This is the true Hard Core Bands, they all influenced me through a different think of view, think straight and think positive. Let we begin..
1. Up Front
Up Front was a hardcore band from New York. They were an influential part of the late 80s New York hardcore and Connecticut Straight Edge scenes. They played many of their early shows at the now famous Anthrax Club in Norwalk, CT. In 1987 they appeared on the X Marks The Spot compilation 7 inch, one of the first documents of the burgeoning Connecticut Straight Edge scene.
In 1988 they released their Spirit LP, and a Summer tour followed in 1989 with Unit Pride, Insted and Gorilla Biscuits. Up Front remained active through 1992, releasing the Daybreak 7 inch in 1990, touring the US again in the Summer of 1991, and completing their first tour of Europe in the Winter of 1991-1992.
They initially broke up after recording the Changes 7 inch in 1992, but reformed in the Spring of 1994 to record the What Fire Does 7 inch followed with their 2nd tour of Europe that Summer.
After a brief hiatus Up Front wrote and recorded the Movement CD in 1997. After a handful of US shows, a tour of Japan in 1998, and their third Summer tour of Europe in 1999 followed.
Other than three "reunion" shows in the Summer/Fall of 2005, and one "reunion" show with a return to the Daybreak lineup in November 2009 at the A Time We'll Remember Fest, the band has remained dormant since 1999.
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2. 7 Seconds
7 Seconds is an American hardcore punk band from Reno, Nevada. Formed on January 17, 1980 by two sets of brothers; the Marvelli brothers, Kevin Seconds and Steve Youth in combination with the Borghino brothers, Tom Munist and Dim Menace. The band has gone through numerous lineup changes with the exception brothers Kevin Seconds and Steve Youth who have remained a constant throughout the band's history. Notably in 1981, brothers Tom and Dim left to form Section 8. The current lineup of 7 Seconds consists of Kevin Seconds (vocals), Steve Youth (bass), Troy Mowat (drums), and Bobby Adams (guitar).
7 Seconds is one of the longest standing bands in hardcore. They have been touring and recording for three decades. Because of the positive message in their music they are constantly being categorized as a Straight Edge band, though they have never claimed the label for themselves. The band has continually rejected this label, but embraced the values fully, especially frontman Kevin Seconds. "I'm a bit out of touch with the newer Straight Edge scene so I can't comment too much on it, but being drug/alcohol/abuse-free, I certainly have no problems with people taking control of their lives and not letting stuff like drugs and booze run it for them, but I do have problems with people who try and change other people's lives in a militant fashion". They helped push and start the Youth Crew movement in 1984 with The Crew, focusing on brotherhood, the Reno HC scene, and unity between one another.
The band started by releasing some poorly-recorded, but highly energetic, EPs, most of which were later re-released as "alt.music.hardcore" and "Old School" compilation CDs. All three demos were released on a bootleg 12" named "7 Seconds - Hardcore Rules, 80-82". You can usually find it on Ebay and such online stores. They also appeared on the 1985 hardcore compilation "Cleanse the Bacteria", in addition to numerous other compilations, such as "Not So Quiet On the Western Front (Alt. Tentacles, 1982)", "Something to Believe In (BYO, 1984)", "Party or Go Home/We Got Power (Mystic, 1983)", and "Nuke Your Dink (Positive Force, 1984)".
Various Artists - Tribute To 7 Seconds - Fight the World Not Each Other (CD) 1999
3. Fugazi
Fugazi is an American punk band that formed in Washington, D.C. in 1987. The band's continual members are guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally and drummer Brendan Canty. Fugazi are noted for their DIY ethical stance and manner of business practice. Fugazi has been on hiatus since 2002.
After the hardcore punk group Minor Threat dissolved, Ian MacKaye (vocals and guitar) was active with a few short-lived groups, most notably Embrace. MacKaye decided he wanted a project that was "like the Stooges with reggae," but was wary about forming another band after Embrace's break up. MacKaye recalled, "My interests were not necessarily to be in a band, but to be with people who wanted to play music with me." MacKaye recruited ex-Dag Nasty drummer Colin Sears and bass guitarist Joe Lally, and the trio began practicing together in September 1986. After a few months of rehearsals, Sears returned to Dag Nasty and was replaced by Brendan Canty (earlier of Rites of Spring). One day Canty's Rites of Spring bandmate Guy Picciotto dropped by during a practice session to see how his friend was getting along; he later admitted he secretly harbored the idea of joining the group. But Picciotto was disappointed that there seemed to be no place for him; he said, "It seemed really completed already.. It had a completely different feel from what I'd been doing with Brendan. It seemed just solid and done."
After some uncertainty from Canty about what he wanted to do with his future, the trio regrouped and booked their first show at the Wilson Center in early September 1987. The group still needed a name, so MacKaye chose the word "fugazi" from Mark Baker's Nam, a compilation of stories of Vietnam War veterans, where it was used as slang for "fucked up", or, to be precise, "Fucked Up, Got Ambushed, Zipped In ('... into a body bag')".
The band began inviting Picciotto to practices. Inspired by use of a foil in hip hop, Picciotto sang backup vocals. After his band Happy Go Licky broke up, he became more involved with Fugazi. MacKaye eventually asked Picciotto to become a full member, which he accepted.
4. Agnostic Front
Agnostic Front is an American hardcore punk band that formed in New York City in 1980. The band began playing hardcore punk similar to their contemporaries, and were thrust to the forefront of the burgeoning New York hardcore scene in the mid-1980s with their widely regarded 1984 classic Victim in Pain before evolving to incorporate thrash metal elements into their music. By the late '90s, Agnostic Front had signed with Epitaph Records and adopted an Oi! sound before growing into a crossover metallic hardcore hybrid similar to bands like Hatebreed.
