EP 273: December 2025
Hardcore Lives
Killer episode this week on the pod. Check it out here, here, or here and check the playlist here.
Last week hardcore lost two of its own.
Most people know Puerto Rican Myke from the NYHC Documentary. He was the funniest dude on it and his personality jumped through the screen. I think this was a blessing and a curse for the band. Obviously it got a ton of eyes on them and made them more of a household name than they may have been otherwise outside of NY. On the other hand, I feel like sometimes they get overlooked musically because of how humorous their parts were on the documentary.
The thing is, on wax District 9 was no joke. Their 1995 7” Schoolahardknox is a certified NYHC classic and one of the best hardcore EPs of the 1990s.
Peep the outro sequence on “Payback.” Who was busting stuff like that? District 9 was bringing it both musically and lyrically. “Behind Red Tape” was a visceral story of a mom seeing her only son laying dead in the street. “Think About It” tackled depression and suicide. “Live Life” was about a youngster who made bad choices, got locked up, and just yearned to be free and to be a kid again. And of course “Payback” was about betrayal and contained some of the most creative lines on a subject that has been done many times. So many bands phone it in when it comes to lyrics, but every District 9 track was thoughtful and unique. Myke was an amazing lyricist and I hope he is remembered for that as much as his humor. RIP
We also lost Red from Scarecrow. I’m gutted for Daniel, Usman, Jeff and all their friends/family. Red had a great voice, delivery, and they were an expert at one of the most overlooked skills a vocalist can have: letting the song breathe. RIP
I never met Red or Myke, but in the underground hardcore and punk scenes you’re never more than a degree or two away; everyone’s a friend of a friend. It’s one of the things that sets us apart from others, and it’s why it hurts when people pass who we never knew personally. I’ll be jamming District 9 and Scarecrow on the reg this week and I doubt either will be coming out of rotation anytime soon.
Trivia time (answers at bottom):
What three letter band was on the cover of Maximum Rocknroll #1 in 1982?
The singer of Anti-Nowhere League shares names with what drumming Muppet?
What was the title of Bastard’s 1989 7”? A) Controled in the Frame B) Controled by the Flame C) Controled in a Frame D) Controled in a Flame
On the back of the seminal Agnostic Front album Live at CGBG, Roger is wearing the shirt of which Boston band?
185ers Kev Hare and Chris Williams both practice Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. If they roll around on dirty mats too much, they may end up with what Cleveland hardcore band?
On my way to LA to catch a gig, I swung by the 60 Miles East punk exhibit at the Riverside Art Museum. It was housed in a pretty gigantic room and organized nicely with placards on each wall explaining what the items were. I know you want me to comment on the title of the exhibit so I will. Obviously it’s a ham-handed attempt at merging Riverside’s location and the freeway that runs through it. To clarify, no, I am not a part of this thing at all. Let me tell the brief origin story of the name 185 Miles South again:
From 1983-1985 there was a fanzine out of the Oxnard, CA area called 60 Miles North. The name was a play off Oxnard being 60 miles north of Los Angeles. When I started 185 Miles South, the name was meant as a tribute to that fanzine and to tie my hometown (Oxnard) to where I had been living for over a decade (San Diego). San Diego is, of course, 185 miles south of Oxnard.
Back to the exhibit, it’s kind of an unfortunate name since Riverside is only 55 miles east of LA. Doesn’t bode well for the exhibit, eh?
We kick it off with this sick Voodoo Glow Skulls wall. They should’ve probably proofread that bio, but who am I to say? Have you read this blog lately?
I guarantee no one needed therapy from seeing whatever this lame act was.
Ok, this is just fucking hilarious. Are we pretending that before the internet or GPS people couldn’t find locations based off an address? How did one find the DMV if they weren’t given a photocopied flyer or some word-of-mouth instructions? How did I make it to Thanksgiving that one year when it was at my aunt’s house? It’s a miracle that anyone got anywhere, I tell ya!
A significant portion of the exhibit was dedicated to the Showcase Theater in Corona, one of the greatest spots for hardcore shows ever.
Speaking of the Showcase, this is one of the best shows I ever attended.
Sick flyer wall.
Overall rating: 3/10
I saw some killer gigs since the last time we checked in.
11/4/25 Habak/Golpe/Agonista/Therapy at Che Cafe (San Diego, CA)
Therapy is one of San Diego’s heavy hitters so when you see they’re opening a show, you know it’s a stacked gig. Therapy/Agonista/Golpe all killed it and then it was past my bedtime. From all accounts, Habak totally crushed like always. Nothing better than a packed show at the Che.
11/8/25 Danbert Nobacon/All Beat Up/Meth Breath/Discourage/Subversive Intent/Gaining Ground at The Print Shop (San Diego, CA)
This was a sick gig at San Diego’s premier ask-a-punk spot. It was a packed house, mostly due to it being Meth Breath’s first gig in a handful or so of years. It was so packed for them, I couldn’t get in to shoot a clip for y’all. I guess you just had to be there. Gaining Ground is the best new band in San Diego, made up of a bunch of kids who have the spirit and are at pretty much every all ages gig. When your now-lame band rolls through San Diego and decides to pay a bar cuz the $$$ is better, this is who can’t get in and mosh to your band.
My band, Subversive Intent, played 2nd and sounded sick of course. Discourage played next and sounded killer. They were on a short run promoting their new record, so buy that here. Meth Breath followed and were greeted as the returning heroes they are…band name still sucks tho. All Beat Up headlined and slaughtered like they always do. They’re one of the sickest sounding three-pieces there is, and their LP from last year rules so buy it here. Danbert Nobacon’s gig fell through last minute so the promoters let him jump on the gig to play a few songs at the end of the show. The few songs turned into like a 10 song, hour long set.He didn’t even play the song. Bunk.
