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 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 Turnstile 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 on Feb. 1, 2026... More

First hardcore punk band on SNL

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" (peace, love, and happiness) cultural climate of the time (late '60s, early '70s). It was also inspired by Washington, 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)
Hardcore sprouted underground scenes across the United States in the early 1980s (with a place for Jews, girls, riot grrrls, post-riot grrrls, which is back), 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
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

Some crazy kids of today


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 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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