Customer Reviews

American Hardcore: A Tribal History

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Yes, this book has its flaws. At times it can be self-righteous, opionated, and even a bit misogynistic in places--very much like hardcore itself often was. The author occasionally rises above his own prejudices, though, and provides a cogent analysis of what hardcore was, what it meant to a generation of social pariahs and misfits, and the built-in factors of obsolescence that led to its demise after only a few years. The oral history is entertaining and informative--I've gotten a kick out of reading the firsthand accounts of how some of my favorite bands came to be, came to prominence, and eventually came to an end. As mentioned in another review, many of the people interviewed have an axe to grind, even after all these years. But the author makes at least a reasonable attempt at balanced reporting through most of the book.

I guess that for me, the primary appeal of this book is that it's like a trip back in time to the days when my buddies and I would listen to the latest SST or Alternative Tentacles comps after school, go to shows at our local "underground" venues and check out the record reviews in the 'zines. Before we were out of high school, we'd formed our own band and were appearing on a small stretch of the northeast HC circuit, with some modest success. My early experiences in the HC years fostered a love of creating and playing music that persists to this day. The overarching message of HC, as far as I was concerned, was this: YOU can do this yourself. YOU can make your own music and your own "scene." You don't have to sit back and wait for the big entertainment companies to spoon-feed you. Long after many other aspects of HC ceased to be relevant, this fundamental philosophy at its core continues to resonate with many kids, young and old, banging away on guitars and drums in basements and garages all over the nation.

If you were involved in HC in the early or mid '80s, whether you were playing in a band, going to shows, pasting up flyers or getting your ass beat by violent jocks because of your "weird" appearance--then you will enjoy this book. If not, you might find the "I was THERE, man!" attitude that pervades some of the text off-putting.

Steven Blush, American Hardcore: A Tribal History (Feral House, 2001)

First off, in answer to some of the reviewers who were more general in their comments about the quality of the book (and, specifically, Blush's writing): this is, pure and simple, a nostalgia trip. With the exception of a few specific incidents, where the objective air comes from Blush reporting conflicting viewpoints on certain events, this book seems to have no pretence whatsoever to objectivity. Of course it's inflammatory and opinionated. So was hardcore.

I hate to fall into the trap of "if you weren't there, you wouldn't understand," but I have to. (Actually, I took half a star off my review because that sort of thing bugs me.) It seems ot me that this book's target audience is those who were actually part of the scene (even those of us on the fringes, in towns where there were maybe twenty of us listening to a couple of local bands and the odd Black Flag album that happened to surface-- come to think of it, maybe we're especially the target audience) and want to relive those days. It never struck me, while reading, as the kind of book I could give to someone not alive during that time with the statement "if you want to understand my teenage years, read this." That's the book's major flaw, of course; somewhere along the line, someone will write an objective history of hardcore. This book is not it.

For the most part, Blush gets out of the way and simply reports snippets of interviews he conducted with hundreds of people, mostly those who were in bands, writing zines, producing records. This tendency of Blush's to try and be unobtrusive does go they way of the great auk about two-thirds of the way through the book, when Blush starts talking about smaller town scenes and relating his personal experiences in those towns; this can be justified by the fact that there simply wasn't much in those scenes to talk about otherwise. (The town where I first discovered hardcore, in fact, isn't even mentioned. Not surprising, as I never actually saw a hardcore show until I moved to Pittsburgh; my memories of the town gibe quite well with Blush's reporting, though he does neglect to mention Pgh's best hardcore band, Battered Citizens.) Because of the book's interview-centric format, things tend to be a little more disjointed than one might expect. Again, however, "disjointed" is probably the best way to approach any sort of history of hardcore; as Blush rightly states, the idea of a "unified scene" was pretty much a joke in most places.

This is a fun book. It's a minor book, but it's fun. Don't approach it as being in any way definitive, and you're likely to get a whole lot more out of it. ***