11/10/25 Sheer Terror at Tower Bar (San Diego, CA)
Sheer Terror played maybe the best set I’ve ever seen them play at the Tower Bar to a small but enthusiastic crowd. They played all the hits, sounded awesome, and Paul Bearer continues to be the man.
11/15/25 Shark Attack/Knife Fight/Personal Damage at The Moroccan Lounge (Los Angeles, CA)
Crazy weather for So Cal this weekend with big rain showers that wrecked havoc on commuters. I saw four crashes in my first hour on the road. That didn’t hurt the turnout at this gig, though. The combo of Knife Fight’s first gig in a decade and Shark Attack’s first gig in California sold out The Moroccan Lounge in LA. Personal Damage set it off with a solid set to an already full room. Knife Fight sounded like they just came off tour - tight, burly, and Westbrook sounds as good as he ever did. They covered “All I See” by Discharge which was an interesting choice but worked. Shark Attack blasted through a killer set of basically ever song they wrote and a couple covers that I can’t remember. Last Rights, maybe?
11/16/25 Unbroken/Blacklisted/Indecision/Beyond Repair/Clique/Raise Wrong/Crashing Forward/Graverust at The Belasco (Los Angeles, CA)
Another crazy day of weather and another 5+ hours on the freeway to watch HC. Some dude plowed into the back of a car at a stoplight as I was walking up to the show and then peeled out. Fuck it. I spent over two hours at Radiation Records in Anaheim so I missed the first four bands like a dick. The room was super loud. Beyond Repair aka old-Throwdown sounded great. Indecision played next and sounded awesome as well. Tom’s pipes are pretty amazing for a scene vet. Shoutout to the straight edge. Blacklisted torched through a great set and really popped the crowd, then Unbroken came out and closed the show proper.
11/21/25 Scarab/Missing Link/Fatal Realm/Wretched Rite/Set Free/Killing Capacity at Che Cafe (San Diego, CA)
Sold out show at the Che. It was so packed for Wretched Rite that I had to watch from back by the kitchen. I staked out a spot early to catch Fatal Realm as they tore the roof off the place. Missing Link jumped on for a secret set and then Scarab finished out the night with one of the best sets I’ve seen this year. If I was ranking my top five off the top of my head, I’d probably go:
Cock Sparrer at Punk Rock Bowling
GBH at House of Blues
Scarab at Che
Golpe at Che
Direct Control at Che
11/23/25 Cock Sparrer/Dillinger Four/Home Front at The Hollywood Palladium (Los Angeles, CA)
Showed up in time to see Home Front bust a killer set of tracks from their last two LPs to a really receptive crowd. D4 was next. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them play to a crowd that wasn’t theirs and this was definitely the shortest set I’d ever seen them play. They were great regardless but it felt more like eating off the app menu cuz I’m saving my money for drinks. Of course the drink was a full pitcher of room temperature Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout being cracked over my head, as Cock Sparrer played their final LA show to a few thousand folks for the 2nd night in a row. When I saw them earlier this year in Vegas, they didn’t play “I Got Your Number” or “Running Riot” but they corrected that this time. Still no “Bird Trouble,” though…bummer!
The billing was very specific as the “Last LA” show, so I’m sure we’ll be seeing Cock Sparrer again in California before too long, especially after how well these two shows did.
11/26/25 Béton Armé, Dark Thoughts, Brazen Bull, Traxx at Soda Bar (San Diego, CA)
Brazen Bull is a killer local band made up of old dudes who don’t come off as washed at all. Apparently once they played “How Much Art Can You Take?” in its entirety which definitely must’ve sucked, but every minute of their set that I saw raged. The drummer of Dark Thoughts has maybe the best right hand in the game (dude from Citric Dummies is close but I haven’t witnessed it live). They blazed through a bunch of Ramones-esque tracks but didn’t play “Do You Dream” which was kinda a bummer. The frontman went on a long rant about how special Soda Bar was and how important it is to have community spaces like it. Dude, you’re playing a $25 bar show, settle down. If you want culture, play somewhere all ages. Béton Armé headlined and were one of the best live bands I’ve seen this year.
We started this episode with the bracket up top, the elite 8 of the tourney. By the end, we had whittled it all down to one champion.
Be sure to check out this monster post where I talked every record, and check out episode 268 of the podcast for a full breakdown on everything. Jam all the records here. Raped Ass was probably the favorite going in and it went all the way, beating the Mona Lisa of hardcore in the semis and Sweden OGs, Headcleaners, in the finals.
Early next year we will start our next tournament: USHC 1981-1983. Hell yeah.
On the pod, Kev and I put our heads together to rank the five Judgement 7”s. I’d rank No Reason Why as a top 5 7” of the 1990s, maybe top 3, so it’s numero uno for sure, but where do the others land? Tune in to find out.
For the ‘stack, I’ll rank my favorite songs (they only had 12). Yes, my mother took Tylenol.
No Reason Why
Kick Them Over
Night Brings
The Mad Dog
The Situation
ドライヴ
Process
シンプル
Haunt In The Dark
Saylove
Heart of Darkness
Just Be…
How about that?
Trivia answers:
MDC
Animal
A) Controled In The Frame
Slapshot
Ringworm
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I play in a band called SUBVERSIVE INTENT. Jam the demo here, here, or here and buy the tape here.
- ZN
Fire