, asking "[w]hen did punk rock become so safe?" Jeffrey Arnett argues that the heavy metal subculture classifies members into two categories: "acceptance as an authentic metalhead or rejection as a fake, a poseur". In a 1993 profile of heavy metal fans' "subculture of alienation", the author notes that the scene classified some members as poseurs, that is, heavy metal performers or fans who pretended to be part of
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#17328022240061440-417: A parody of conservative bands. Another act from Massachusetts, Vile, were known to insult women, minorities and gay people in their lyrics and would even go as far as putting their albums on the windshields of people's cars. On the other hand, Tim Yohannan and the influential punk rock fanzine Maximumrocknroll were criticized by some punks for acting as the "politically correct scene police", having what
1560-578: A radio show featuring hardcore called Capital Radio, hosted by Brad Morrison, beginning in February 1979 and continuing weekly until late 1983. In New York City , Tim Sommer hosted Noise The Show on WNYU . By 1984, the Ramones , one of the original New York punk bands, were experimenting with hardcore, with two songs, "Wart Hog" and "Endless Vacation" on their album Too Tough To Die . Minneapolis hardcore consisted of bands such as Hüsker Dü and
1680-600: A radio show in 1977, but branched out into a fanzine in 1982. While not as large as the scene in Los Angeles, the hardcore scene of the early 1980s included a number of noteworthy bands originating from the San Francisco Bay Area , including Bl'ast , Crucifix , the Faction , Fang , Flipper , and Whipping Boy . Additionally, during this time, seminal Texas -based bands Dirty Rotten Imbeciles ,
1800-471: A reaction against the still predominant hippie cultural climate of the time. It was also inspired by Washington, D.C. , and New York punk rock and early proto-punk . Hardcore punk generally disavows commercialism , the established music industry and "anything similar to the characteristics of mainstream rock " and often addresses social and political topics with "confrontational, politically charged lyrics". Hardcore sprouted underground scenes across
1920-521: A shift into hardcore. Similar to Black Flag and Youth Brigade, Dead Kennedys released their albums on their own label, which in DK's case was Alternative Tentacles . The scene was helped in particular by the San Francisco club Mabuhay Gardens , whose promoter, Dirk Dirksen , became known as "The Pope of Punk". Another important local institution was Tim Yohannan 's Maximumrocknroll , which started as
2040-404: A song entitled "Poseur Punk", which excoriated pretenders who copied the punk look without adopting its values. The lyrics sheet packaged with Magnus Dominus Corpus , the album on which "Poseur Punk" appears, contains a picture of the band Good Charlotte juxtaposed underneath the lyrics to "Poseur Punk". As part of MDC's 25th anniversary tour in the 2000s, frontman "Dictor's targets remain largely
2160-547: A song entitled "Poseur" which describes a person changing from a punk to a skinhead, and then into a Mod and a Ted. The lyrics include the lines "Poseur poseur standing there/You change your style every year." In 1985, MTV aired a concert documentary, featuring performances by GBH and the Dickies , entitled Punks and Poseurs: A Journey Through the Los Angeles Underground . Dave Rimmer writes that with
2280-459: A style of dance in which participants push or slam into each other, and stage diving . Moshing works as a vehicle for expressing anger by "represent[ing] a way of playing at violence or roughness that allowed participants to mark their difference from the banal niceties of middle-class culture". Moshing is in another way a " parody of violence", that nevertheless leaves participants bruised and sometimes bleeding. The term mosh came into use in
2400-437: A visual artist—a model . The playwright Oscar Wilde has been described as a "poseur". Thomas Hardy said of him, "His early reputation as a poseur and fop – so necessary to his notoriety – recoiled upon the scholar and gentleman (as Wilde always innately was), and even upon the artist". Lord Alfred Douglas said of Wilde, "That he had what passed for genius nobody will, I think, nowadays dispute, though it used to be
2520-408: Is "usually associated with the further evolution of California's L.A. Punk Rock scene", which included young skateboarders. A September 1981 article by Tim Sommer shows the author applying the term to the "15 or so" punk bands gigging around the city at that time, which he considered a belated development relative to Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. Blush said that the term "hardcore"
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#17328022240062640-556: Is also a reference to the sense of being "fed up" with the existing punk and new wave music . Blush also states that the term refers to "an extreme: the absolute most Punk". Kelefa Sanneh states that the term "hardcore" referred to an attitude of "turning inwards" towards the scene and "ignoring broader society", all with the goal of achieving a sense of "shared purpose" and being part of a community. Sanneh cites Agnostic Front 's band member selection approach as an example of hardcore's emphasis on "scene citizenship"; prospective members of
2760-563: Is credited as "M.H." on the back cover of the release. Later members included Dave Hower, Mike Pollock, and Matt Craig. The band went on to release the Just a Frisbee 7-inch EP later in 1983 and Point Me to the End 12-inch EP in 1984. The lineup for Just a Frisbee , " Point me to the End ," and the tour in between those two EPs was Chuck Wheat (vocals), Dave Hower (drums), Jim Spadaccini (bass), and Mike Pollock, who replaced M.H. as guitarist. The Just
2880-475: Is important in hardcore. Noisey magazine describes one hardcore band as "an all-encompassing, full-volume assault" in which "[e]very instrument sounds like it's competing for the most power and highest volume". Scott Wilson states that the hardcore of the Bad Brains emphasized two elements: "off-the-charts" loudness which reached a level of threatening, powerful "uncompromising noise" and rhythm, in place of
3000-419: Is someone who poses for effect, or behaves affectedly, who affects a particular attitude, character or manner to impress others, or who pretends to belong to a particular group. A poseur may be a person who pretends to be what they are not or an insincere person; they may have a flair for drama or behave as if they are onstage in daily life. "Poseur" or "poseuse" is also used to mean a person who poses for
