Straight Edge Hardcore
tagStarted 1981Peak 1982-1995Last big hit still active
Located in 1 route
Hardcore defined as much by ethic as sound: abstention from alcohol, drugs and (often) casual sex, set to fast, clipped, no-frills riffing and barked, declarative vocals. Songs are short, urgent and confrontational, built on driving downstrokes and shout-along choruses delivering moral conviction at full volume.
History
Named for Minor Threat's 1981 anthem, the philosophy spread from Washington DC and Boston (SSD) across the US hardcore underground. Reno's 7 Seconds and California's Uniform Choice carried it through the 1980s; in the 1990s Earth Crisis fused it with militant veganism and metallic riffing, hardening straight edge into a lasting, ethically charged hardcore identity.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straight_edge
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_Threat
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_Seconds_(band)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Crisis