EP 231: 1988
This is a long one, so you might want to open in your browser.
Killer episode this week on the pod. Check it out here, here, or here and check the playlist here or here.
1988 was a pivotal year for punk and hardcore for a handful of reasons:
The Rebirth of So Cal punk. Bad Religion’s Suffer may have single-handedly kicked off the rebirth of So Cal Punk and ignited the EpiFat era, for better or worse. Bands like NOFX and Pennywise would chase that Westbeach sound and become headlining draws in short time themselves. This stuff all created a percolating underground that exploded in 1994 and catapulted Green Day and Offspring into the mainstream and lifted many of their contemporaries into a new echelon of popularity.
Youth Crew. Youth of Today did a full US tour in 1987 and spread the gospel across the country that hardcore wasn’t dead and the 2nd wave was in full effect. In 1988, their vision was fully formed with East Coast bands like Turning Point, Bold, Side By Side and Wide Awake putting out debut records, as well as YOT side projects Judge and Project X. Of course Youth of Today also put out their crushing 2nd LP We’re Not In This Alone on Caroline Records. In So Cal, that lane was represented by Insted, No For An Answer, and Hard Stance while up in Nor Cal, Breakaway and Unit Pride were holding it down.
Powerviolence. Although Infest released their demo in ‘87 and Powerviolence wasn’t coined until the next year, 1988 saw Infest release both their first 7” and 12”. Argue all you want, but these are the first two records of a fully realized Powerviolence sound - and probably still the best. Shoutout to Downsided, tho.
The birth of modern hardcore. Hear me out. So in ‘87 Breakdown breaks up and from the ashes we get Raw Deal. They put out their demo in 1988. ‘88 also saw Judge release their first 7”, New York Crew. In 1989, both bands go to Normandy Sound and record LPs which I think represent the birth of modern Hardcore, trading in that raw 1988 sound for a more polished 1989 one that rivaled more metal-leaning contemporaries like Leeway. Think of some of the biggest mainline hardcore bands of the last 20-30 years - Madball, Terror, Strife, etc. - it all starts here.
Fugazi. This is one of the most documented bands of all time, so there’s no need for me to pontificate much here. Get in those archives and check out episode 161 of 185 Miles South where Anthony Pappalardo gives a great starter kit on DC’s Revolution Summer in 1985. Now that you’ve listened and are a subject matter expert, you know two of the most important bands of that era were Rites of Spring and Embrace. Now Voltron a few key members of those two bands together and you get one fierce beast of a band ready to stand in opposition to high door prices and stage dives. Seriously though, Fugazi was a super important band that put out a run of great post-hardcore records and instilled DIY ethics in multiple generations of kids. And it all started in ‘88 when they released their first EP. The Raw Deal demo is better, though.
Here are our lists for the year:
Let’s dive into mine...
Side By Side “The Time Is Now” New York City Hardcore - The Way It Is LP
“The Time Is Now” starts out soft. Since the last time we heard from them, had SBS locked themselves in a basement and only listened to the new 7 Seconds and Uniform Choice records? Nah, son - in less than 20 seconds we’re into some classic laid back NYHC bounce and less than 20 seconds later, it’s a classic “Goooo!!!” into some old school hardcore punk speed. It all builds up to one of the best end sequences in the history of the genre, with big gang vocals over a perfect major chord progression. This song is a mini-opus but 100% hardcore perfection.
Slapshot “In Your Face” Step On It LP
Oi influenced hardcore is back in a big way with bands like Pittsburgh’s No Time, Denver’s Direct Threat, and of course Conservative Military Imagine, who is currently one of the biggest bands playing a roots hardcore style. But no band ever did it better than Slapshot, and Slapshot never did it better than they did on their 2nd 12” Step On It. On this track, Choke’s biting lyrics pepper over a perfect, no frills mid-tempo banger with one of the most classic edgeman choruses there ever was.
Youth Of Today “Slow Down” We’re Not In This Alone LP
At least two people have told me the story where they’re driving down the freeway when they look over and, low and behold, it’s Ray Cappo driving in a fresh ass convertible with the top down. Of course there’s only one thing to yell at him, right?