3120-434: Is supposed to be. It's its own form." According to AllMusic , the overall blueprint for hardcore was playing louder, harder and faster. Hardcore was a reaction to the "cosmopolitan art-school" style of new wave music . Hardcore "eschew[ed] nuance, technique, [and] the avant-garde ", and instead emphasized "speed and rhythmic intensity" using unpredictable song forms and abrupt tempo changes. The impact of powerful volume
3240-478: Is the true spirit of punk" because "[a]fter all the poseurs and fashionistas fucked off to the next trend of skinny pink ties with New Romantic haircuts, singing wimpy lyrics". It argued that the hardcore scene consisted only of people "completely dedicated to the DIY ethics"; punk "[l]ifers without the ambition to one day settle into the study-work-family-house-retirement-death scenario". The Oi band Combat 84 has
3360-807: Is the true spirit of punk, because "all the poseurs and fashionistas fucked off to the next trend of skinny pink ties with New Romantic haircuts, singing wimpy lyrics" and the punk scene now consisted of people like Minor Threat, Bad Brains , Black Flag , and Circle Jerks , dedicated to the DIY ethics. Other writers have also attributed hardcore to a reaction against artsy and mellower sub-genres that punk grew into, such as post-punk and new wave . Hardcore punk additionally broke with original punk rock song patterns and visuals, favoring lower-key aesthetics. According to Eli Enis of Billboard magazine , hardcore shows are known to be violent. In 2002, during an interview with Nardwuar , Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra
3480-752: The Kensington Market neighbourhood of Toronto , Ontario , formed in November 1983 as a response to "a local war with glue huffing Nazi skinheads". In Montreal , The Asexuals helped fertilize a scene that became a necessary tour stop for punk and hardcore bands headed to the Northeast. In the United Kingdom , a fertile hardcore scene took root early on. Referred to under a number of names including "U.K. Hardcore", " UK 82 ", "second wave punk", "real punk", and "No Future punk", it took
3600-702: The Minutemen , with whom they shared a practice space until both bands were evicted, as well as the Circle Jerks (which featured Black Flag's original singer, Keith Morris ). From Hollywood , two other bands playing hardcore punk, Fear and the Germs , were featured with Black Flag and the Circle Jerks in Penelope Spheeris ' 1981 documentary The Decline of Western Civilization . By the time
3720-487: The Outpatients , both of whom would come to Boston to play shows. From nearby Manchester , New Hampshire, was G.G. Allin , a solo singer who, contrary to straight edge, used large amounts of drugs and alcohol, eventually dying of a heroin overdose. Allin's stage show included defecating on stage and then throwing his feces at the audience. The New York City hardcore scene emerged in 1981 when Bad Brains moved to
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3840-457: The far-right Proud Boys during their sedition trial for their role in attacking the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. While the early hardcore scene was mostly young white males, both onstage and in the audience, there are notable exceptions. Black musicians include Bad Brains, Fred "Freak" Smith of Beefeater , Dead Kennedys drummer D.H. Peligro , and Scream bassist Skeeter Thompson . Numerous Black and Latino members have been in
3960-524: The "credibility of heavy metal" in North America is being destroyed by the genre's demotion to "horror movie soundtracks, wrestling events and, worst of all, the so-called 'Mall Core' groups like Slipknot and Korn ", which makes the "true [metal] devotee's path to metaldom [...] perilous and fraught with poseurs." In an article on Axl Rose , entitled "Ex–'White-Boy Poseur'", Rose admitted that he has had "time to reflect on heavy-metal posturing" of
4080-551: The "hard-knock streets of Detroit", Laws' parents claim that they put her "through private school and enrolled [her] in college in suburban Detroit". As hip hop has gained a more mainstream popularity, it has spread to new audiences, including well-to-do "white hip-hop kids with gangsta aspirations—dubbed the 'Prep-School Gangsters'" by journalist Nancy Jo Sales . Sales claims that these hip hop fans "wore Polo and Hilfiger gear trendy among East Coast hip-hop acts" and rode downtown to black neighborhoods in chauffeured limos to experience
4200-618: The "story about him being raised in the Fort Greene [Brooklyn] projects on welfare until he was a child of 13 was a total lie"; instead, he said "their son grew up in a reasonably stable two-parent, two-income home in Brooklyn". The article also refers to another "hip-hop poseur from a decade ago", Lichelle "Boss" Laws . While her record company promoted her as "the most gangsta of girl gangstas", posing her "with automatic weapons" and publicizing claims about prison time and an upbringing on
4320-554: The 1980s, the subculture often rejected what was perceived to be " yuppie " materialism and interventionist American foreign policy. Numerous hardcore punk bands have taken far-left political stances, such as anarchism or other varieties of socialism , and in the 1980s expressed opposition to political leaders such as then US president Ronald Reagan and British prime minister Margaret Thatcher . Reagan's economic policies, sometimes dubbed Reaganomics , and social conservatism were common subjects for criticism by hardcore bands of
4440-486: The 2007 skateboarding scene notes that "some first-time skaters drawn into the sport by catchy choruses or candy-colored sneakers are dismissed as poseurs" who are "walking around with a skateboard as an accessory, holding it in a way we call 'the mall grab.'" In the 1988 video game Skate or Die! , "Poseur Pete" is the name of the challenger for beginner-level players. An LA City Beat magazine writer argues that " dance music had its Spinal Tap moment some time around
4560-411: The Circle Jerks were so far from that. We looked like the kid who worked at the gas station or sub. shop." Henry Rollins stated that for him, getting dressed up meant putting on a black shirt and some dark pants; taking an interest in fashion as being a distraction. Jimmy Gestapo from Murphy's Law describes his own transition from dressing in a punk style (spiked hair and a bondage belt) to adopting