This book is a wonderful bunch of quotes, stories and recollections. I spent most of high school listening to and going to see these bands "back in the day." I think it does a real good job of putting it all into perspective. Other reviewers point out that this book doesn't focus enough on the positive aspects of hardcore. Like what? Hardcore was largely about anger and...well, I can't say "disillusionment" as most listeners had prescious few illusions. They were clued into exactly what pissed them off and hardcore is probably representative of protest music in that respect. While there are notable exceptions, I think that saying hardcore had "positive" aspects is like saying Reagan did a lot for airline safety (he fired all the air-controllers for those of you who don't know...ALL of them in a union, anyway).
When I was a kid I was all about hardcore and punk and the scene and have many fond memories of it. For all it's lipservice about individuality and non-conformity, hardcore could be very male-oriented, dogmatic and uniform. Still, hardcore was one of the few subgenres that easily and often mocked itself. If you were in the scene it could be damned funny. I was disappointed that it pretty much disappeared and that younger generations didn't really continue the "I don't care if I can't sing or play well I'm gonna make loud rock and roll" idea. The few sonic elements of hardcore that are still out there have pretty much lost a lot of the humor and/or are mostly about posturing.
Please note that bands like Green Day, Sum-41, Good Charlette et al are NOT at all representative of what your average hardcore band sounded like. Those guys wouldn't ever be on the bill.
While Henry Rollins has written extensively and vividly of his days in Black Flag, it is still just his point of view of being in a hardcore band. This book is more rounded out with details of the hundreds of OTHER hardcore bands that were out there on the road and playing for $50 a show if they were lucky. I was in one of those bands and it was a gas. Sometimes I run into guys (they're always guys)that saw us or went to shows I went to. Many haven't changed a bit what with the shaved head and leather jacket with the hardcore logo and band T-shirt. Only now they're about 40 years old, dumpy, still jaded, drink to much, and single.
I especially like the fact that much of this book is organized by geographical locations. I think that any book claiming to explore the history of rock and roll ought to be organized this way, it's not just for the Blues. NOT organizing a history of music book by locale, or "scene", leads to notions and assumptions by either the reader or the writer that are just plain wrong. Geographic musical history is closer to the truth and traces the influence that various bands had on each other.

The indexes at the back of the book, as incomplete as the impossiblity of them being complete, are much appreciated.
The only thing that would top this book would be a complete collection of Flipside Magazine and Maximum Rock and Roll from 1981 to 1987....fortunately, I still have most of them.
On a side note, I cannot believe that some people still care about the so-called feud between Maximum Rock N Roll and Flipside magazines. Real or not, does it (did it) even matter? Grow up! Move on with your life or become a joke. You know, there ARE more important things to be pissed off about!

This is gonna be sweet and short..probably...My first hardcore show was Government Issue in 1985..Miami Beach Cameo(slameo)Theater....Ive seen some great shows..Like the "scene" this book has its flaws but it comes from the experience of the person writing it as are the interviews....And should be treated as such..Anyone with a younger cousin or son should use this book as a point in the right direction lest one leaves it up to MTV And Hot Topic to guide their musical interests...This book reminded me about how much I love this music...It reminded me of great times with great friends...REAL FRIENDS...some that still exist to this day, just based on a band we happened to both like when we were kids...This book reminded me why I got involved in politics and the world around me...Why I chose not to eat meat...why I chose to see people for their intelligence and character instead of thier money or position...Why this music kept me out of jail...kept me alive.... Save your critiques for the snobby MMR columns.....PS Check out the "PHLOSOPHY OF PUNK" on AK press..it was really just a student paper that got published...anyway...DONT like the Book....Book Your own life...Write your own book.....

American Hardcore chronicals and/or documents the history of the early 80's Hardcore(Punk)scene. Started by angry,fustrated,violent kids in the suburban seaside coastal middle class towns of Los Angeles, this movement spread from city to city and coast to coast. With each location holding thier own individuality, from L.A. to New York, to Chicago to San Francisco, to D.C. to Boston, Hardcore was more than music it was a social movement. Hardcore was a brand new fresh form of punk rock that was all it's own. While it branched off of the 70's Punk scene, it was it's own genre, who's participants constituted a tribe onto themselves. These kids were angry fustrated violent and fed up Regan-Era misfit kids. Becoming intertwined with Surfing and Skateboarding and becoming very close with it(As most of the bands were surfers and skateboarders), Hardcore redifined the status quoe of what was possibele when you did things your own way and you did it yourself(D.I.Y.). Hardcore's music was fast,with songs usually clocking in at around 2 minutes or less,energetic, and contained lyrics dealing with everything form political and social unjustice, to projecting anti-racist anti-war anti-conservative anti-reagan(Ronald Reagan) content and/or rants, with the lead singer usually screaming his or her head off in an angry manner that scared the crap off of (many) new wave fans,Hardcore was one of the most important musical movements in american history.While the mainstream refused then and refused now to give Hardcore the credit that it deserves(Although Hardcore was not looking at all for mainstream acceptance, in fact it was also a rebellion against the mainstream)Hardcore influenced countless things in the mainstream. From the pop-punk movement, to the crappy emo scene currently riding the charts rite now. Hardcore was a new form of radicalism,music,social outrage,political and socail commentary,and altogether one of the most important (musical)movements to ever take place in American History, and this book tells that story.

As one who was there in the L.A. scene, this was a fun, insightful look back in time. It was also interesting to hear points of view from many of the key people. As it has been a while, it helped solidify the memories and the evolution of how the scene came and went. I loved it. I enjoyed the photos, but would have loved to see more. It's like looking at an old yearbook or family album of sorts.

You should at least read part of this book. IT is no masterpiece. It's full of questionable facts and irritating interjections, and is by no means a definitive account of the early hardcore scene. But so what?

