AMERICAN HARDCORE:
A TRIBAL HISTORY
STEPHEN BLUSH
FERAL HOUSE

An exhaustively researched tome, American Hardcore is quite possibly the best book on the subject since Please Kill Me. Maintaining a similar chronological direct-quote format, American Hardcore’s tribal history comes, literally, right from the source.
The book’s biggest strength lies in its focus on the hardcore scene geographically. Every punk biography ever written mentions the New York, California and D.C. scenes without fail, but American Hardcore has the foresight to examine the previously overlooked contributions of Texas, Boston and the Mid-West as well. Another highlight, almost worth the cover price alone, is an entire chapter devoted to The Misfits. With conflicting historical accounts from Danzig, Jerry Only and Bobby Steele, it becomes apparent early on why this legendary group splintered before their time. Interviews with pioneers like The Cro-Mags, Murphy’s Law, Youth Brigade, Heart Attack and Dag Nasty all make the book feel refreshingly complete, with obligatory interviews with Black Flag, Dead Kennedys and Minor Threat rounding things out.
Some hilarious and insidious truths come to light in American Hardcore, including the scene’s general despise of the ‘hardcore’ Beastie Boys. Quote artist Sean Taggart – “I liked Adam Yauch a lot. The others were complete spoiled little bastards. I hated the whole crew. They were effete little shits.” Similarly distained for a telling period were hardcore rasta legends Bad Brains, whose homophobia and righteousness eventually alienated them from the very scene they helped create.
The lone complaint I had with American Hardcore was more of an editing pet peeve than everything else. Blush’s insistence on capitalizing every sub genre of Punk and Hardcore gets irritating real quick, whether it’s Thrash, Rock or Metal. A small, and perhaps trivial gripe, on an excellent and thorough hardcore history. JT

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