4680-815: The Dicks , Dirty Rotten Imbeciles (D.R.I.), Really Red , Verbal Abuse and MDC were from Texas . Portland , Oregon, hardcore punk bands included Poison Idea and Final Warning , while north of there, Washington state included the Accüsed , Melvins , the Fartz , and 10 Minute Warning (the latter two included future Guns N' Roses member Duff McKagan ). Other prominent hardcore bands from this time that came from areas without large scenes include Raleigh , North Carolina's Corrosion of Conformity . D.O.A. formed in Vancouver , British Columbia in 1978 and were one of
4800-700: The Dicks , MDC , Rhythm Pigs , and Verbal Abuse all relocated to San Francisco. Further out of the Bay Area, Sacramento 's Tales of Terror were cited by many, including Mark Arm , as a key inspiration for the grunge movement. The first hardcore punk band to form on the East Coast of the United States was Washington, D.C.'s Bad Brains . Initially formed in 1977 as a jazz fusion ensemble called Mind Power, and consisting of all African-American members, their early foray into hardcore featured some of
4920-598: The English punk scene". The lyrics argue that, "while Television Personalities were not themselves punks in the orthodox sense, neither was anyone else". The song "declared that either everyone who wanted to be a punk was one or that everyone was a poseur (or both)", and it argues that "the concept of [...] punk rock authenticity, of Joe Strummer , was a fiction". An article in Drowned in Sound argues that 1980s-era " hardcore
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5040-484: The English word "poser" dressed "in French garb, and thus could itself be considered an affectation." "Poseur" is often a pejorative term, as used in the punk , heavy metal , hip hop , and goth subcultures , or the skateboarding , surfing and jazz communities, when it is used to refer to a person who copies the dress, speech, and/or mannerisms of a group or subculture, generally for attaining acceptability within
5160-594: The F.U.'s , the Freeze , Gang Green , Jerry's Kids , Siege , DYS , Negative FX , and SS Decontrol . Members of the latter three bands were influenced by D.C.'s straight edge scene, and were part of "the Boston Crew", a mostly straight edge group of friends known to physically fight people who used alcohol or drugs. Members of the Boston Crew would later go on to form the band Slapshot , and also included future Mighty Mighty Bosstones singer Dicky Barrett , who
5280-732: The Faith , Iron Cross , Scream , State of Alert , Government Issue , Void , and D.C.'s Youth Brigade . The Flex Your Head compilation was a seminal document of the early 1980s D.C. hardcore scene. The record label was run out of the Dischord House, a Washington, D.C., punk house . Henry Rollins , who would come to prominence as the lead singer of the California-based Black Flag, as well as his own later Rollins Band , grew up in Washington, D.C., singing for
5400-467: The Los Angeles scene from 1981 to 1984, and it included show reviews and band interviews with groups including D.O.A., the Misfits, Black Flag, Suicidal Tendencies and the Circle Jerks. Shortly after Black Flag debuted in Los Angeles, Dead Kennedys were formed in San Francisco. While the band's early releases were played in a style closer to traditional punk rock, In God We Trust, Inc. (1981) marked
5520-561: The Misfits "crucial to the rise of hardcore." New York hardcore had more emphasis on rhythm, in part due to the use of palm-muted guitar chords, an approach called the NY hardcore "chug". The New York scene was known for its tough ethos, its "thuggery", and club shows that were a chaotic "proving ground" or even a "battleground". In the early 1980s, the New York hardcore scene centered around squats and clubhouses. After these were closed down,
5640-623: The Replacements , while Chicago had Articles of Faith , Big Black and Naked Raygun . The Detroit area was home to Crucifucks , Degenerates , the Meatmen , Negative Approach , Spite and Violent Apathy . From Ohio was Maumee 's Necros and Dayton 's Toxic Reasons . The zine Touch and Go covered this Midwest hardcore scene from 1979 to 1983. JFA and Meat Puppets were both from Phoenix , Arizona; 7 Seconds were from Reno , Nevada; and Butthole Surfers , Big Boys ,
5760-476: The State of Alert, and was influenced by the music of Bad Brains and the bands of his childhood friend Ian MacKaye. The tradition of holding all-ages shows at small DIY spaces, has roots in the early Washington, D.C., straight edge movement. It emerged from the idea that people of all ages should have access to music, regardless of if they're old enough to drink alcohol. Seminal Boston-area hardcore bands included
5880-757: The United States in the early 1980s, particularly in Los Angeles , San Francisco , Washington, D.C. , Boston , and New York , as well as in Canada and the United Kingdom. Hardcore has spawned the straight edge movement and its associated sub-movements, hardline and youth crew . Hardcore was heavily involved in the rise of the independent record labels in the 1980s and with the DIY ethics in underground music scenes. It has also influenced various music genres that have experienced widespread commercial success, including grunge and thrash metal . Although
6000-479: The all-Latino punk band Manic Hispanic , which also featured Efrem Schulz from Death By Stereo . There are also notable women such as Crass singers Joy de Vivre and Eve Libertine , Black Flag bassist Kira Roessler , and Germs bassist Lorna Doom . Several documentaries, including 2003's Afro-Punk and 2016's Los Punks , chronicle these subcultures within American punk and hardcore. As of 2019,
6120-459: The ancient Greek comedy The Clouds , the playwright Aristophanes portrays Socrates as a "poseur". The English term "poseur" is a loanword from French. The word in English use dates back to the mid 19th Century. It is from the French word poseur , and from the Old French word poser , meaning "to put, place, or set". The Online Etymology Dictionary , suggests that "poseur" is in fact
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#17328022240066240-501: The anti-Bush political activist group PunkVoter. A minority of hardcore musicians have expressed right-wing views, such as the band Antiseen , whose guitarist Joe Young ran for public office as a North Carolina Libertarian . Former Misfits singer Michale Graves appeared on an episode of The Daily Show , voicing support for George W. Bush, on behalf of the Conservative Punk website, and in 2023 testified on behalf of