The book itself is combination of interviews and short paragraphs explaining the background of the bands mentioned. Unfortunately, as others have stated, some of the "facts" that he puts out are questionable, but that is not why one gets it. The interviews make up the vast majority of the book, and are conducted with many big names (McKaye, Barile, Cadena, Danzig for a start). These interviews make up for the authors irritating attempts at insight, and really make the book. Fortunately he gets a number of views on some topics and the interviews themselves are just fascinating. And not all of them are conducted with the stars: members of different scenes are interviewed as well. I was fairly impressed with who he managed to pick up, especially Danzig, as well as their willingness to speak on certain topics. The interviews generally flowed well with the little "histories" that he gave before them, but the style was admitadly hard to get used to at first. Still, once you get past that, and past the introduction, the book begins to become an uncovered jewel. The history is indeed inadequate, but the book is worth picking up for the faces it brings with it. I recommend getting it, or at least borrowing it from a friend, because some of the people are not to be missed.

Revisionist history is in the eye of the beholder, but I've yet to meet anyone who agrees with Steven Blush's take on 1980's hardcore.
Blush skips over some major players in his account, short changing the importance of many bands and scenes. He makes the mistake of many who have tried to write about this subject, ignoring a bigger picture to instead focus on events that were important to him.
The best part of AMERICAN HARDCORE are the interviews, with the passage of time the participants are able to dish the dirt and take some of the more self indulgent players down a peg or two.
As gossip, this book is a fine read, but as an overview of hardcore punk rock in the '80s, this falls short, and I cringe when I see Blush quoted as an authority on the subject.

First off, let me say that, no matter how problematic some aspects of this book may be, it's still quite an accomplishment. Blush obviously went to great lengths to capture the breadth and width of the hardcore scene, and to highlight a multitude of forgotten artists, labels, and bands.

That said, this book's strength is also its weakness. The lack of depth was frustrating, and I often wished for more analysis and criticism. Even for the half dozen or so bands that were explored in greater detail, it still felt like it wasn't enough. The chapter on Bad Brains, for example, contains a lengthy and detailed account of a feud they had with The Dicks (or maybe it was the Big Boys) over what was basically a drug deal gone bad. Though it goes on for pages, it's not even marginally interesting. Likewise, though some bands received pages of attention, other equally important bands were given a few sentences.

Much too much time was spent on scene politics, and many of the interviews were repetitive and not very enlightening (Rollins, Ian Mackaye, Jello, and Mike Watt being a few of the exceptions). The fact that Blush rejects nostalgia is commendable, but by the same token, he does not spend enough time on hardcore's impressive legacy. Hardcore, after all, was responsible for everything from "alternative" to indie to goth (while Misfits have a whole chapter, the hugely influential Christian Death is barely mentioned), and many of the great bands of the last twenty years came out of hardcore, as well as labels like SST, Touch and Go and Dischord.

Though Blush obviously wants hardcore taken seriously, it's hard to do that when it feels as though he didn't take this book seriously. With the number of spelling, grammar, and other mistakes, it was almost as if it wasn't edited at all. Also, an index would have been nice, since grouping bands strictly by geographic location makes finding them difficult. Still, even with these shortcomings, this book is an invaluable document of the hardcore scene, and of a lost subculture.

I must start this review off by giving BIG props to the author. He definately did his research on this one and it is obvious that Hardcore is very special to him. He has produced a high quality history book, although not flawless, and a must read for it's mild cover price. This book is PACKED with rare, obscure, overlooked and crucial information about this often-misrepresented genre. There are tid-bits of juice here that fans will seriously salivate over. He was wise (and fortunate) to include interviews with VERY key musicians, many of whom probably were not easy to approach. The fact that Glenn Danzig cooperated with this project should be proof enough that this author meant business. It was a joy to read the opinions and views of such diverse personalities ranging from Dave Smalley to Duff McKagen.

I took away 1 rating star though because I did feel the author spikes his own opinion in at awkward and unnecessary times. It was the close minded snobbery which led me to lose interest in this genre over time. Though mostly open minded in his writing, I did sense there are certain bands, sounds, and people that this author just does not like. Sometimes I had to reread a few paragraphs to seperate the historical documentation from just flat out opinion.

Everyone into this music surely has rabid favorites and opinions and I understand that that is what makes the world go round. I personally would have liked more interviews and details on the "less typical" sounding Hardcore bands. It seemed like much of the spotlight was on the "meat head" sounding bands, a la CroMags & SSD. Yeah, they are definately hardcore but the genre also includes some less carnal, more artistic rarities like SNFU and the Minutemen. I guess much of the style which I found to grow dull sounding was a vital part of the genre's growth (and demise?). It may also explain why I have simmered down into a less angry adulthood. This is an excelent book though and had I been 16 again it would be under my pillow.