EP 283.5: '90s Youth Crew Revival Tier List Pt. 2
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I’m back for part two of the ‘90s Youth Crew Revival Tier List. Part one was episode #280.5 that came out on March 2nd, so get in those archives to listen to that one if you haven’t yet. This two part series was inspired by the excellent From Within Podcast #68 (2-25-26) where they broke down a bunch of bands and put them into a tier grid.
Here is the grid I used and how I interpret it:
In my rankings, I only looked at material in the 1994-1999 range so for bands like Carry On and Count Me Out, their LPs aren’t factored in. From Within also ranked Right Brigade, but I consider them the front end of the next thing so I left them unranked. The same would go for the 3rd Carry On 7”, which followed Right Brigade in the post-youth crew revival, slightly meaner lane.
From Within ranked three bands God-tier: Floorpunch, Right Brigade, and Ten Yard fight. I got a fair amount of feedback on part one because I ranked no bands God-tier. Look, I love this era and a ton of the bands in it. It was my entry point into hardcore and this is the stuff I loved and wished I got to see more of while being stuck in the metalcore hell of mid/late ‘90s So Cal.
When Ten Yard Fight and Battery toured to California in ‘97, it was like an oasis delivered to us in the middle of the desert. I’ve probably spun the Sportswear 7”s more times than almost anyone in the US. I actually listened to both Reinforce 7”s enough times to determine that one is better than the other.
But still…we gotta call it like it is, right?
God-tier has gotta be reserved for the classic ‘80s bands who these bands were inspired by. There’s no Victim in Pain of in this era. No Age of Quarrel, Filler, or Screaming For Change. No blue album, no 7”s as good as Antidote or Negative Approach. There is still a slew of killer bands and records, though, and for a brief moment in time some of these bands were absolutely vital in making a generation of kids look back to the roots of the genre to understand where hardcore came from, and what it actually sounded like. That mattered.
Of course, by the end of the ‘90s this movement had turned into a caricature of itself and by the time the Supersoul comp came out in the year 2000, it was over.
Bands over the years since have done the style well (The First Step, Mindset, Line of Sight, etc.), but it’s always been a band here or there, never really a big scene or movement. Part of that is because things were never so drastic again. By the late ‘90s more bands had started playing a roots hardcore style—some were part of the youth crew revival, some adjacent, and some had nothing to do with it. Check out Felix Havoc’s MRR column from August 2001:
By the early 2000s, you had all the stuff Felix talked about along with the Lockin’ Out/Bridge 9/etc stuff. Roots hardcore was in a good place and would never fall back to the depths that it was at in 1991-1994.
Back to the youth crew revival…If you want to know who got B, C, or Crap tier…smash that Patreon button or become a paying member here. I break it all down in the audio. Let’s get into the S & A tier bands here (broken down alphabetically, not ranked):
S tier:
Floorpunch (New Jersey)
Floorpunch is the most renowned band of the era, enough so that Shining Life put out a 300 page book about them. The demo and 7” are stone cold classics. They wrote short, catchy songs and packed a meanness into them that many other bands of the era lacked. They drew as much from classic NYHC like Cro-Mags, Breakdown and Killing Time as they did from the Rev catalog. That was really the secret sauce. I was at all five of their California shows in 1999 and my band played three of them. If you want to hear about it, buy the book.
Jam these tracks: “Changes” / “No Exceptions” / “The Answer”
(a hero emerges @ 8:47)
Ignite (Orange County, CA)
From Within didn’t rank Ignite, and technically they weren’t really a “youth crew revival” or “posi-core” band. They were, however, an avatar of roots hardcore in the mid 1990s. Ignite pulled more from Uniform Choice/Unity and DC hardcore 1981-1983 than the Rev stuff, but they definitely belong in this conversation for revival bands.
I realize that this is a weird one to take in if you’re under 40 and weren’t around in the ‘90s, because Ignite never stopped playing and have evolved into a totally different thing over the last couple decades. I consider the classic era of the band to be when Zoli joined and before Joe D. Foster leaves, so basically from the In My Time 7” through the Past Our Means 12” (1994-1996, and live through ‘97 or ‘98). This lineup remains one of the greatest bands I’ve seen and I think the records still rule in such a unique way. They’re ripping but also almost over-the-top serious, something that I was desperately looking for after listening to too many shitty NOFX and Lagwagon lyrics. I supposed I could’ve gotten sucked into the ass-flap brigade, but in the mid ‘90s that posse came off mostly like better-than-you cunts.
No one ever sounded like this era of Ignite again…even them. Their follow up LP from 2000, A Place Called Home, was decent. The songs were similar but it was missing the intangibles that made the previous iteration great: Foster’s DC-esque guitar flourishes and Casey’s unique style of drumming.
Jam these tracks: “Ash Return” / “Straight Ahead” / “Embrace”
A tier:
Battery (Washington D.C.)
Battery gets A-tier based off the Until The End LP and their live shows in the ‘97/’98 era. They have records from earlier in the ‘90s that are fine, but this is the one that hit in the heart of the era and is their best by far. It sounds thick and mean while Brian’s vocals and lyrics portrayed a vulnerability not seen too much in this scene. The followup on Rev was too melodic and kinda whatever. Whoever decided to do that wonky compilation re-release of their material on Rev instead of just re-releasing this LP—dude, why? I’m tempted to drop Battery to B-tier off that decision alone.
