Monday, January 18, 2010

Boston hardcore

Boston hardcore is the hardcore punk scene of Boston, Massachusetts. (Not to be confused with Boston metalcore aka metallic hardcore; itself an offshoot of Boston hardcore.)

Boston hardcore music history

The colleges and universities of Greater Boston offered a favorable venue for non-commercial music to be played. Several schools have their own radio stations, such as WBRS, WMFO, WUMB, WAVM, WMBR, WUML, WERS, and WTBU. The colleges also supplied young patrons for the local nightclubs and bars where local hardcore bands had gigs.

First-generation Boston hardcore bands as documented in American Hardcore included SS Decontrol, Gang Green, Jerry's Kids, The F.U.'s, Negative FX, D.Y.S. and Uncalled 4.
Hardcore quickly usurped the existing "alternative" punk scene, which included bands such as Mission of Burma. This created a generation gap-type conflict that could be seen at such events as Mission of Burma's "final show," where members of many leading hardcore bands created a near-riot when, due to the slam dancing supposedly ruining Burma's swan song, Negative FX's sound was shut down.This militant straight edge group, (consisting of many member from DYS, Negative FX and SSD) was known as the "Boston Crew". Their hard-line attitude became a defining characteristic for later bands such as Slapshot, Eye for an Eye, Ten Yard Fight, and Crossface.

Record labels and famous records

Independent record labels like Taang!, X-Claim Records, Modern Method, Bridge 9, Rodent Popsicle, Welfare, Hydra Head, Big Wheel, Rock Vegas, and Deathwish Inc. help to fuel the punk culture in Boston . A highlight of the early New England hardcore era was the This Is Boston, Not L.A. LP, which was a compilation of local artists. It includes the song of the same name performed by The Freeze, who advised: "if you look the same and you act the same, there's nothing new and you're to blame".

Boston hardcore was based more on Washington D.C. hardcore (Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Teen Idles, Government Issue) than it was on Los Angeles hardcore, (i.e. such bands as Black Flag, Bad Religion, the Circle Jerks, and the Germs).

This may be the reason why few L.A. bands played Boston in the early 80s, with the exception of a Black Flag show at The Paradise on Halloween 1981, which was attended by 12 people, including John Belushi, who had driven up from Martha's Vineyard just to attend.

visit: wikipedia, Strange Reaction

Boston Belongs To Me (A Tribute To Boston's Hardcore Scene)



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