Last Updated on October 26, 2009 by James Dziezynski
I got a special treat on the way to work today–apparently, my Zune found a folder I had made years ago of ripped cassette tapes/vinyls of Gorilla Biscuits, Agnostic Front, Warzone, Token Entry, Youth of Today and Judge. All these groups consisted of about 20 dudes, many of whom bounced back and forth between the bands. The NYC Hardcore movement never blossomed into the mainstream (for better or worse) but came dangerously close.
Listening to the mix today brought back a lot of great memories. It was cool that there was a whole music scene beyond the radio and MTV and a lot of it was damn good. Sure it was unpolished and raw. At the same time it was catchy, positive and in most cases, thoughtful. It sounded like punk, but didn’t desperately cling to the generic punk image. It wasn’t technical like metal but still was melodic. Best of all, these bands were guys not much older than I was and if you went to the shows, it was easy enough to meet them and talk about anything from the scene to the message of the music.
More than the history, I still like the way these songs make me feel. It’s not nostalgia as much as it is the subtle positive messages and the enthusiasm for life. Granted, I’m viewing the scene through rose-colored lenses but it was such a great time for people not easily molded into generic roles yet weren’t outcasts — for the most part, the scene (intially) encouraged a cool do-it-yourself model that didn’t pander to the accusing eyes of culture at large. And admittedly, the message that you didn’t need to drink, do drugs or indulge in any number of alleged rites of passsage and emerge as a well-adapated and socially functioning individual was quite appealing to me. Still is.
Of course the scene faded, changed, got commercialized and is nothing more than a footnote to music history. But with the new horizons of label free music distribution, internet band sites and so on, maybe we’re not too far from another similar scene. Admittedly, I’m too old to connect with it when it comes up but I know for those who are challenging culture and doing it in a positive way, there’s going to be a group of awesome kids growing up in our far-too conventional American society.
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