EP 250: Hardcore 2010
Killer pod this week. Check out the episode here, here, or here and check the playlist here or here.
2010 was an interesting year for me personally. I turned 30 which is weird for anyone in hardcore. Aging in a youth scene is very strange and it doesn’t get any less awkward (I turned 45 this month, ugh). This several year span was the most active I was musically since the early 2000s with In Control. Retaliate put out LPs in 2009 and 2011 and in 2010 we got flown out to Sweden to play a festival in Gothenburg. One of the dudes responsible, Staffan, is still a friend who I correspond with frequently (but where YOU at, Fredrik?!) But enough about me, maaaan…
What were the best punk and hardcore songs of 2010? Here were our choices:
Let’s jump into my list:
Praise “Caught In A Cycle/I Believe” Growing. Changing. Healing. 7” REACT! Records
These two songs are merged together on Spotify and together combine to form Side A of the 7”. When people talk about melodic hardcore, it seems like they always go to Start Today, Can I Say, and later Turning Point and that’s fair - that’s legitimately the best melodic hardcore there ever was. Beyond that, my favorite stuff is probably the 2nd In My Eyes LP and this Praise 7”. I loved it when it came out and jammed side A so many times. To me it sounded like a perfect mash up of Battery and the aforementioned In My Eyes, two of my favorite bands a decade prior.
The guitar flourishes make “Caught in a Cycle” so special, like that little guitar lick on the verse and the almost Attaining the Supreme style guitar part before the final salvo. Andy does a great job of hanging back and letting the song breathe instead of smothering it and then comes hard with the epic “I keep on trying” part at the end.
“I Believe” rages harder - maybe it’s a tick faster, maybe the chord progressions are. The fury leads to a breakdown with the perfect uptempo mid-tempo cadence and the memorable “I believe I can make a change/I believe in a better way” line on repeat. It’s so awesome, especially with the little guitar flourishes behind it adding sizzle. This is an amazing (har har) record that should be revisited by anyone who has even a passing interest in the style.
Nails “Enemy” Unsilent Death LP Six Feet Under
This is the first Nails LP but by 2010 Jones was already a grizzled scene veteran who had already written three great hardcore LPs. “Enemy” rules and has a structure similar to my favorite Terror song that he wrote, “Nothing To Me.” Those two songs are both super fast, compact songs bookended by giant head-bobbing mosh parts. Todd has talked to me before about tapping into youthful rage for Nails lyrics, but on this one he really opens up and dips into some truly personal shit, even if it’s done in the most angry way possible.
Coke Bust “No Authority” Degradation E.P. 7” Grave Mistake/Refuse Records
Coke Bust is at their best three years later on the Confined LP, but this 7” is a ripper too. They straddle the line between fast hardcore and powerviolence and truly were one of the best hardcore bands of the 2010s. There have been tons of fast bands in the last 45 years of hardcore, but only the elite can write hooks. Here’s Coke Bust tucking a couple into a 30 second song. The second WHO ARE YOU?! into the stomp part is some apex shit - you’re slamming.
Terror “Friends” Past Present LP Revelation Records
For Revelation Records #150, the label had modern bands dig into the Rev catalog and cover a bunch of classics as well as a Texas is the Reason song. I grabbed this Side By Side cover because Dan and Chris picked the two biggest songs from Terror’s 2010 album Keepers of the Faith. I don’t know if it’s lost to history or not, but the rollout and marketing for that record was brilliant. It rejuvenated the band, gave them a second life, and “Sick Tight” and “Keepers of the Faith” are still two staples of the Terror live set. They kill it on this SBS cover. It works great with their style and hey, it’s one of the best hardcore bands ever covering another one of the best hardcore bands ever - how can you lose?
Knife Fight “Never Ending Cycle” Isolated E.P. 7” Painkiller Records
I dunno if Knife Fight dropped their tuning a half step or someone got a new guitar pedal, but this record sounds heavier than the rest. Don’t get it twisted though, it’s still the same Knife Fight - fast and gnarly with Westbrook tucking in vocal hooks to make the songs stand out. This one has a killer chorus where if you hear it once, you’ll remember it. Killer.
Cülo “Nuke Abuse” Nuke Abuse 7” Punks Before Profits
Cülo put out a flurry of 7”s between 2009-2011 and here’s the first track off of one of their 2010 ones. It starts uptempo mid-tempo with a pretty triumphant chord progression then breaks fast. It rules cuz it has a legit chorus with some little guitar flourishes under it. Sick explosion at the end too…kaboom!
Multiple songs were picked off this compilation which should be noted:
Some of my honorables:
- ZN
I like the songs picked. Nice that Cokebust was mentioned…. Ceremony’s “sick” always sat wrong for me. I always dug the song but saying your “sick of hardcore” always seemed like shitting on where you eat.
happy birthday, Zack!