6360-482: The armed forces. In November 2014, Ottawa police charged one of these alleged poseurs for impersonating a soldier, after he appeared in TV interviews during Remembrance Day ceremonies wearing a uniform and medals which he had no right to wear. The concept of a "jazz poseur" dates back to the 1940s. Bob White from Downbeat argued that some jazz critics knew nothing about new jazz ( bebop ) and nothing about chords, tone, or
6480-533: The audience to 'sacrifice a poseur'", a ritual that involved the audience throwing the suspected hair metal fan onto the stage. The Swedish black metal band Marduk , which aimed to be the "...most brutal and blasphemous band ever", uses Nazi imagery, such as the Nazi Panzer tank, in their songs and album art (e.g., their 1999 album is titled Panzer Division Marduk ). This use of Nazi imagery offended neo-Nazi black metal bands, who called Marduk poseurs. In
6600-581: The band Suicidal Tendencies , including Mike Muir , Rocky George , R.J. Herrera, Louiche Mayorga, Robert Trujillo , Thundercat , Dean Pleasants , Ra Díaz, Dave Lombardo , Eric Moore, Tim "Rawbiz" Williams, David Hidalgo Jr. , and Ronald Bruner Jr. Other Latinos in early hardcore bands include Black Flag members Ron Reyes , Dez Cadena , Robo , and Anthony Martinez, Agnostic Front singer Roger Miret , his brother Madball singer Freddy Cricien , Adolescents guitarist Steve Soto , and Wasted Youth drummer Joey Castillo . Soto would later form
6720-501: The band were chosen based on being part of the local hardcore scene and being regularly in the moshing pit at shows, rather than based on a musical audition . Michael Azerrad states that "[by] 1979 the original punk scene [in Southern California] had almost completely died out" and was replaced by punk music boiled down to its essence, but with faster tempos, which became known as "hardcore". Steven Blush states that
6840-559: The city from Washington, D.C. Starting in 1981, there was an influx of new hardcore bands in the city including Agnostic Front , Beastie Boys , Cro-Mags , Cause for Alarm, the Mob , Murphy's Law , Reagan Youth , and Warzone . A number of other bands associated with New York hardcore scene came from New Jersey , including the Misfits , Adrenalin OD and Hogan's Heroes . Steven Blush calls
6960-409: The community. Largely inspired by early labels like Dischord Records , Alternative Tentacles , Epitaph Records , SST Records , Revelation Records , and Touch & Go Records , record labels are usually run on DIY ethic, collaboration, financial trust, and an emphasis on creative control. Labels within hardcore are seldom large, profit-making operations, but rather collaborative music partners with
7080-555: The complexities of race relations and cultural appropriation ." Mark Paytress writes that in 1977, Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger called singer/songwriter Patti Smith a "poseur of the worst kind, intellectual bullshit, trying to be a street girl". A music writer for The Telegraph called Bob Dylan an "actor and a rock 'n' roll poseur to rival David Bowie and Mick Jagger at their most flamboyant". The skateboarding subculture attempts to differentiate between authentic skaters and pretenders. A New York Times article on
7200-544: The crowd was singing the lyrics so loud they could be heard over the PA system. Hardcore vocal lines are often based on minor scales and songs may include shouted background vocals from the other band members. Hardcore lyrics expressed the "frustration and political disillusionment" of youth who were against 1980s-era affluence , consumerism , greed, Reagan politics and authority. The polarizing sociopolitical messages in hardcore lyrics (and outrageous on-stage behaviour) meant that
7320-450: The dream is now 35 years old, so they can go fuck themselves." Steven Blush states that the Vancouver -based band D.O.A. 's 1981 album, Hardcore '81 , "was where the genre got its name". This album also helped to make people aware of the term "hardcore". Konstantin Butz states that while the origin of the expression "hardcore" "cannot be ascribed to a specific place or time", the term
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#17328022240067440-421: The drummer should have listened to a lot of hardcore, so that they can understand the "raw emotions" it expresses. Lucky Lehrer , the drummer and co-founder of the Circle Jerks in 1979, was an early developer of hardcore drumming; he has been called the "Godfather of hardcore drumming" and Flipside zine calls him the best punk drummer. According to Tobias Hurwitz, "[h]ardcore drumming falls somewhere between
7560-485: The early 1980s American hardcore scene in Washington, D.C. A performance by Fear on the 1981 Halloween episode of Saturday Night Live was cut short when moshers, including John Belushi and members of a few hardcore punk bands, invaded the stage, damaged studio equipment and used profanity. Many North American hardcore punk fans adopted a dressed-down style of T-shirts , jeans or work chinos , combat boots or sneakers , and crew cut -style haircuts. Women in
7680-458: The early 1980s, it was difficult for the band to "play their [heavy] music and win over a crowd in a land where poseurs ruled and anything fast and heavy was ignored". David Rocher described Damian Montgomery, frontman of Ritual Carnage , as "an authentic, no-frills, poseur-bashing, nun-devouring kind of gentleman, an enthusiastic metalhead truly in love with the lifestyle he preaches... and unquestionably practises". In 2002, Josh Wood argued that
7800-742: The early Los Angeles hardcore scene increasingly became sites of violent battles between police and concertgoers. Another source of violence in L.A. was tension created by what one writer calls the invasion of "antagonistic suburban poseurs " into hardcore venues. Violence at hardcore concerts was portrayed in episodes of the popular television shows CHiPs and Quincy, M.E. . In the pre-Internet era, fanzines, commonly called zines , enabled hardcore scene members to learn about bands, clubs, and record labels. Zines typically included reviews of shows and records, interviews with bands, letters, ads for records and labels, and were DIY products, "proudly amateur, usually handmade. A zine called We Got Power described
