What I know about American Hardcore can be written on a postcard. Actually, that isn’t true, maybe the stamp on the postcard. So, why was I asked to review this album? Probably it was just one of a random sent to me. No rhyme nor reason. I have to admit though, I am really glad this was in my latest pile of CDs to review as, knowing pretty much nothing of this genre, I put the CD in my laptop with no expectation and no presumptions about what I was about to hear, and I loved it. 26 songs in a dizzying 37 minutes and I enjoyed every raw, screaming second of the assault on my ears.
Having done some research on the development of American Hardcore, the bands that lived though it and the music that ripped out of the stomach of the increasingly right wing and at times horrifying early to mid 80s, I know a hell of a lot more about this part of music history than I did a week ago and I think I am all the better for that.
This is a compilation album taken from a documentary film of the same name and I suspect that, if like me, you know little of this part of music history from 20 years ago, the documentary is essential to understanding what drove bands to produce the music found in this compilation. The 80s were a time where AIDS first became a household word and was whispered in hushed tones in middle class homes as something to be feared and would kill us all, or at least anyone who was gay. Ronald Reagan was in the most powerful political seat in the world and was mistaking parts he had played in films for memories of his youth and Margaret Thatcher was sending forces to the Falklands and dealing with the miners’ strikes. The world was changing and the music both here and in the USA was reflecting the anger of the underground social movement that was slowly raising it’s ugly head above the parapet.
The documentary and subsequent compilation album were inspired by a book by writer and producer, Steven Blush (the book is titled American Hardcore: A Tribal History). Blush, though his book and documentary, advises that this music can be best appreciated only if considered against the restrictive and repressive social consciousness of American life during the Reagan years (D.O.A.’s Fuck Up Ronnie is not a subtle indication of how the band felt about their country’s premier). I am not convinced that a knowledge of this political era is required. In fact, anyone living through the Thatcher years will have an understanding of where this music came from and I don’t see the current Bush administration as being too far removed from the feelings and rebellion of the mid 80s.
So, why is a music review touching on politics? Because this is intrinsic to the background of the bands and the music of this compilation. The album mugs the listener from the first track (arguably the first true example of American Hardcore), Black Flag’s Nervous Breakdown and flies through a fast and furious romp through the bands that made it from punk to hardcore ending with Flipper’s Ha Ha Ha. It encompasses the bands from the 3 main geographical locations from where this genre sprang: LA, The Midwest and New York/Boston, whilst bringing in the humorous arm of the genre seen mainly in Texas. Really Red’s I Was a Teenage Fuck Up may sound like an Emo kid’s diary but is a brutal but amusing take on teenage life.
The album is not exhaustive in giving the listener a true guide of this genre and conspicuously leaves out bands who bridge the gap between American punk and hardcore (such as Germs, Dead Kennedys and The Minutemen), but that doesn’t detract from the compilation. It doesn’t profess to be a complete encyclopedia of this era of music, but is more a broad brushed example of music that affected the social conscience of a generation stuck with an actor for a president.
Is this worth listening to? Yes. Fuck yes. Is it full of the best examples of genre? I don’t know, but this has certainly given me a taste for this music and it’s history so come back in a few months and maybe I will be able to give a better answer.
For information on the film see www.americanhardcoremovie.com
This album is avaible to buy now.
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Originally Posted by Joni Mitchell 
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