Livin' In The 80s: 80s Hardcore On Bandcamp

Assault and Battery The Complete Session, May 1981 Alona’s Dream 2021 Unreleased 4 track demo by this early D.C. band, and a crucial piece of hardcore history, this 10 tracker is fast, sloppy and furious, all trademarks of a new and exciting movement exploding out of the burbs in ’81. Band members would later go on to Artificial Piece, Government Issue, Savage Beliefs and Marginal Man.   The disc version comes in an LP style sleeve with a wee liner note. Pretty good stuff if not generic by today’s standards. Link: https://alonasdreamrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-complete-session-may-1981

The Landlords Hey! It's A Teenage House Party! Fitzgerald's Paris Feel It Records 2016/2018 Feel It Records released these two gems from Virginia’s The Landlords. Quite a lot of different styles pop up on these fantastic releases. If you like your HC punk a little more adventurous, this is for you. I also hear a bit of Big Boys and maybe Rites of Spring in here , and plenty of youthful humor as well. Links:   https://thelandlords.bandcamp.com/album/fitzgeralds-paris https://thelandlords.bandcamp.com/album/hey-its-a-teenage-house-party

Generics Cost Cutter Feel It Records 1983 originally Reissue of an obscure 7” from this KBD type punk band. Not really hardcore, but it has that underground garage charm that makes it worth a listen. Includes two additional tracks not on the original. Link: https://generics.bandcamp.com/album/cost-cutter The label, Feel It Records also has a pretty large stable of offerings, mostly in the modern retro vein, but they do have plenty of obscure vintage gems as well. (See my upcoming The Landlords post) Link: https://feelitrecords.bandcamp.com/

Mad At The World Records NYC Not sure about this label, as they seem to have lost their website. They were doing some vinyl reissues of older NYHC, but seem to have folded up shop. They do still have some classics available on digital though, including: Major Conflict - Sounds Like 1983: Ripping nYHC from 1983 Nihilistics - S/T: Brutal first album from the kings of negativity Urban Waste - Police Brutality - One of the best in early NYHC, reissued here simply as ‘Urban Waste’, the label gave this a 12” release with some great urban style label art. Additionally, they also reissued Token Entry’s crucial debut, and a comp album of tracks by New Jersey’s excellent Sand In The Face, so you maybe can hunt those down on discogs or something. Link: https://madattheworldrecords.bandcamp.com/music

Even Worse We Suck! The Lost 1982 Album Radiation Deluxe/ Originally Grand Theft Audio 2002 Even Worse were an early pre-NYHC band, contemporary with Heart Attack, Kraut, etc. and still carried with them some of the punk snot from the 70s, so more of a bridge style for what NYHC scene was to become stylistically. They were a bit sloppy, with nary a trace of metal, but they had a sense of fun and excitement that carried the early scene as it discovered itself.   This was released originally by Grand Theft Audio as a CD, but gets the Radiation vinyl treatment containing the same tracks, the ‘Lost’ album and a set at Max’s. A pretty decent slice of NY punk history. Link: https://evenworsenyc.bandcamp.com/album/we-suck-the-lost-album-aka-youve-ruined-everything

Verbal Assault Trial,  On/ Exit,  RIX-Core ’84-’86 Atomic Action 2013, 2018, 2021 Verbal Assault was Rhode Island hardcore to be sure. Well liked, well travelled and showing growth with each release, Atomic Action gives us three of their great releases, ‘Trial’ (melodic hardcore pointing towards Dagnasty and emo) and ‘On’ and ‘Exit’ now combined as ‘On/Exit”, a post-hardcore masterpiece that we might unfairly compare to early Dag Nasty or late-period Government Issue as a comparison. They also have a digital only release compilation of three RI bands from the day, which features eight live VA tracks. Not sure if they are taken from demos or another source, but still nice to have. Link: https://atomicactionrecords.bandcamp.com/album/trial