7920-421: The fashion to pooh-pooh him for a mere poseur and decadent." The painter James A. Whistler has been sometimes described as a "poseur" for his manner and personal style. It has been suggested that Whistler's genius lay partly in his ability to cultivate the role of the poseur, to "act as if he were always on stage", in order to stir interest, and cause people to wonder how such a poseur could create work that
8040-431: The fastest tempos in rock music . The band released its debut single, " Pay to Cum ", in 1980, and were influential in establishing the D.C. hardcore scene. Hardcore historian Steven Blush calls the single the first East Coast hardcore record. Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson , influenced by Bad Brains , formed the band Teen Idles in 1979. The group broke up in 1980, and MacKaye and Nelson went on to form Minor Threat ,
8160-526: The film was released, other hardcore bands from Los Angeles County were also making a name for themselves including Bad Religion , Descendents , Red Kross , Rhino 39 , Suicidal Tendencies , Wasted Youth , Youth Brigade , and Youth Gone Mad . Neighboring Orange County had the Adolescents , Agent Orange , China White , Social Distortion , Shattered Faith , T.S.O.L. , and Uniform Choice , while north of Los Angeles, around Oxnard , California,
8280-511: The fingers, some bassists use a pick. Some bassists play fuzz bass by overdriving their bass tone. Hardcore drumming, typically played fast and aggressively, has been called the "engine" and most essential element of the genre's aggressive sound of "unrelenting anger". Two other key elements for hardcore drummers are playing "tight" with the other musicians, especially the bassist (this does not mean metronomic time; indeed, coordinated tempo shifts are used in many important hardcore albums) and
8400-613: The first bands to refer to its style as "hardcore", with the release of their album Hardcore '81 . Other early hardcore bands from British Columbia included Dayglo Abortions who formed in 1979, the Subhumans and the Skulls . Nomeansno is a hardcore band originally from Victoria , British Columbia , and now located in Vancouver . SNFU formed in Edmonton in 1981 and also later relocated to Vancouver . Bunchofuckingoofs , from
8520-541: The first hardcore record to come out of the West Coast was Out of Vogue by the Santa Ana band Middle Class . The band pioneered a shouted, fast version of punk rock which would shape the hardcore sound that would soon emerge. In terms of impact upon the hardcore scene, Black Flag has been deemed the most influential group. Azerrad calls Black Flag the "godfathers" of hardcore punk and states that even "...more than
8640-683: The flagship band of American hardcore", they were "...required listening for anyone who was interested in underground music." Blush states that Black Flag were to hardcore what the Sex Pistols and Ramones were to punk. Formed in Hermosa Beach , California by guitarist and primary songwriter Greg Ginn , they played their first show in December 1977. Originally called Panic, they changed their name to Black Flag in 1978. By 1979, Black Flag were joined by another South Bay hardcore band,
8760-411: The funky otherness of hip-hop [...] without all the scary black people". African-American hip hop artist Azealia Banks has criticized Iggy Azalea , a white rapper, "for failing to comment on 'black issues', despite capitalising on the appropriation of African American culture in her music." Banks has called her a " wigger ," and there have been "accusations of racism" focused on her "insensitivity to
8880-515: The genre garnered no mainstream popularity. In hardcore, guitarists frequently play fast power chords with a heavily distorted and amplified tone, creating what has been called a "buzzsaw" sound. Guitar parts can sometimes be complex, technically versatile, and rhythmically challenging. Guitar melody lines usually use the same minor scales used by vocalists (although some solos use pentatonic scales). Hardcore guitarists sometimes play solos , octave leads and grooves , as well as tapping into
9000-511: The genre is still overwhelmingly represented by white males. However, as sonic diversity has increased in the genre, so too has its fanbase. This has helped bring greater attention to inclusivity within the scene. Bands like War On Women , Limp Wrist , Gouge Away , and G.L.O.S.S. have helped bring attention to subjects like women's rights, transphobia, rape, mental health, queer rights, and misogyny. Record labels in hardcore are often DIY endeavors, run by musicians or participants within
9120-494: The genres detractors have labeled nu metal derogatory terms such as "mallcore", "whinecore", "grunge for the zeros" and "sports-rock". Gregory Heaney of Allmusic has described the genre as "one of metal's more unfortunate pushes into the mainstream." Jonathan Davis , the frontman of the pioneering nu metal band Korn , said in an interview: There's a lot of closed-minded metal purists that would hate something because it's not true to metal or whatever, but Korn has never been
9240-538: The ghetto life. Then, "to guard against being labeled poseurs, the prep schoolers started to steal the gear that their parents could readily afford". This trend was highlighted in The Offspring song " Pretty Fly (for a White Guy) ". A 2008, Utne Reader article describes the rise of " Hipster Rap", which "consists of the most recent crop of MCs and DJs who flout conventional hip-hop fashions, eschewing baggy clothes and gold chains for tight jeans, big sunglasses,
9360-401: The goth crowd...". Kilpatrick dismisses poseur goths as "Batbabies" whose clothing is bought at [mall store] Hot Topic with their parents' money. In the hip hop scene, authenticity or street cred is important. The word wigger is the specific used to refer to caucasian people mimicking black hip-hop culture. Larry Nager of The Cincinnati Enquirer wrote that rapper 50 Cent has "earned
9480-529: The group or for popularity among various other groups, yet who is deemed not to share or understand the values or philosophy of the subculture. David Marsh, in an article in Rock & Rap , speaking of "those first punk kids in London" says, "The terms in which they expressed their disdain for hangers-on and those whose post-hip credentials didn't quite make it came straight out of the authenticity movements: Poseurs
