American Hardcore: A Tribal History (Paperback)

~ Steven Blush (Author) "Hardcore was the suburban American response to the late-70s Punk revolution..." (more)
Key Phrases: Bad Brains, New York, Straight Edge (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Culling quotes from numerous interviews conducted over a five-year period, Blush presents an oral history of the first generation of American hardcore music (1980-86) what he deems its golden age. Charting the rise of bands such as Black Flag and the Misfits, as well as more famous hardcore alumni like the Beastie Boys and Moby, the book is divided into chapters based on different regional scenes. Rather than having a chronological narrative, then, the book bounces back and forth in time, from chapter to chapter, which will possibly confuse readers unfamiliar with the people and bands discussed. The author's tone also veers between that of a jaded ex-hardcore kid and a sentimental old-timer, but his account is nonetheless fascinating and rings with experience (he promoted hardcore shows and tours in the 1980s). It should also be noted that American Hardcore is the first book to document hardcore on a national level; books such as Cynthia Connolly's Banned in D.C. (1988) and Bri Hurley's Making a Scene (o.p.) have regional focuses. Blush also includes an extensive discography (just on vinyl and cassette, however) that lists noteworthy as well as forgettable releases. Recommended for academic libraries and ones with extensive music collections. Vincent Au, New York
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Hardcore rock music, "an infectious blend of ultra-fast music, thought-provoking lyrics, and fuck-you attitude," sprang from the puddle of post-New Wave punk. According to Blush, punk transformed the pop-music landscape and quickly flamed out. New Wave, a "watered-down" punk, was then "cranked out by major labels . . . for mainstream consumption." Enough interpretation. The meat of the book is an oral-history-style continuum of the comments of scads of hardcore movers and shakers, leavened by squibs from aging hardcore-scene participants. One highlight is a discussion of the merging of a branch of heavy metal with hardcore to create a hybrid called crossover. Metallica's James Hetfield contrasts tellingly with the Dead Kennedys' Jello Biafra and D.O.A.'s Joey Shithead, exemplifying the difference between "old school" metal money-mongers and revolutionary punkers. Difference? Well, "an old school manager" wanted hardcorers Black Flag to tour with metal band Motorhead but tried to charge rent for the lights and P.A. "Flag said, 'Fuck you!,' " as well they should. An extraordinary resource on one of pop music's most overlooked influential subgenres. Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Feral House; illustrated edition edition (November 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0922915717
• ISBN-13: 978-0922915712
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #130,207 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Flawed but enjoyable, December 28, 2003

By	Dave Stork (New Paltz, NY United States) - See all my reviews

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.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nostalgic, but uneven., November 23, 2005

By	Robert P. Beveridge "xterminal" (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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. ***

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A vivid peek back into the scene, January 11, 2007

By	Michele Hewitt "Zizi Carrot" (thousand oaks, CA) - See all my reviews

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.