Showing posts with label rebellion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rebellion. Show all posts

Friday, October 9, 2026

Hardcore punk making a comeback? (SNL)


Turnstile live at Full Force in 2019 (wiki)
Turnstile started as a hardcore punk rock group. Their breakthrough third album Glow On was released in 2021, earning critical acclaim and three Grammy nominations. The band has expanded and now just calls itself "an American rock band" from Baltimore (Maryland) that formed in 2010. Turnstile consists of lead vocalist Brendan Yates, guitarist Pat McCrory, guitarist Meg Mills, bassist Franz Lyons, and drummer Daniel Fang. Their fourth album Never Enough was released in 2025 and charted in the Top 10 of five countries, including the USA. It received five Grammy nominations, making it the first band in history to be nominated in the rock, alternative, and metal categories in the same year [2]. Turnstile won a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance for their song "Birds" and Best Rock Album 2026. More

First hardcore punk band on SNL: 1981

What is "hardcore punk"?

First real LA hardcore punk? The Germs (1976)
Commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc, this subgenre of punk rock with its distinct subculture originated in the late 1970s. It is generally harder, faster, and more aggressive than other forms of punk music [8].

Los Angeles may be famous for hXc, but LA certainly didn't invent it singlehandedly. Its roots can be traced to other crosspollinating punk scenes in Northern California like the San Francisco Bay Area and the SoCal region, including Orange County, Hollywood, and outlying parts of the sprawling megalopolis of the City of Lost Angels.

The Story of Hardcore Punk Rock 🧷

Turn on, tune in, and drop out, Kids (Ram Dass)
Hardcore punk arose as a reaction against the still predominant "hippie" (wimpy peace, love, happiness) cultural climate of the time (in the late '60s, early '70s). It was also inspired by D.C., and New York punk rock and earlier proto-punk [1].

Hardcore Buddhist Zen?
Hardcore punk generally eschews (resists, rejects, runs away from) commercialism, the established music industry, and "anything similar to the characteristics of mainstream rock" [14], which tries its darndest to garner fans, popularity, and commercial appeal in a capitalist marketplace.

Hardcore punk, on the other hand, frequently addresses social and political topics with "confrontational, politically charged lyrics" [15].

Hardcore Buddhist punks?
Hardcore Zen: Punk Rock, Truth About Reality (Brad Warner)
I was in Hollywood singing about Buddhism (Darby Crash)

LA's Wasted Youth: "Problem Child"
"Wasted" youth is a double entendre, as youth is wasted being wasted on drugs and drink (IG)
Hardcore sprouted underground scenes across the United States in the early 1980s (with a place for girls, riot grrrls, post-riot grrrls, new-riot grrrls, and Jews), particularly in Los Angeles, San Francisco (punk rock in California), Washington, D.C., Boston, and New York (NYHC), as well as in Canada and the United Kingdom.



Straight edge X: no drinking, drugs
Hardcore has spawned the straight edge movement and its associated sub-movements, hardline, and youth crew.

Hardcore was heavily involved in the rise of the independent record labels in the 1980s and with the D.I.Y. (do-it-yourself) ethics in underground music scenes.

It has also influenced various music genres that in distinction to punk rock have experienced widespread commercial success, including grunge and crossover thrash metal.
What happened to straight edge?
Straight edge tattoo: hardcore booze-and-drug-free, vegan clean living
East LA (Chicano) backyard parties
Hardcore makes it to the Midwest
Although the punk music genre started in English-speaking Western countries, notable hardcore scenes have existed in Buddhist Japan (Japanese punk rock, Japanese hardcore punk), Italy (Italian punk rock), and Brazil (Brazilian punk rock).

Best band on the East Coast? Void "Who Are You" live in 1983

Characteristics
Void releases classic split-EP with No Faith (one of our personal favorite punk bands of all time)

American Hardcore (film) 
Hardcore punk historian Steven Blush credits DC's Dischord Records co-owner Ian MacKaye (Bad Brains-inspired Minor Threat and Fugazi) with starting a "die-hard mindset that begat almost everything we now call Hardcore," which was virulently anti-music industry and anti-rock star [16].

An article in Drowned in Sound argues that late-1970s/early-1980s era hardcore is the true spirit of punk, because "all the poseurs and fashionistas f*cked off to the next trend of skinny pink ties with New Romantic haircuts, singing wimpy lyrics" and the punk scene now consisted of people like Minor Threat, Bad Brains, Black Flag, and Circle Jerks, dedicated to the DIY ethics [17].