9600-427: The hardcore scene typically wore army pants, band T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts. The clothing style was a reflection of hardcore ideology, which included dissatisfaction with suburban America and the hypocrisy of American culture. It was essentially a deconstruction of American fashion staples—ripped jeans, holey T-shirts, torn stockings for women, and work boots. The style of the 1980s hardcore scene contrasted with
9720-431: The heavy metal subculture, some critics use the term to describe bands that are seen as excessively commercial, such as MTV-friendly glam metal groups in which hair, make-up, and fancy outfits are more important than the music. During the 1980s, thrash metal fans called pop metal bands "metal poseurs" or "false metal". Another metal subgenre, nu metal is seen as controversial amongst fans of other metal genres , and
9840-422: The intent to document and release music for the underground community. Ian Mackaye , co-founder of Dischord Records claimed, "We don't use contracts, lawyers, any of those kinds of things. We are partners – they make the music, and we make the records. From the beginning of this label, people have said that the way we do things is unsustainable, unrealistic, idealistic, and we were just dreaming", he said. "Well,
9960-530: The invasion of "antagonistic suburban poseurs", which bred "rising violence [...] and led to a general breakdown of the hardcore scene". A writer for The Gauntlet praised the US Bombs ' politically oriented albums as "a boulder of truth and authenticity in a sea of slick poseur sewage", and called them "real punk rockers" at "a time where the genre is littered with dumb songs about cars, girls and bong hits". Daniel S. Traber argues that attaining authenticity in
10080-459: The last few decades: "We thought we were so badass [...] Then N.W.A came out rapping about this world where you walk out of your house and you get shot. It was just so clear what stupid little white-boy poseurs we were." In the Alestorm song "Heavy Metal Pirates", numerous metaphors and allusions to pirates are made, including references to cutlasses, and it includes the line " No quarter for
10200-461: The look that was common in the San Francisco hardcore scene as consisting of biker-style leather jackets, chains, studded wristbands, multiple piercings, painted or tattooed statements (e.g., an anarchy symbol) and hairstyles ranging from military-style haircuts dyed black or blonde to mohawks and shaved heads. Circle Jerks frontman Keith Morris wrote: "[Punk] was basically based on English fashion. But we had nothing to do with that. Black Flag and
10320-455: The major labels, hardcore bands started their own independent record labels and distributed their records themselves. Ginn started SST Records , which released Black Flag's debut EP Nervous Breakdown in 1979. SST went on to release a number of albums by other hardcore artists, and was described by Azerrad as "easily the most influential and popular underground indie of the Eighties." SST
10440-543: The missing teeth and scars of real bikers. An obituary for Colorado motorcycle enthusiast Walt Hankinson stated that "[h]e was an old-time biker, not a poseur", because he "...wasn’t looking for the most stylish leather outfit and never had a fashion crisis about what to wear on the next ride", instead just wearing a "flannel shirt, jeans and a cloth jacket" when he rode his motorcycle. In Canada, there are " alleged military posers ", individuals who wear army uniforms and medals, who are not actually current or previous members of
10560-602: The more provocative fashion styles of late 1970s punk rockers. Siri C. Brockmeier writes that "hardcore kids do not look like punks", since hardcore scene members wore basic clothing and short haircuts, in contrast to the "embellished leather jackets and pants" worn in the punk scene. Lauraine Leblanc, however, claims that the standard hardcore punk clothing and styles included torn jeans, leather jackets, spiked armbands, dog collars, mohawk hairstyles , DIY ornamentation of clothes with studs, painted band names, political statements, and patches. Tiffini A. Travis and Perry Hardy describe
10680-622: The music genre started in English-speaking Western countries, notable hardcore scenes have existed in Italy , Japan and Brazil . Hardcore historian Steven Blush credits Minor Threat 's Ian MacKaye with starting a "die-hard mindset that begat almost everything we now call Hardcore", which was virulently anti-music industry and anti- rock star . An article in Drowned in Sound argues that late 1970s/early 1980s-era hardcore
10800-594: The names of famous performers. Salon writer Joan Walsh calls US politician Paul Ryan a Randian poseur. She claims that while he purports to believe in Ayn Rand 's Objectivist philosophy, which harshly criticizes government social redistribution programs, he actually benefitted from these programs in his life. Poseurs in the realm of sneakers and fashion have even been given their own name: "hypebeast". First coined in 2007 on forums like NikeTalk , these people are said to "collect clothing, shoes, and accessories for
10920-465: The occasional keffiyeh , and other trappings of the hipster lifestyle". The article says this "hipster rap" has been criticized by the hip hop website Unkut and rapper Mazzi, who call the mainstream rappers poseurs or "fags for copping the metrosexual appearances of hipster fashion". Prefix Mag writer Ethan Stanislawski argues that there "have been a slew of angry retorts to the rise of hipster rap", which he says can be summed up as "white kids want
11040-436: The point that he seems like a parody. A 2004 article on BlackAmericaWeb claims that Russell Tyrone Jones, better known as rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard , was not "a rough dude from the 'hood" as his official record company biographies claimed. After Jones' death from drugs, the rapper's father claimed that "his late son was a hip-hop poseur, contrary to what music trade magazines published in New York" wrote. Jones' father argued that
11160-475: The posers through devotion to the history of the genre as well as the history of the particular bands and artists." If a music fan came to an Exodus show at thrash clubs "...with a Motley Crue shirt or a Ratt shirt, Paul Baloff [of Exodus] would literally tear that shirt off the person's back," and then the band would "tear up the shirts and tie them around their wrists and wear them as trophies...[or]...badges of honor." Additionally, "...Baloff would often command
