Episode 224: 1982
Killer episode this week on the pod. Check it out here, here, or here and check the playlist here or here. We’ve been focusing on all new stuff for the last couple months so now it’s time to take it almost all the way back to the birth of hardcore.
It’s Red Cross vs. Iron Cross. It’s Black Flag vs. White Flag. It’s Articles of Faith vs. The Faith, and somehow Void STILL wins. Possibly the most overwhelmingly awesome year on so many fronts.
In Great Britain, hair is getting taller and jackets are getting spikier with the retroactively labeled sub-genre UK82 – stuff like The Exploited, GBH, and The Varukers. Of course, future D-Beat devotees will pray at the altar of this specific era of Discharge. Simultaneously, in the same country, heads are getting shaved as Oi! classics are being released by Blitz, Cock Sparrer (England Belongs To Me 7”), and The Business.
Meanwhile across the pond, 1.5 is peaking with records by Descendents, Bad Religion, Rikk Agnew, Angry Samoans, Channel 3, DOA, Fear, Effigies, Kraut, Legal Weapon, Zero Boys, Vandals, Toxic Reasons, and Social Distortion. At the same time, proper first gen hardcore music is in full force with records by Negative Approach, Faith, Void, MDC, SSD, 7 Seconds, Circle Jerks, DK, Bad Brains and Black Flag. In terms of geographic distribution of awesome music coming out of North America, Southern California is crushing it, but its days as a dominant player are numbered, as the seeds planted by bands like DOA and Black Flag a few years earlier all over the states and provinces are sprouting their own homegrown scenes.
First gen punk is deader than a doornail, but The Damned and The Clash are still around and doing very interesting stuff. Goth and its US counterpart death rock, both directly descended from punk, are peaking as well. X signs to a major label.
Labels that are founded: Xclaim!, BYO, Ratcage, Razor, Gasatanka, Corpus Christi,Ruthless (the Effigies label, not the Eazy-E label), Version Sound, Enigma
Bands that break up: Professionals
Notable bands that put out debut releases: Beasties, Battalion of Saints, Articles of Faith, The Faith, Void, Iron Cross,Deep Wound, Neos, Negative Approach, Negative FX, The Mob NYC, FU’s, SSD, White Cross, White Flag, Code of Honor, Overkill, Conflict
Bands that reunited: Minor Threat
Significant comps: American Youth Report, Not So Quiet On The Western Front, Flex Your Head, This Is Boston Not LA, Unsafe At Any Speed, New York Thrash, Rodney on the ROQ Vol. III, Punk And Disorderly Further Charges, No Future – the template has been set.
- Ben Merlis aka Ben Edge aka Bedge
So yea, sick year.
Here are our Super 7 Playlists:
All killer lists, but I’ll dig into mine.
Blitz “Razors in the Night” Never Surrender/Razors in the Night 7” - No Future
Top 10 punk song of all time. Anthemic and melodic while still being raw as fuck. In and out in under two minutes. Absolutely perfect…think about it. My band covered this song in 2002 and put it on a record - usually a disaster move. I think it holds up alright and Ryan hits the most beautiful note of his singing career @ 1:32. Shoutout friend of the pod Andy Diehard for putting out the IC 7” and shoutout to Posi-Chris, the king of timestamps.
Negative Approach “Can’t Tell No One” S/T 7” - Touch and Go
In 1982 NA puts out their debut 7” and the world is never the same again. They seamlessly blend first wave USHC with some of the best Oi! elements that were coming out of the UK. “Can’t Tell No One” represents the latter - an all time mid-tempo singalong that serves as a reminder to us all that hardcore punk music is the best.
Discharge “Protest and Survive” Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing - Clay
This track along with “Religion Instigates” and “Ain’t No Feeble Bastard” show Discharge bring the mid-tempo banger the hardest. While they’re known mostly for being the forefathers of the D-Beat genre, the mid-tempo songs are often their tent pole tracks. I wrote more about them here so check that out.
Agression “Dear John Letter” V/A Someone Got Their Head Kicked In - BYO
I grew up in a town called Oxnard, CA which is approximately 60 miles north of Los Angeles and in October 2023 I helped with an event where we attempted to tell the history of Nardcore. Check it out here.
After you peep that video and now are an expert, you’ll know the first punk band from Oxnard to appear on vinyl is Agression. They were a part of the Someone Got Their Head Kicked In compilation BYO put out that featured a murderer’s row of So Cal punk.
Like “Razors in the Night,” this song represents what I love so much about early 80’s punk: the juxtaposition between the melody and the rawness. The leads and chord progressions are so poppy but the recording is fuzzy and Mark Hickey’s vocals are quintessential snotty punk. If you want more Agression stuff, get in those 185 Miles South archives and check out the Larry White and Big Bob interviews, as well as the Big Bob Tribute.
Ill Repute “Clean Cut American Kid” V/A Rodney On The ROQ Vol. III - Posh Boy
More Nardcore and more comp songs. Here’s Ill Repute’s vinyl debut with their catchiest song “Clean Cut American Kid.” This is a re-recording of one of their demo songs and an upgrade if you ask me, adding the woah’s. This song is so tuneful while still being punk.
Flipside Fanzine #35 came with the comp. Here is a little blurb from Rodney about Ill Repute and their page from the zine:
Shoutout to The Dartells, but back to Ill Repute and “Clean Cut American Kid…”
I always trip out that they followed this song up with one of the nastiest sounding hardcore 7”s of all time. Luckily back then everyone was on smack or glue so it was all the same to them. I kid, I kid. If you want more Ill Repute, get in them archives cuz I interviewed Tony, John, Carl, and Jim.
Bad Brains “I” S/T Cassette - Roir
We all have opinions on what the greatest hardcore record of all time is. There are a handful that I think are acceptable answers and many where I’d channel the 90’s better-than-you record store clerk vibe on your ass for proclaiming it in front of me. The Roir Tape, as it’s affectionately called, is one of the correct answers. To stay with my theme of mid-tempo bangers, I chose “I” - a song that is equally unhinged as it is in the pocket. The Dr. Know/Darryl/Earl unit is so tight that H.R. can just let loose over the top of it. The pulse of this thing is otherworldly.
Misfits “Mommy Can I Go Out And Kill Tonight? (Live)” Walk Among Us - Plan 9
When I was thirteen I got into punk and smoked weed for the first time. The latter corresponded directly with the first time I heard the Misfits as well. Imagine getting high your first time and someone puts this record on. Fuck. Let’s just say I understood then why they can sell out arenas now. This shit was the truth.
Of course sometimes when you’re on the moon things can take a dark turn quickly. One of the dudes decided he wanted to go out and fight unhoused people and if we didn’t come along, we were getting our asses kicked first. Now with a giant dose of peer pressure added to the malt liquor and weed combo, I joined the small group walking through the dunes of Oxnard Shores while this dude was yelling “MOMMY! Can I go out and kill tonight?!” hoping to draw someone out of the shadows.
I told myself I’d never smoke weed again and I didn’t…until the following weekend. There are better songs on Walk Among Us but none stir up the anxiety of me being thirteen years old - equally excited and scared of the world opening up in front of me.
Two final things:
I gotta mention since we recorded this pod I’ve had Dan’s pick “Alternative” in heavy rotation. What an anthem. Shout out Wattie!
Pop’s took “We’re Gonna Fight” from 7 Seconds off of their Skins, Brains, and Guts 7”. Here is a review from Flipside #36:
And here is a review from Maximum RocknRoll #2:
We’re back in two weeks talking new music along with some other stuff. Hardcore rules - peace!
- ZN