Andrew Vacante of Combust, Steamroll, Downfall, and more joins us to talk about NYHC from a modern New Yorker's perspective. We get into how the identity of NYHC has changed over time, the drought of native NYHC bands in the 2010s, and how Andrew's bands have helped change the tenor of the scene. Plus, many other digressions on hardcore minutia. Ba…

Eye for an Eye drummer Thos Niles joins us to discuss his band's come-up in late Eighties Boston, an odd transitional period for one of the most important scenes in hardcore history. We talk a lot about Eye for an Eye's short yet sweet first go as a band, and paint a pretty vivid picture of what hardcore was like leading up to the Nineties post-har…

Prolific Pittsburgh hardcore musician, podcaster, and writer Gem Fair joins us for an episode about albums that are important to our experiences with hardcore. Not our favorite hardcore albums. But releases that opened us up to new sides of hardcore, got us into the genre, helped frame what we want out of it, etc. Bands we talked about: Terror, Cer…

Convulse Records owner Adam Croft (who also drums in Destiny Bond) joins us for our first label profile episode. We talk to Adam about the eclectic DIY empire he's building with Convulse, his personal canon, the Denver hardcore scene, bands he wishes he could release music by, and more (including a preview of some unannounced Convulse material). ht…

Chance Allen of What Counts, Full Stride, Velocity, RTR Tapes, and the Gulch Brigade joins us to discuss youth crew, Indiana's poppin' hardcore scene, his many bands, and more.

Hunter Winstead of Through N Through Printing joins us to talk about a bunch of recent shows we've attended. To start, we give a thorough first-hand account of the first Torture tour, and why that band's ascent in hardcore is so unprecedented. Then, we share our experiences seeing Velocity, Drain, Gatecreeper, Spy, and more. Intro song: Torture - "…

Have Heart are reuniting to play some shows this summer, and the band's debut seven-inch 'What Counts' turns 20. So we talked with Have Heart frontman Pat Flynn about the band's pre-LP days. His teenage disillusionment with the attitude of hardcore, the Massachusetts scene he came up in, early 2000s hc minutia, and Have Heart's early days slogging …

Friend of the pod David Anthony returns to dig into the state of "adjacent" sounds in hardcore. We spend a lot of time talking about death metal's current place in the genre, and wonder whether "hardcore kids making death metal" is good for either hardcore or death metal. Then, we look at the more melodic side of the spectrum: Koyo, One Step Closer…

We're joined this week by Nick Birtles and Evan Stein of the bands Anklebiter, Broken Vow, If It Rains, Attrition Rate, Ultimatum, and Pummel (RIP). First, we roundtable our three favorite hardcore releases of 2024 thus far. Then, we talk about each of the guys' bands, their influences, the current state of New England hardcore, and much more. Intr…

Last year, we read Samantha Sansone's new oral history of the Pittsburgh hardcore scene, 'Through Our Eyes' — and we finished the book with more questions than answers. So, we had Pain Clinic frontman Ty Dawson join us to fill in the gaps. What was it like seeing No Retreat and Built Upon Frustration back in the day? What are the defining features …

The catalog of Lockin' Out Records is having an unavoidable resurgence right now, so we went deep on the label's stamp on hardcore history. We're joined by Matt LaForge, guitarist of the LOR signees Mil-Spec, who had a key vantage point to the rise of Lockin' Out, and spoke to us in great detail about how the label's flagship bands — Mental, Righte…

Ned Russin (Glitterer, Title Fight, and many other bands) joins us for a conversation about how hardcore dancing has evolved over the ages. We watched videos of sets ranging from Bad Brains in '82 and Breakdown in '88, to Hatebreed in '94 and Rival Mob in '13, and then talked about the way the crowds behaved during those periods. Ned, being the har…

We're only a month into 2024 and there's already a bunch of new music to discuss. In this episode, we're joined by Ace Stallings — frontman of Mutually Assured Destruction and Sentinel, and host of the Forum of Passion podcast — to review a bunch of fresh releases by Apex Predator, Dimension Six, Lethal, Rejoice, and Live It Down. Intro song: Dimen…

As we've mentioned on this show before, we're currently experiencing a resurgence in a particular strain of metalcore that's being welcomed under the hardcore umbrella. Bands like Balmora, Since My Beloved, Adrienne, A Mourning Star, Dying Wish and many others. In this episode, we're joined by Balmora frontman/Ephyra Recordings owner Senti, and Fal…

We're back, and we're joined in this episode by fellow hardcore scribe Vince Guglielmi. In the spirit of the new year, the three of us look ahead to where we envision hardcore's sound and culture going in 2024. We touch on democore, deathcore, the identity of the decade thus far, and make a few other predictions based on what we've been witnessing …