11280-514: The poseurs, we'll bring 'em death and pain". The Manowar song "Metal Warriors" includes the lines: "Heavy metal or no metal at all whimps and posers leave the hall" and "...all whimps and posers go on, get out". Nancy Kilpatrick's Goth Bible: A Compendium for the Darkly Inclined defines "poseur" for the goth scene as: "goth wannabes, usually young kids going through a goth phase who do not hold to goth sensibilities but want to be part of
11400-480: The previous punk sound and added the incessant, heavy drumbeats and heavily distorted guitar sound of new wave of British heavy metal bands, especially Motörhead . Formed in 1977 in Stoke-on-Trent , Discharge played a large role in influencing other European hardcore bands. AllMusic calls the band's sound a "high-speed noise overload" characterized by "ferocious noise blasts." Their style of hardcore punk
11520-458: The punk identity can be difficult; as the punk scene changed and re-invented itself, "[e]veryone got called a poseur". One music writer argues that the punk scene produced "...true believers who spent long days fighting the man on streets of the big city [and living in squats who] always wanted to make punk rock less a cultural movement than some kind of meritocracy: "You have to prove you're good enough to listen to our music, man." Joe Keithley ,
11640-423: The revival of punk ideals of stripped-down music in the early 1990s, with grunge musicians like "[Kurt] Cobain , and lots of kids like him, rock & roll ... threw down a dare: Can you be pure enough, day after day, year after year, to prove your authenticity, to live up to the music [or else] live with being a poseur, a phony, a sellout ?" Refused 's Dennis Lyxzén and Bad Religion 's Brett Gurewitz used
11760-413: The right to use the trappings of gangsta rap – the macho posturing, the guns, the drugs, the big cars and magnums of champagne. He's not a poseur pretending to be a gangsta; he's the real thing." A This Are Music review of white rapper Rob Aston criticizes his "fake-gangsta posturing", calling him "a poseur faux-thug cross-bred with a junk punk" who glorifies "guns, bling, cars, bitches, and heroin" to
11880-473: The same: warmongering politicians, money-grubbing punk poseurs (including Rancid , whose Tim Armstrong once worked as an M.D.C. roadie), and of course, cops". NOFX 's album The War on Errorism includes the song "Decom-poseur", part of the album's overall "critique of punk rock's 21st century incarnation of itself". In an interview, NOFX's lead singer Mike Burkett (aka "Fat Mike") "lashes out" at "an entire population of bands he deems guilty of bastardizing
12000-552: The scene was emanating in a small after-hours bar, A7 , on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and later around the famous bar CBGB . For several years, CBGB held weekly hardcore matinées on Sundays, but they stopped in 1990 when violence led Kristal to ban hardcore shows at the club. Early radio support in New York's surrounding Tri-State area came from Pat Duncan, who had hosted live punk and hardcore bands weekly on WFMU since 1979. Bridgeport , Connecticut's WPKN had
12120-469: The singer for D.O.A. said in an interview that: "For every person sporting an anarchy symbol without understanding it there’s an older punk who thinks they’re a poseur." The interviewer, Liisa Ladouceur, argued that when a group or scene's "followers grow in number, the original devotees abandon it, [...] because it is now attracting too many poseurs—people the core group does not want to be associated with". The early 1980s hardcore punk band MDC penned
12240-403: The sole purpose of impressing others." As opposed to the sneakerhead who purchases and collects shoes because he likes them, a hypebeast will only purchase a pair that is very popular among others and they gauge their self worth only on how many likes they can get on their #OOTD (outfit of the day) Instagram post with that coveted pair of sneakers on. In furnishing parlance, a "poseur table"
12360-430: The starting point. In the vein of earlier punk rock, most hardcore punk bands have followed the traditional singer/guitar/bass/drum format. The song-writing has more emphasis on rhythm rather than melody . Blush writes "The Sex Pistols were still rock'n'roll...like the craziest version of Chuck Berry . Hardcore was a radical departure from that. It wasn't verse-chorus rock. It dispelled any notion of what songwriting
12480-470: The straight-ahead rock styles of old-school punk and the frantic, warp-speed bashing of thrash." Some hardcore punk drummers play fast D-beat one moment and then drop tempo into elaborate musical breakdowns in the next. Drummers typically play eighth notes on the cymbals, because at the tempos used in hardcore, it would be difficult to play a smaller subdivision of the beat. The early 1980s hardcore punk scene developed slam dancing (also called moshing),
12600-450: The subculture but who were deemed to lack authenticity and sincerity. In 1986, SPIN magazine referred to "poseur metal". In 2014, Stewart Taylor wrote that in the Bay Area thrash metal scene in the 1980s, in venues where bands like Exodus played, metal fans who liked " hair metal " bands such as " Ratt , Mötley Crüe and Stryper " were considered to be poseurs. A sociology book states that "[t]rue [metal] fans separate themselves from
12720-471: The technical aspects of jazz; instead, they would just learn the names of a few old masters and "...become a romantic, a charlatan, a poseur, a pseudo-intellectual, an aesthetic snob, ...well on the way to success" as a jazz critic. In the 2000s, the CBC produced a radio show about how to spot "jazz poseurs" in a jazz scene. These were described as people who do not know much about the music, but they can "name-drop"
12840-403: The term to refer to early 2000s-era pop punk fans as "kids – more specifically the new wave of punk poseurs who came to the music via bands like Good Charlotte ". They argue that these young listeners want "not to have to think and [instead they] would rather use music as escapism [,] and too many bands seem willing to comply". One writer argued that the Los Angeles punk scene was changed by
12960-870: The time. Jimmy Gestapo of Murphy's Law , however, endorsed Reagan and even went as far to call then former president Jimmy Carter a "pussy" in a 1986 New York Magazine cover story. Shortly after Reagan's death in 2004, the Maximumrocknroll radio show aired an episode composed of anti-Reagan songs by early hardcore punk bands. Certain hardcore punk bands have conveyed messages sometimes deemed " politically incorrect " by placing offensive content in their lyrics and relying on stage antics to shock listeners and people in their audience. Boston band The F.U.'s generated controversy with their 1983 album, My America , whose lyrics contained what appeared to be conservative and patriotic views. Its messages were sometimes taken literally, when they were actually intended as
