EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE: DYS, “(WE ARE) THE ROAD CREW”
Having lived and loved in Boston several years ago, I have a certain affinity to that great American city and its frequently overlooked musical heritage. While cities like Los Angeles and New York get much of the credit for early essential contributions to hardcore, DYS represented New England proudly, alongside other fine seminal groups from the region like SSD and Gang Green. With only two full-length releases to their name–1983′s Brotherhood and the metallic 1984 self-titled follow-up–the band did what many of its peers and followers did: got in and got out. Of course, its members didn’t completely abandon the scene: Dave Smalley went on to front All, Dag Nasty, and Down By Law, while bassist Jonathan Anastas co-founded the legendary Slapshot.
Yet in the 21st century, with so many hardcore groups reuniting, it was only a matter of time before the group got back together. In a recent interview, the band–which now includes Anastas and Smalley along with new recruits like Franz Stahl of Scream–insisted to me that getting back together after more than two decades was an “organic” decision. As Anastas explains:
“We were approached by people who we’ve known for a really long time, including Drew Stone, the singer of Antidote. They were putting together a Boston hardcore documentary and they realized that there was so little video footage of bands back in the day. They didn’t just want to make a movie of talking heads, grown-up talking about ‘back in the day’ with still photos. So they came up with this idea of putting this reunion show together if for no other reason than to provide live footage shot in current HD fashion. For us, it was the idea of supporting them and that DYS had never been filmed properly to participate in that.”
Musically, the tire treads on the straight-edge-youth-crew mobile are admittedly a bit thin these days. Worse still, dogmatic self-seriousness casts an ever-conservative pallor over even the good stuff. So the cheery cartoon art adorning Truth Inside‘s Best Times (
The bilingual bunch behind Quebec’s sixth Heart Fest recently revealed 
On the momentous occasion of Code Orange Kids‘ recent signing to Deathwish, I became aware of their recently released Cycles (
In what is sure to reignite controversy in the hardcore scene, Southern Lord has apparently gone all-in by signing Cro-Mags’ co-founder Harley Flanagan to the label for “several upcoming releases.” To quote label owner Greg Anderson:
Don’t sell the Midwest short, as Chicago-based fest 
I approached Losin’ It‘s Danger Zone (
After a 2011 announcement that 
On this attention-grabbing 
With the Republican Presidential caucus/primary season in full ludicrous swing with Mitt Romney slumping towards the inevitable party nomination, we turn now to the far less polarizing coverage of the 2012 hardcore festival season. Because I like to be cheeky, I’ll be running this coverage under the Pit Romney heading. Here we go!
The latest installment in Give‘s informal multi-label singles series, Flower Head (
When compelling hardcore act Ceremony left Bridge Nine for mega-indie Matador, many people wondered if that move signaled further changes in the band’s sound. (Upon their signing to the label, I pondered 
As if 
Long Island’s This Is Hell has been plugging away since 2004, building a fanbase over four heavy albums and hundreds of live shows worldwide. Given the slew of reunions in just the past year, a hardcore band actually staying together seems an extraordinary feat, some sort of rare bird to be studied or dissected. In this interview, conducted last year just prior to the release of their latest album Black Mass, I asked founder and songwriter Rick Jimenez about the band’s more metallic sound as well as his thoughts on the nostalgic “reunion culture” of hardcore today.
What a raucous way to start the New Year! No Sir boasts members from a handful of California acts — including personal faves All Teeth — and leaves a vitriolic impression on Holy Land (
