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Go hard or go home: why is hardcore punk enjoying a renaissance?
The success of Manchester’s Outbreak festival shows the appetite for the genre isn’t just healthy, it’s on the rise. Its organisers discuss the scene’s evolution, its fragility, and its (very loud) future
Early bands such as Black Flag, Bad Brains and Dead Kennedys distilled the rawness of punk and pushed it to extremes, pioneering a do-it-yourself ethos, and a fast, frantic sound that became the definitive sonic kickback to a decade of Reaganomics and rising conservatism. Alongside the traditional hardcore bands that have been in rotation since the festival’s formative years (Have Heart, Harm’s Way, Incendiary) and the newer homegrown acts that have followed in their stead (at least seven of whom are from Glasgow), you’ll find everything from experimental hip-hop (16mm filmstock) to midwest emo (American Football) and indie rock ( Soccer Mommy), most of which is accompanied by a lot of stage-diving. The same month, Torrance, California punks Joyce Manor – who swamped Outbreak’s main stage on Sunday – were a musical guest on John Mulaney’s live Netflix show Everybody’s in LA, performing between St Vincent and Warren G.
Or read this on The Guardian