New York is known for a lot of things, but one of its biggest musical legacies is the hardcore scene, which began in the ’80s and is still going strong today. Here are a few of the most influential NYHC acts. Start with these and if you still don’t have your fix, write in and we’ll follow it up with a second installment. Deal? Good. Now get in the pit!
Judge — These days it’s common for hardcore and metal to walk the line known as “metalcore,” but Judge were two decades ahead of the curve when they combined metallic riffing with hardcore’s roots to create a unique take on the genre that still sounds fresh today. If you need to get one disc by the band, we recommend picking up What It Meant: The Complete Discography, which contains all of the band’s studio recordings and is required listening for anyone interested in learning about the roots of the NYHC movement.
Gorilla Biscuits — Gorilla Biscuits’ legacy is having introduced a healthy dose of melodicism into hardcore’s signature brand of aggression to come up with a hybrid meant for sing-a-longs and stagedives. Amazingly, Gorilla Biscuits’ classic album Start Today still sounds as relevant today as it did back in 1989, when it was originally released. The band recently reunited, so make sure to go check out these legends live if they come to your town anytime soon.
Warzone — Warzone were one of the first hardcore punk bands to directly tackle the subject of race — and alongside acts like Bad Brains, they helped smash stereotypes with their lyrics. The ’Zone united everyone from skinheads to mohawked punk rockers to traditional old-school hardcore kids with classic albums like Don’t Forget The Struggle, Don’t Forget The Streets (a phrase later quoted by H20 frontman Toby Morse in one of his own songs). While not all of the nods to Warzone were quite that direct, their influence on the NYHC movement is incalculable.
Cro-Mags — Cro-Mags were one of the first hardcore bands to embrace the Hare Krishna movement, a trend still present today. Although the band’s personal differences caused the group to implode, while the Cro-Mags were together they channeled this tension into some of the most aggressive music on the planet ― a stark contrast to the glam metal scene glittering over on the West Coast. If you’re interested in learning more about the band, we recommend checking out frontman John Joseph’s autobiography The Evolution Of A Cro-Magnon, which tells the story of Joseph’s chilling upbringing as well his take on the history of the band.
Agnostic Front — Agnostic Front are less of a band and more of an institution—and at this point they’ve gone through more members than the Red Hot Chili Peppers have guitarists. However, the one standard has been the band’s ability to craft some of the most crucial NYHC around. With their debut album, Victim In Pain, the band introduced the then-nascent genre of New York hardcore to the rest of the world. Amazingly, Agnostic Front are still active, and last year they released Warriors, which revisited the thrash sound they helped pioneer in the ’80s.