On a positive note, their cover of “Young Til I Die” was all-time…especially live.
Jam these tracks: “It’s In Our Hands” / “Back to the Gym” / “Young Til I Die”
Eyeball (Germany)
Eyeball gets A-tier off the strength of the Talk’ Straight 7”. I’d consider Sportswear, Eyeball, and Mainstrike the big three European bands of the scene and each are making A-tier. This band could get A-tier from the first fifteen seconds of this 7” alone. Just listen to how it starts—literal hardcore perfection. The only way they could blow it is by going too long but they don’t. Every song on this rips. They put out an LP the next year which is fine, but this style of hardcore is meant to be on 7”.
Jam these tracks: “Spirit Remains” / “In Control”
Hands Tied (New Jersey)
Another band who’s getting A-tier off the strength of a single record. This was Tim McMahon’s post Mouthpiece band.
What do you think of when you think of Mouthpiece? For me, it’s a band who kept the flag flying for roots hardcore during the darkest times possible for the genre, the early ‘90s. Also, the worst drumming in a legendary band.
Seriously, I think he did. The Hands Tied 7” has some of the best drumming of the era, both in the performance and in the way it cuts through in the recording and drives the whole record. Tim’s voice is even better than on the Mouthpiece records too. His rhythm patterns back the more aggressive songs and his yelling voice is still as good as ever.
Jam these tracks: “Signed Off” / “Rearrange”
In My Eyes (Boston, MA)
The In My Eyes demo was a big deal when it came out. You see, Anthony Pappalardo had just been kicked out of Ten Yard Fight.
Seriously, I know he did. Pops came back with a vengeance. He put together a powerhouse group and released a demo that was universally loved, so much so that they got signed to Revelation Records off it…a pretty big deal at the time. They jumped right to doing an LP and like Ignite, they seemed like a real pro band. I don’t mean that in the negative connotation of how some people think about pro-core today; you could definitely still buy an In My Eyes shirt for $10. I’m saying they always sounded good and there wasn’t a member out of tune or playing out of a Crate combo amp. All the dudes always went off, the drummer didn’t do a cheat beat, and simply, they just brought the heat. In My Eyes were a great example of when this music is executed proficiently live, it’s some of the best music on the planet.
Jam these tracks: “This Is Our Time” / “Welcome to Boston” / “Perspective”
Mainstrike (Netherlands)
Another band that gets A-tier based off a single record. Their first 7” is pretty good; their 1st LP and their final 7” are pretty bunk. But No Passing Phase is probably the best LP of the era/genre other than Call On My Brothers. The recording is great. Every song rips and except the opening track, every song is under two minutes. There are memorable parts all over this thing, but how about the “YOUTH CREW - LET’S GO!!” on “Hopeful Days?” So good. It’s a shame this record came out in 1999 instead of 1997.
Jam these tracks: “No Passing Phase” / “Destiny” / “Hopeful Days”
Redemption 87 (East Bay, CA)
Nothing says “youth crew revival” like literally naming your band Redemption 87. I interviewed the singer Eric Ozenne again last week for episode 284 and he said the Together comp is his favorite hardcore record (Revelation Records #2 from 1987). That’s the spirit he was trying to bring back with this band. In the ‘90s being “old school” was a badge of honor and ex-members were revered. Redemption 87 not only had Eric from Unit Pride on the mic, they had Timmy Chunks, the singer from Token Entry, on guitar. They backed it all up with killer hardcore punk tunes and Eric’s over the top Cappo meets Louie Rivera voice. They also slayed live.
Jam these tracks: “Rumor Mill” / “Spidey Song” / “About Face”
Sportswear (Oslo, Norway)
Look, there’s no way around it—this is one of the worst band names in the history of music but I’m going to ask you to look past that for a minute. Sportswear is firmly A-tier due to the two studio 7”s in their catalog. Both are powerful, catchy, aggressive, and just sound massive. Without a doubt, these are two of the best revival records of the era. The LP is good too but in my opinion doesn’t have the same power.
Jam these tracks: “Keep It Together” / “For The Sake of Dedication” / “It Runs Deep”
Ten Yard Fight (Boston, MA)
Ten Yard Fight is firmly A-tier. The demo is good. It has corny lyrics but it’s catchy as hell and “Pit of Equality” is undeniable. The Hardcore Pride 7” is one of the best of the era. Seriously, bring back yelling the song title at the beginning of songs. The demo is ‘95, same as the Floorpunch demo, and really these two bands were the face of the revival on the front end. Respect.
Jam these tracks: “Hardcore Pride” / “Forever” / “Pit of Equality”
Who all did I talk about/rate on these two episodes?
97a, As We Once Were, Bladecrasher, Carry On, Committed, Count Me Out, Follow Through, Over The Line, Rain on the Parade, Rancor, Ensign, No Reason, Tiebreak, Atari, Cornerstone, Fastbreak, Time Flies, Envy, Halfmast, Onward, Plagued With Rage, Rad, Rely, Show of Hands, Speak 714, Stand Your Ground, Tenfold, The Trust, Better Than a Thousand, Good Clean Fun, Intention, Pushed Too Far, Reinforce, Where Fear and Weapons Meet, Outlast, Proclamation, xRectifyx
Who did I miss? Let me know.
Full episode below…