Anyway, this song starts perfect with a single cymbal choke into a guitar break. Then the drums kick briefly followed by another single cymbal choke and a bass break, then we’re in at full speed to one of the most raucous verses YOT has in their catalog. It’s ironic that the message of one of their most intense songs is basically telling you to chillax, but hey - it rips. The breakdown part when it’s just drums and bass is an all-timer.
Bad Religion “1000 More Fools” Suffer LP
Suffer was my gateway record to punk and it’s still in heavy rotation and one of my favorite albums ever, of any genre. Clevo swooped “Do What You Want” so there was no hurry for me to take a BR track since I had way more than seven to choose from - it’s a true dartboard record. “1000 More Fools” really embodies this era of Bad Religion for me: 90 second songs with lyrics that don’t make sense and verses that are as good as the choruses, all highlighted by Pete Finestone’s underrated drumming. His choices of when to bounce between the ride and the hi-hat are perfect and add so much drive to these tracks. He really was the anchor that “kept it real” for Bad Religion, so to speak, since he had such a simple, loose style that kept it 100% hardcore punk and not whatever they would be chasing in the 90s after his departure.
Judge “In My Way” New York Crew 7”
I love when a breakdown hits out of nowhere coming off a fast part, no buildup or sophisticated transition, just a tempo change and you’re moshing. Here’s a perfect example. Plus this jam has one of the best hardcore lyrics of all time.
I'm keeping it simple and I'm keeping it clear
And I won't use words cuz you're too fucked to hear
Really if you think about it, this is a perfect hardcore song: fast part > breakdown > big sing-along. Biting ass lyrics. Hell yea.
Raw Deal “Wall Of Hate” Raw Deal Demo cassette
There was clearly other shit brewing and that was used as the excuse for the breakup to happen. Things are different at that age. People get on your fucking nerves really easily. When you all have different ideas on what to do with the music, and, all of a sudden, one band member is hanging out in the backseat of a car with another band member’s girlfriend, things are set off. It all seems so silly in retrospect. So Don and Jeff continued with Breakdown with Mark Sisto on bass and Larry Kaplan on drums. They already had the name, so Breakdown went and kept on doing shows. Me, Rich, and Carl went back to my father’s garage. We had to start all over again. We just lost whatever fan base we had. From the beginning, all three of us really clicked together. We started writing music together, and it was so much better than what we were writing with Breakdown.
Anthony Drago in Tony Rettman’s excellent book New York Hardcore 1980-1990
We can argue until the end of time which is better - the Breakdown ‘87 demo or the Raw Deal demo. What you can’t argue with is that these were two of the greatest hardcore demos of all time. It’s sick to see that these days Killing Time is revered as one of the best hardcore bands ever, with them being one of the few old school bands that newer kids seem to care about. I remember when In Control covered “Wall Of Hate” at Gilman in ‘02 or ‘03 no one knew it except Mikey Hood, who hilariously expressed his bewilderment at the crowd upon the song’s conclusion. Wall of Hate! Wall of Hate?! No One?
Anyway, this demo rules. You know it. You love it. And it rules that its available now so if anyone ever busts this one at Gilman in the future, there are no excuses.
Supertouch “Searchin’ For The Light” The Way It Is LP
Sorry Fugazi, but I only like two emo songs: “Once I Cry” by Uniform Choice and “Searching For The Light” by Supertouch. In ‘87, this song was the final track on the first Revelation Records comp - the Together 7”. Since the track was so dope, they just ran it back for the ‘88 comp too. This is a more polished and overall better version. The song features that chord slide dynamic which would be a huge component of many early 90’s hardcore bands guitar work, most notably Outspoken.
If you can’t bob your head to this one, I dunno what to tell you.
1988 flyer dump (shoutout Metallipromo):
So yea, ‘88. Pretty killer year, eh?
- ZN
Love it. WNITA is one of my all-time faves of any year, and as Clevo mentions, Ray’s emphasis on ‘fuck’ in Put It Aside is the cherry on top of a classic song. Much respect, too, for Ben’s hat tip to Moss Icon’s ‘I'm Back Sleeping ....’ in the honourable mentions.
This episode prompted me to finally get around to checking out Heresy and Ripcord’s releases from 1988, and it was well worth it (especially with Face Up To It thankfully being remastered in 2018).