13080-467: The typically focused-on elements in mainstream rock music, harmony and pitch (i.e., melody ). Hardcore vocalists often shout, scream or chant along with the music, using "vocal intensity" and an abrasive tone. The shouting of hardcore vocalists is often accompanied by audience members who are singing along, making the hardcore vocalist like the "leader of a mob" commonly known as "gang vocals". Steven Blush describes one early Minor Threat show where
13200-488: The various feedback and harmonic noises available to them. There are generally fewer guitar solos in hardcore than in mainstream rock, because solos were viewed as representing the "excess and superficiality" of mainstream commercial rock. Hardcore bassists use varied rhythms in their basslines , ranging from longer held notes (whole notes and half notes) to quarter notes, to rapid eighth note or sixteenth note runs. To play rapid bass lines that would be hard to play with
13320-788: The year 2000", arguing that "the prospect of fame, groupies, and easy money by playing other people's records on two turntables brought out the worst poseurs since hair metal ruled the Sunset Strip. Every dork with spiky locks and a mommy-bought record bag was a self-proclaimed turntable terror." A Slate magazine article argues that while the independent music scene "can embrace some fascinating hermetic weirdos such as Joanna Newsom or Panda Bear , it's also prone to producing fine-arts-grad poseurs such as The Decemberists and poor-little-rich-boy-or-girl singer songwriters". In 1986, SPIN magazine referred to "poseur bikers ", individuals who ride motorcycles and wear biker clothing, yet who lack
13440-534: Was an Italian hardcore punk scene in the 1980s that included groups like Wretched , Raw Power , and Negazione . Sweden developed several influential hardcore bands, including Anti Cimex , Disfear , and Mob 47 . Finland produced some influential hardcore bands, including Terveet Kädet , one of the first hardcore groups to emerge in the country. In Eastern Europe, notable hardcore bands included Hungary's Galloping Coroners from 1975, Yugoslavia's 1980s-era Niet from Ljubljana, and KBO! Poseur A poseur
13560-578: Was another sign of how The Clash had sold out – a messy, vain work of punk poseurs". US music journalist Lester Bangs praised punk pioneer Richard Hell for writing the "strongest, truest rock & roll I have heard in ages" without being an "arty poseur" of the "age of artifice". Another critic argues that by the late 1970s, "punk rock had already, at this early date, shown signs of devolving into pure pose, black leather jacket and short hair required". Please Kill Me includes interviews with punks in New York and Detroit who "rip their English counterparts as
13680-486: Was asked what he believed to be the first hardcore record, he remarked: "Sound Of Imker Train of Doomsday single in the late '60s in Holland. The only true '60s hardcore record I know." One definition of the genre is "a form of exceptionally harsh punk rock". Hardcore has been called a faster, meaner genre of punk rock, that was a stern refutation against it, being more primal and immediate, with speed and aggression as
13800-553: Was coined as D-beat , a term referring to a distinctive drum beat that a number of 1980s imitators of Discharge are associated with. Another UK band, the Varukers , were one of the original D-beat bands, Scottish band the Exploited were also influential, with the term "UK 82" (used to refer to UK hardcore in the early 1980s) being taken from one of their songs. They contrasted with early American hardcore bands by placing an emphasis on appearance. Frontman Walter "Wattie" Buchan had
13920-664: Was followed by a number of other successful artist-run labels—including BYO Records (started by Shawn and Mark Stern of Youth Brigade), Epitaph Records (started by Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion), New Alliance Records (started by the Minutemen's D. Boon and Mike Watt ), as well as fan-run labels like Frontier Records and Slash Records . Bands also funded and organized their own tours. Black Flag's tours in 1980 and 1981 brought them in contact with developing hardcore scenes in many parts of North America, and blazed trails that were followed by other touring bands. Concerts in
14040-410: Was perceived to be "a very narrow definition of what fits into Punk", apparently being "authoritarian and trying to dominate the scene" with their views. During the 2001–2009 United States presidency of George W. Bush , it was not uncommon for hardcore bands to express anti-Bush messages. During the 2004 United States presidential election , several hardcore punk artists and bands were involved with
14160-525: Was so serious and authentic. His fame as an artist seemed to require that he present himself as a poseur. The playwright and critic, George Bernard Shaw , has been described as a poseur; in that context Shaw is quoted as saying, "I have never pretended that G.B.S. was real ... The whole point of the creature is that he is unique, fantastic, unrepresentative, inimitable, impossible, undesirable on any large scale, utterly unlike anybody that ever existed before, hopelessly unnatural, and void of real passion." In
14280-605: Was the favorite epithet". Ross Buncle argues that eventually the Australian punk scene "opened the door to a host of poseurs, who were less interested in the music than in UK-punk fancy dress and being seen to be hip". Describing a rehearsal of The Orphans, he says there "were no punk-identikit poseurs" present. A 2015 article about early punk subculture in The New Republic states that punk "...was as immersive as
14400-610: Was then a member of the band Impact Unit, and drew the artwork for the DYS album Brotherhood . In 1982, Modern Method Records released This Is Boston, Not L.A. , a compilation album of the Boston hardcore scene. In addition to Modern Method was Taang! Records , who released material by a number of the aforementioned Boston hardcore bands. Further outside of Boston were Western Massachusetts bands Deep Wound (which featured future Dinosaur Jr. members J Mascis and Lou Barlow ) and
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