Ressurection “I Refuse”
I was always a little confused by the spelling of the name of this band. Like was it spelled wrong on purpose? Or in the age before autocorrect was it just a typo they had on their album cover and just had to roll with it afterwards? Singer Rob Fish’s other band 108 also had an album in 1994 and they had a song called “I Defy.” Jeez, settle down, Rob. Save some contrarianism for the rest of us.
Converge “Halo In A Haystack”
Yes, you read that correctly. Converge, a band who is still currently active and maybe the most successful on this list, released their first album thirty fucking years ago. For the most part, this holds up pretty well for its age and is honestly not too far from what they still sound like. You gotta respect their dedication to keep it up as they age. If I pick up a guitar and noodle around for a bit I get bored after five minutes and look at my phone.
Refused “This Just Might Be The Truth”
Four years before they were shaping the punk that was to come, Refused were still trying to find their sound and aesthetic. This mid-paced album with its clunky Victory Records-esque moshiness and graffiti logo is a far cry from the swinging cool cat daddy-os they would evolve into. Nothing on this sounds like their big breakout hit “New Noise” which would eventually find its way into the mainstream by being featured on the FX show “The Bear.” (Can we talk about that Calvin Klein ad that the dude from “The Bear” did by the way? I haven’t seen abs like that since every Ignite show ever.)
Shift “Pathos”
I saw Shift once and they were getting heckled by someone in the crowd who kept calling out the name of Quicksand songs. It was kind of funny but not really fair since they really didn’t sound that much like Quicksand. I mean yes maybe a little but Shift was more melodic and maybe even a little catchier. Fun fact: Drummer Samantha Maloney went on to play in Hole, The Eagles of Death Metal, and even filled in on drums for Motley Crue. I wonder what ever became of that heckler.
Dropdead Self-Titled
Maybe the one band that every iteration of hardcore and punk aficionado can agree on. Whether you’re into hardcore, gutter punk, crust punk, grindcore, metalcore, horror punk, crustcore, hard gutter, ska crust, or even metal crust horror core you’re probably into Dropdead. Or at the very least you pretend to have heard of them and put one of their patches on your dirty jean jacket next to Amebix and Crass or whatever other band you don’t actually listen to.
Ignite “In My Time” 7”
Four of the songs that would end up on their full-length “Call On My Brothers” the following year. This is good music to work out too because not only does it get you pumped up but you can look at the cover and get mad that your abs don’t look anything like Zoli’s.
Struggle “One Settler, One Bullet”
Just one look at the album art and you know you are getting an Ebulition release. Stark black and white photo of guns with typewriter font. Yeah, you’re about to be yelled at about something political that you’re not smart enough to understand. The music doesn’t go quite as hard as the cover does but “Welcome to America, you have the right to be beaten” is fun to sing along to.
Lifetime “Tinnitus” 7”
This is a bit of a pit stop for Lifetime as they transitioned from whiny emo to the catchy hardcore heroes they would eventually become. This is super bouncy and fun with great lyrics like “I wanna be da coodeschbo indaworl / I’m gonna may erreybody lahvme / wiki keides hand wuh hov loss oh pan” You know, the kind of words that really speak to what you’re going through at times.
Deadguy “Work Ethic”
This list is quickly becoming all the things the heavy hitters of the mid-’90s did the year before they released their well-known full-length. And here’s another one. A year before Deadguy gave us “Fixation On A Coworker” they were honing their crazed angry man skills with a couple of seven inches that became the “Work Ethic” EP. The only ding I’ll give this is the design of the cover with its Arial fonts and default gradient effects looks like something they threw together in MS Word 3.1.
Undertow “At Both Ends”
You probably can’t remember what you had for dinner last night and are only 50 percent sure what your middle name is but I bet you remember the part in “At Both Ends” when they go “I just want you back.” It’s a great soundtrack to listen to while you do your physical therapy exercises for that arthritis you’re starting to get in your knees.
Into Another “Ignaurus”
Into Another is an acquired taste. There have been so many heated arguments about whether they were actually a real hardcore band or not. Good god, people. You know the ice caps are melting and we have Nazis again, right? Who knows if they’re actually hardcore but with songs about snowflakes and monsters and album art with butterflies I’m leaning towards a hard no. But they are great nonetheless.
Groundwork “Today We Will Not Be Silent Nor Invisible”
There were actually two bands called Groundwork going around in the ‘90s and I’m sure some kids were disappointed showing up to a show and realizing it was the wrong Groundwork they were seeing. It’s not my place to say which was the better Groundwork but we’re talking about this one so I’ll let you do the math. These dudes were really pissed off about some political shit and possibly people using UPC codes or something.
Warzone “Old School To New School”
It’s not often that the name of the album tells you exactly the direction a band is taking with their music. Raybeez and crew shed their ‘80s style hardcore (for the most part) and ushered in a new sound with elements of thrash crossover and mid-paced grooves. Raybeez who was a central personality in the New York Hardcore scene from its inception passed away from pneumonia complications just three short years after this record. RIP Raybeez.
Coalesce Self-Titled 7”
Their very first release that often goes overlooked especially by hack frauds who write articles ranking their albums. This sounds more like a demo with its rough-sounding production. Sean Ingram’s vocals are not even recognizable here. Maybe he was going through puberty when they recorded this like Bobby from that episode of “The Brady Bunch.” I know that’s a dated reference but if you’re reading this you know exactly what I’m talking about, Grandpa Crowdkiller.
A Chorus Of Disapproval “Firm Standing Law”
I have no way of confirming this but I think A Chorus Of Disapproval was the first band to do the X BAND NAME X thing with their shirts that just said “X CHORUS X”. Not to diminish their music which is fine but if I’m correct about this then they should be recognized for this contribution to society. An entire generation has based their usernames off of this template for everything from AIM Chat to TikTok including boygenius whose Instagram handle is “xboygeniusx”. Boygenius is that band your Gen-Z niece keeps trying to get you to listen to by the way.
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