5. Minor Threat
Minor Threat was an American hardcore punk band formed in Washington, D.C. in 1980 and disbanded in 1983. The band was relatively short-lived, but had a strong influence on the hardcore punk music scene. Minor Threat's song "Straight Edge" became the eventual basis of the straight edge movement, while the band often professed their own "straight edge" ideals. Allmusic described Minor Threat's music as "iconic," and noted that their "groundbreaking" music "has held up better than [that of] most of their contemporaries."
Along with the fellow Washington, D.C. hardcore band Bad Brains and California band Black Flag, Minor Threat set the standard for many hardcore punk bands in the 1980s and 1990s. All of Minor Threat's records were released on Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson's own label, Dischord Records.
6. Gorilla Biscuits
Gorilla Biscuits are a New York-based hardcore straight edge vegan band consisting of Anthony Civarelli, Walter Schreifels, Arthur Smilios, Alex Brown and Luke Abbey. The band is currently signed to Revelation Records.
Gorilla Biscuits were formed when Smilios and Nick Drysdale met Civarelli while they were both attending the same high school in Long Island, New York. All three were fans of the band Agnostic Front, and started going to hardcore shows at CBGB's on weekends. There they met people like Ray Cappo and John Porcelly of the band Youth Of Today.
Arthur sought to form a hardcore band and asked Civ to act as vocalist. However Civ was not interested in singing, and due to nerves had to face the floor or wall during early gigs. Members of the band Token Entry arranged a gig for the still unnamed band (Gorilla Biscuits used Token Entry's drummer, Ernie Parada for that first show), but needed a name to give it to the promoter. A popular drug in the area at that time was quaaludes, which people called "ape shit," or "gorilla biscuits" due to the pill's large size. Eventually the name evolved into Gorilla Biscuits, and though it was initially only meant to be temporary, they have continued to use it.
The band made a number of low-fi demo tapes which were sold at a dollar store. Their first official t-shirts were blue with an image of gorilla riding a skateboard and were made using black magic markers and an ink blotter.
7. Rites of Spring (The first EMO band)
Rites of Spring was an American post-hardcore band from Washington, D.C. in the mid-1980s, known for their energetic live performances. A part of the D.C. hardcore punk scene, Rites of Spring increased the frenetic violence and visceral passion of hardcore while simultaneously experimenting with its compositional rules. Lyrically, they also shifted hardcore into intensely personal realms and, in doing so, are generally considered the first emo band.
The band only performed 15 concerts. Vocalist/guitarist Guy Picciotto and drummer Brendan Canty went on to play in the influential post-hardcore band Fugazi in the late 1980s.
8. The Descendents
The Descendents is an American punk rock band from Hermosa Beach, California. As of 2010, they have released six studio albums, three live albums, three compilation album and three EPs. The Descendents broke up and reformed several times over the years, sometimes with different musicians. The band's current lineup is singer Milo Aukerman, guitarist Stephen Egerton, bassist Karl Alvarez and drummer Bill Stevenson.
9. Youth of Today
Youth of Today was an American hardcore punk band. The band played a major role in establishing the Youth Crew subculture of hardcore, both espousing and evolving the philosophies of the straight edge and vegetarian lifestyles.Youth Of Today was formed in Danbury, Connecticut in 1985 by two members of the hardcore band Violent Children, Ray Cappo (vocals) and John Porcelly (guitar) were aiming to start a Straight Edge band at a time when most old school straight edge bands had disbanded. Having difficulty finding a bassist and drummer, Ray and Porcell found help from two high school friends, Graham Philips and Darren Pesce, who had played with Porcell in a band called The Young Republicans in the past.
10. Embrace
Embrace was a short-lived post-hardcore band from Washington, D.C., which lasted from the summer of 1985 to the spring of 1986 and was one of the first bands to be dubbed in the press as emotional hardcore, though the members had rejected the term since its creation. The band included Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat with three former members of his brother Alec's band The Faith: guitarist Michael Hampton, drummer Ivor Hanson, and bassist Chris Bald. Hampton and Hanson had also previously played together in S.O.A.. The only recording released by the quartet was their self-titled album Embrace.
Following the breakup of Embrace, MacKaye rejoined former Minor Threat drummer Jeff Nelson to form Egg Hunt. Bald moved on to the band Ignition, and drummer Ivor Hanson paired up with Hampton again in 1992 for Manifesto.
During the band's formative years, some fans started referring to them and fellow innovators Rites of Spring as emocore (emotive hardcore), a term vocalist Ian MacKaye publicly disagreed with.
11. Youth Brigade (Washington D.C.)
Youth Brigade were a hardcore punk band from Washington, D.C., formed and disbanded in 1981. Nathan Strejcek (ex-Teen Idles) and Danny Ingram formed Youth Brigade. After playing with a couple different bassists and guitarists, they settled on Bert Quieros (The Untouchables, Double O) and Tom Clinton on guitar.Although Youth Brigade existed as a band for less than a year, they are still considered an important part of the DC hardcore punk scene, influencing many other bands and bandmembers (most notably Bert Queiroz), and forming other bands such as Double-O and the highly influential post-hardcore band, Rain.
12. Shelter
Shelter is a Hare Krishna hardcore punk band formed by Ray Cappo. In 2001 the band released the album, The Purpose, The Passion. In 2002, with a new drummer and a new guitarist the band toured Europe and the eastern United States again in support of The Purpose. The Passion before going on extended hiatus. In 2005 Ray Cappo recorded a new 11 track album entitled Eternal with 10 new songs and a re-make of "In Defense Of Reality." Eternal was released in May 2006 by Good Life Recordings. Ray also did a European tour with a few members of Dutch hardcore bands functioning as the band.
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