Marxism in Hardcore Punk
Marxism in Hardcore Punk
Hardcore punk was a short-lived subculture in the early 80’s that came as a response to the punk movement of the late 70’s. Hardcore took the music and ideologies of punk music, and pushed them to the extreme. The music was faster and heavier, the crowds were more aggressive, and the attitudes were more intense. Hardcore was a highly influential movement that sparked genres like thrash, powerviolence, grindcore, metalcore, and many others. It’s also responsible for the presence of DIY ethics in smaller music scenes, as well as starting the straight edge subculture. Hardcore punks lived an all around violent lifestyle, and did it without the glam of the late 70’s punk fashion. The book American Hardcore, author Steven Blush, was published in 2001 and chronicled the highly influential and overlooked hardcore scene in early to mid '80s. In 2006 the book was turned into a documentary film with Blush as the writer and directed by Paul Rachman. I am also using an interview with Steven Blush done by The Miami Herald. Hardcore was a subculture within a subculture that used Marxist ideals, allowing the movement to flourish without the need for things like record labels, expensive studio recordings, and tour managers.
In order to talk about hardcore, one must first start with it’s predecessor, Punk. Punk rock was a response to the popular mainstream music of the 70’s, like disco and progressive rock. Punk took the rock n’ roll formula, stripped it down, sped it up, and took out the guitar solos. Musically punk was not a difficult style of music to play. The same goes for hardcore. Guitar riffs usually consisted of only a few power cords, the bass parts were typically only a few notes for a whole song, and the quintessential punk drum beat is simply bass drum on 1 and 3, and snare hits on 2 and 4. The simplicity of the music made it possible for people with little to no musical talent to be in a punk band. Singers in punk bands were
Hardcore punk was a short-lived subculture in the early 80’s that came as a response to the punk movement of the late 70’s. Hardcore took the music and ideologies of punk music, and pushed them to the extreme. The music was faster and heavier, the crowds were more aggressive, and the attitudes were more intense. Hardcore was a highly influential movement that sparked genres like thrash, powerviolence, grindcore, metalcore, and many others. It’s also responsible for the presence of DIY ethics in smaller music scenes, as well as starting the straight edge subculture. Hardcore punks lived an all around violent lifestyle, and did it without the glam of the late 70’s punk fashion. The book American Hardcore, author Steven Blush, was published in 2001 and chronicled the highly influential and overlooked hardcore scene in early to mid '80s. In 2006 the book was turned into a documentary film with Blush as the writer and directed by Paul Rachman. I am also using an interview with Steven Blush done by The Miami Herald. Hardcore was a subculture within a subculture that used Marxist ideals, allowing the movement to flourish without the need for things like record labels, expensive studio recordings, and tour managers.
In order to talk about hardcore, one must first start with it’s predecessor, Punk. Punk rock was a response to the popular mainstream music of the 70’s, like disco and progressive rock. Punk took the rock n’ roll formula, stripped it down, sped it up, and took out the guitar solos. Musically punk was not a difficult style of music to play. The same goes for hardcore. Guitar riffs usually consisted of only a few power cords, the bass parts were typically only a few notes for a whole song, and the quintessential punk drum beat is simply bass drum on 1 and 3, and snare hits on 2 and 4. The simplicity of the music made it possible for people with little to no musical talent to be in a punk band. Singers in punk bands were
Cited: Blush, Steven. American Hardcore: a Tribal History. Los Angeles, CA: Feral House, 2001. Print. American Hardcore. Dir. Paul Rachman. Writ. Steven Blush. Sony Pictures, 2006. Film. Blush, Steven. "Interview with Steven Blush." Interview by Michael Alen Alen. Americanhardcorebook.com. The Miami Herald, 13 Jan. 2011. Web. 13 Dec. 2011. <http://www.americanhardcorebook.com/media.html>.