We talked about our favorite hardcore of 2023 with two fellow hxc scribes, Stereogum Senior Editor Tom Breihan and BrooklynVegan Edtior Andrew Sacher. We each counted down our 10 favorite hardcore albums/EP's of the year, and had fun discussing the overlap, the mixed feelings, and the outlier picks. Follow Tom on Twitter @tombreihan Follow Andrew o…

First, we talk about our favorite hardcore sets we saw in 2023 — from Negative Approach to Vein. Then, in honor of its 40th anniversary reissue, we discuss SS Decontrol's 1982 debut 'The Kids Will Have Their Say,' as well as our more general thoughts on Boston's first important hardcore band. Intro song: Balmora - "Under the Weight" Outro song: SS …

There're certain metal bands that, for whatever reason, hardcore fans love. Whether its their sound, their iconography, or just their aura, bands like Type O Negative, Bolt Thrower, Sepultura and even Slipknot have become as much a part of the hardcore milieu as actual hardcore originators like Circle Jerks and Agnostic Front. Eli had Hugo listen t…

Agnostic Front's 1984 debut, 'Victim In Pain', is commonly regarded as the benchmark NYHC album. Moreover, if you look at the history of early 80s hardcore, it's the first hardcore release from New York that really "mattered" outside of that city's streets. Plenty of hardcore scholars talk about the hotbed that NYHC became after 'Victim In Pain,' b…

First, we review new albums from Magnitude and Broken Vow. Then, it's a late-Eighties NYHC showdown. Hugo loves Killing Time's 'Brightside', Eli loves Leeway's 'Born to Expire'. Which one is better? We discuss, you decide. Intro song: Broken Vow - "Propaganda of the Deed" Outro song: Killing Time - "Brightside"…

We're joined by blogger Jay Papandreas to talk about melodic hardcore. What is it? Who earns that designation? And which bands that frequently get called melodic hardcore don't belong in that pool? Check out Jay's blog https://www.listenupnerds.com/ Intro song: Lifetime - "Turnpike Gates" Outro song: Koyo - "Diamond One"…

We listened to all five installments of the America's Hardcore compilation series that Triple B Records have been releasing since 2010. We debate how effective the comps are at capturing the moment of 2010s hardcore, which tracks are best, and what Triple B means to the fabric of contemporary hardcore. Intro song: Bitter End - "Disguised" Outro son…

After some brief chatter on our recent listening habits, we dive into discussing a handful of albums from throughout hardcore history where bands "sold out" by making metal, pop-punk, or butt-rock records. From SSD, Earth Crisis, No Warning and beyond, we listened to those "failed swing" albums that bands pretend never happened, and see if they're …

After seeing one of Bane's reunion shows, we decided to do a dive into their discography and talk a bit about their legacy today. Does Hugo actually fuck with Bane now? Listen to find out. Then, we switch gears by reviewing the 1993 'East Coast Assault' compilation, which features early songs by Life of Agony, Merauder, Converge and more. It's a hu…

We review the new album from Restraining Order and then dive into a discussion about the way hardcore gets condescendingly covered by many music journalists (not us, of course). Intro song: Restraining Order - "Fight Back" Outro song: Restraining Order - "Another Better Day"

We're joined by music journalist pal David Anthony to talk about Black Flag's 'My War.' Is this foundational record still relevant in modern-day hardcore? How influential is it actually? Is it even any good? All that and many other Flag-related digressions. Read David's blog Former Clarity https://www.formerclarity.com/ Read David's 2017 Noisey art…

Hugo runs down a few thoughts he had on Tied Down Fest in Detroit. Then, we review new releases from Drain, Anklebiter, Envision and Never Ending Game. And finally, we look back on Shai Hulud's 2003 album 'That Within Blood Ill Tempered', just to see how it holds up. Intro song: Anklebiter - "Catharsis" Outro song: Never Ending Game - "Never Die"…

Picking up where we left off on our first episode, we reveal our favorite, most underrated, and most overrated hardcore albums of the 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. Stark differences and surprise common ground abound. Intro song: Trapped Under Ice - "Pleased To Meet You" Outro song: Fury - "Vacation"

For our first episode, we picked our personal favorite, most underrated, and most overrated hardcore albums of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Next episode, we do the same for the 2000s, 2010s and 2020s.