Other writers have also attributed hardcore punk rock to a reaction against artsy and mellower sub-genres that punk grew into, such as post-punk and super popular new wave [2, 18]. Hardcore punk additionally broke with original punk rock song patterns and visuals, favoring lower-key aesthetics [19] that were all about getting back-to-basics. More

What is a "minor" threat?

Punk rock Los Angeles: The Decline of Western Civilization, Part III
(Shout! Studios) The Decline of Western Civilization, Part III | full movie | Penelope Spheeris

The crazy kids of today: T.R.U.E.


This punk band might be saving humanity

Scroll Stopper Club(Scroll Stopper Club) May 18, 2026: A man claiming to be from the future says humanity was saved by a punk band from near Seattle: Tacoma, Washington. Naturally, I investigated. This week’s Scroll Stopper is “Blast” by The Rat Utopia Experiment — a chaotic, explosive punk track that somehow turns spelling into a full-blown psychological event.


In this episode: 🐀 The REAL Rat Utopia Experiment and society collapsing 🐀 Why crowds love yelling together ("gang/group vocals") 🐀 How audience participation creates cult-level fan loyalty 🐀 Why this song absolutely rules 🐀 A songwriter tip bands should steal immediately. If listeners love discovering new music before everyone else does, welcome to the Scroll Stopper Club. 🎵 Listen to The Rat Utopia Experiment “Blast.” YouTube: @theratutopiaexperiment. Website: theratutopiaexperiment.com. Bandcamp: theratutopiaexperiment.bandcamp.com. 📸 Follow Scroll Stopper Club on Instagram: scrollstopper.club

Mermaid Island grrrl who growls, rocks

Mermaid Island live in Hollywood
Blur's Dream(Blur's Dream) Dec. 10, 2025: KNUCKLEHEAD HOLLYWOOD. So, like, I brought my Sony A7R IV to Knucklehead in Hollywood. The bill consisted of M-16, Spunk, Mermaid Island, and Spray Allen. The energy at this show was wild. Shoutout the Latex Vixens for dancing during the live sets! I had a ton of fun, and the bands played super dope music. Apologies to M-16 for not filming the first half of the set. But check out Mermaid Island's SETLIST: "Freaks" 0:20 "Don’t Ask" 3:00 "He Started It" (dedicated to Hamilton Morris) 8:36 "Panic Button" 12:55 "Ice Cream" 17:20 "Sh*t Out of Luck" 24:55 "Mona Lisa" 29:09 Links: mermaidislandband, linktr.ee/mrmdisland...

What is British anarcho-punk like RP, Crass?
(Every Album Ever with Mike Mansour) The story behind the world's most unhinged anarcho-punk band | Ep. 257: Rudimentary Peni (a medical reference to a fetal pre-vagina)


Punk-influenced filthy standup comedy?

Why hardcore punk was so important

Rich Mom(Rich Mom) April 24, 2024: Hope y'all enjoy this new series I’ve put together! Thanks so much for watching. DISCLAIMER: This video is NOT intended to be a deep dive. To learn more about the hardcore punk subculture, see @thepunkrockmba. Sellout Finn McKenty, MBA, is real groovy and I don't know why people hate him. Here's McKenty's take:
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Thursday, October 8, 2026

White man's powwow: slam dance mosh pit



Study finds mosh pits mimic ancient tribal rituals
If only neighboring Hollywood nightclubs had a way for young invading European settler colonialists to express themselves in appreciation of their musical traditions, perhaps a distinctive dance style to the beat of relentless drums with howls and yelps, cheers and applause.

Careful, kids, you don't want to get hurt.
Such exuberance might look like pure mayhem and random violence, particularly when it devolves to a war game/war dance called a "Wall of Death."

For example, the biggest Wall of Death ever was during Slaughter to Prevail's set at Hellfest 2024. Is it real?

Hey, down front, we're trying to watch the show! - Then pay for a seat. This is GA on the floor.
We Got Power! (perihelionarts.com)
.
Mosh Pit Meditation (calm amid chaos), Pt. 1
But a tribal war dance full of fists and fury with wild gyrations of the body, swinging limbs recklessly at nonparticipants, or coagulate into a swirling mass of humanity in a "circle pit" to the grating guitars, excruciating vocalizations, and amplified rhythm section of rebels without a cause, ne'er-do-wells, and malcontents. Perhaps, in time, such an outlet will form in and around Tinsel Town, USA, as bands seek to win the attention of corporate music industry types.


Mosh pits of the future
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Monday, October 5, 2026

Ireland activist/dissident Dolours Price



A NEW documentary focusing on the life of militant IRA activist and dissident Republican Dolours Price has just arrived on Netflix, having earned great reviews
Sisters in the Resistance against imperial rule
I, Dolours, from Director Maurice Sweeney, presents a powerful and disturbing portrait of Price, who died in 2013 and spent time in prison for her role in the IRA bombing of London's Old Bailey in 1973.

The documentary sees the once-idealistic Price reflect on her part in the troubles and the depths she was willing to sink to in the name of the cause.

Two years prior to her death Price agreed to conduct a filmed interview on the condition it would never be broadcast during her lifetime.

The resulting interview with The Irish News, which forms the basis of I, Dolours, saw Price confess to her involvement in the murder of Jean McConville, a mother of 10 from west Belfast who was abducted and killed by the IRA in 1972.

McConville was suspected by the IRA of passing on information to British forces, though a police investigation, conducted decades later, found no evidence she was an informer.

Her body was eventually discovered on a beach in Louth in 2003, following a tip-off from the IRA. More: A powerful documentary on IRA activist Dolours Price has arrived on Netflix | irishpost.com
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Wednesday, September 2, 2026

Punk rock: The story of the Germs

(Sound of History) The Germs: the most explosive punk band
The Germs: Bassist Lorna Doom; guitarist Pat Smear; drummer Don Bolles; singer Darby Crash
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Darby Crash, April 1980, L.A.
The most interesting thing about Irish American singer and lead vocalist for the Germs Darby Crash (Jan Paul Beahm) is that he was a Buddhist in 1970s Los Angeles. He alludes to it in the song "The Slave."

THE SLAVE: It starts in your head/ And moves to your hands/ Your body starts shakin'/ 'Cause you're in demand/ You do the slave to the beat/ Of the neuro-sutra can-can/ You're lashed 'twixt the stars/ With your ice and motor cars/ You do the slave to the beat/ Of the neuro-sutra can-can/ Oh yea! Yea! Pull out the Zen/ I've got a Buddhist principle in my hand

The Sound of One Hand Clapping | Medium
Your life seems wasted, your bodies laced in/ Don't stop now, you've got to trace it/ You put your hands together/ Writhe in the shackle/ You twist your body round/ 'Til it starts to crackle/ You do the slave to the beat/ Of the neuro-sutra can-can/ You're lashed 'twixt the stars/ With your ice and motor cars/ You do the slave to the beat/ Of the neuro-sutra can-can/ Oh yea! Yea! Pull out the Zen/ I've got a Buddhist principle in my hand/ Your life seems wasted, your bodies laced in/ Don't stop now, you've got to trace it// Right here right now, shake it in and out now/ Lights on, off now, make it spin and fight now.

So long before there was a Nirvana, long before Darby's guitarist and best friend Pat Smear began playing for Nirvana, there was already interest in bringing about "the end of all suffering," which is the literal meaning of the Sanskrit term Nirvana. Female bassist Lorna Doom went off into oblivion or obscurity, but drummer Don Bolles went on to local greatness with Goth punk 45 Grave. Of course, Darby was a troubled teen in Hollywood, California, so he had bigger things to worry about than ending suffering. He had addictions to develop, dysfunctional coping mechanisms, and remembering to use the microphone near his mouth during live performances on his mind.


He was clearly a very talented wordsmith on his way to a fabulous career if everything hadn't come crashing down around him. Drugs and drunkenness. They'll be the ruin of most rockers who think they'll be different and go untouched by the predictable three-stage tragedy of use, abuse, and demise. Good thing Joan Jett recorded and produced them so well before it was too late.

Don Bolles went on to play fastest song in world till then: "Black Cross"
(well, there was the lightning fast "Red Tape" by Circle Jerks, too)

Truth about Rock 'n Roll industry: fake

I inspired Nirvana and played with and for Kurt
(Rock N' Roll True Stories) Melvins' King Buzzo (Buzz Osborne): Rock's most brutal truth-teller?

Fecal Matter was a punk rock band from Aberdeen, Washington state. FM was formed in 1985 by Kurt Cobain, Nirvana's future frontman, along with Dale Crover of the Melvins and drummer Greg Hokanson. Melvins members Buzz Osborne (also known as "King Buzzo") and Mike Dillard appeared in a later version of the band during rehearsals the following year. The band was short-lived, disbanding in 1986. Songs from the group's sole recording session were issued as the Illiteracy Will Prevail demo tape.

addiction, band, corporate, drugs, ego, exposed, grunge, heavy metal, KISS, music, nirvana, profit motive, rock n' roll, selling out, sex industry
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