Erin Hughes and Al Ghostcat are back! This episode we try to get underneath a topic that has been floating around the mainstream new a lot lately, democracy. There has been a lot of discussion about the undermining of democracy in the US and other places in the last few years especially, so we took this episode to get far down below all the hoopla …

Erin Hughes and Al Ghostcat get down this week to talk with Joey about misogyny in punk. It’s great that people are paying attention to the gross man shit that has been happening in society at large as well as our corner of it in the punk community. Calling this gross-man-behavior out is the first step to changing these offenders, changing ourselve…

On this episode we try to untangle all the BACKWARD ass coverage of this 9/11: 20th anniversary memorial. We try yo get underneath all the endless bullshit people are telling themselves about who they were 20 years ago and the weird myth shit that was flying around all the media coverage of this day and how it has been used. Also…we talk a ton of s…

On the first part of this episode, Joey talks about the challenges facing the community as the world opens up again and the opportunities we have to redefine what it means to truly be together again. Whether it be in punk communities or others, we have a unique opportunity to reflect on who we want to be and intentionally reorganize ourselves to be…

Pansy is back this week, this time talking about punk shit. We talk about the best and worst of the culture we love. We talk about what attracted us here and why we still revel in this gutter today. We also talk about the elitist gate-keepers and backward shits who make us doubt our affinity. We talk about being drawn to the provocative and confron…

Jehiel Winters from NYC’s Winter Wolf gets down to talk about the right-wing riot that invaded the Capitol on on Jan. 6th. We work past the mainstream media’s superficial analysis on this riot as an attack on democracy at large and go deeper to look at the white supremacist roots of this event. We talk about the Trumpian trajectory these fascists h…

Al from Cop/Out, Trashy, and Leftover Crack and Kacie Kerrigan are back! We ring in the new year the only way we know how, talking shit and playing tunes. This episode we turn our sights to figuring out what is in store for us in 2021 but we don’t ignore the opportunity to take one last final dump on this dumpster fire of a year. We talk a ton of t…

Al from Cop/Out, Trashy, and Leftover Crack and Kacie Kerrigan get down to start a two part discussion about just how rough this year has really been. On this episode we focus on trying to get a grip of our grief. We like so many others have suffered debilitating losses in our community. Grieving all of our friends, families and community members w…

Justin, host of the New Monuments podcast, gets down this week to talk about his podcast and our relationship to this growing movement for racial justice. Justin talks to us about his recent reckoning to be more active in this monumental moment. On the first part of the show we talk about whether OUR ideas are in fact changing or our world is chang…

Is voting really in our interest? There is almost zero critical discussion in the mainstream media or in any political realm about whether voting in this society is reasonable or beneficial to the people. So we sort this shit out ourselves. We get neck deep into whether there is justice in the voting booth. Brilliant and talented musician Pansy joi…

With a new wave of protests against the police happening all across the country following the police murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor some people have found it hard understand what these protest have been like and what they have been about. That’s understandable given that the mainstream media has us all spun out and confused, so we turne…

Quarantine Coverage Episode #4: Community We are airing an episode this week that was recorded prior to the incredible rebellion that has erupted in the US following the racist and outrageous murder of George Floyd at the hands of the police. We could not be more proud of the courageous protesters in the streets demanding justice for George Floyd a…

Quarantine Coverage Episode #3: Days and Days N Daze in Quarantine Whitney Flynn from Houston based folk punk phenomenon Days N Daze gets down to help us understand how to stay optimistic and focused during these darks days. She lifts our spirits as she talks to us about what she has been thinking during the quarantine, living in the chaos, and mov…

Quarantine Coverage Episode #2: May Day. We celebrate International Workers’ Day from our unemployed quarantine by focusing on how this unique moment in history has made people more conscious about the ills of capitalism, the necessity of workers, the potential of science, and the need for alternatives to our current sorry state. Since we can’t be …

Quarantine Coverage Episode #1: Getting a Grip. This week we have a DOUBLE SIZED episode with FOUR special guest contributors. All our minds twisted up in this pandemic pandemonium we need to take some time to get a grip of ourselves, our thinking, and this moment. We spend this episode figuring out how to begin being reflective in this isolation. …

Sick of Corona virus coverage? Yeah, us too! So Justin and Jon from the band World War IX get down to talk a ton of shit about what WWIX has been doing and we have nothing substantive to add to people’s germ obsession. WWIX has a new singer, new tunes, new record, and a new unbelievable comic. I have heard some of the dumbest shit this week while p…

Jesse, Whitney, Meagan, and Geoff of Houston's Days N Daze get down to talk about the trials and tribulations of this most recent Cracktober Fest with Cop/Out and Leftover Crack. We clear up any of the rumors and gossip swirling around about the tour, and talk about how the band has persevered and even thrived through all its more recent struggles.…

Libby Lux from Portland based Bridge City Sinners gets down to talk about their recent tour with the The Goddamn Gallows and their recent appearance at Muddy Roots Fest. We talk a ton of shit and Libby regales us with a bunch of crazy ass stories from this tour, including right wing nuts getting the shit literally kicked out of them, and a flaming …

Lauren from the Dispatches from the Underground Collective gets down to talk about the recent mass shootings in the US. On the first part of the show we talk about how more gun control laws are no panacea for this problem. On the second half we talk about the ideologies behind these shootings, especially the racism and misogyny that are emboldened …