MRR #272-DC Hardcore
I missed a column or two because I was on tour across the USA and Europe first with Kylesa then with Regulations. Every time I go on the road I plan to do some writing, but it almost never happens. Thanks a lot to everyone who came out to see the bands. The Regulations tour went way better than I expected and I am 100% amped on that band every day. It was very rewarding to use the resources at my disposal to bring that band around to play for people across the US. Everyone who sets up shows, plays in opening bands and feeds or houses bands gets much respect from myself and the Swedes.

When last I wrote in these pages were discussing DC hardcore records. As I said before, the story of DC hardcore has been told already in the book Dance of Days. But as a collector I wanted to focus a little bit more on the artifacts themselves. This month we are only going to talk about TWO records, don’t sweat, things will pick up a lot next month.

The last record we discussed was the Bad Brains Pay to Cum ep. Along with this 1980 gem the Teen Idles Minor Disturbance ep set the stage for the 1981 Hardcore explosion. The Teen Idles EP in retrospect is not that great. It’s cool and sloppy hardcore punk showing the raw enthusiasm and energy of the new generation of hardcore kids in DC. It was clearly a step in the right direction, and considering it was the first release on Dischord Records it definitely laid the groundwork for the explosion of the scene that was to come. We have to remind ourselves that in 1980 for a bunch of teenage kids to start a band and put out their own record was still pretty radical. Most bands were still trying to “get signed” and most labels at the time had some sort of distribution deal or other ties to either major labels or large independents. There is little doubt that the Teen Idles and Bad Brains shows and releases were the catalyst that propelled a number of amazing bands to the forefront of DC hardcore in the ensuing years. Certainly many kids saw the Teen Idles shows and record and said “hey I can do that.” Dischord with it’s no bullshit DIY attitude practically invented the DIY aesthetic and code of conduct as we know it. Despite not releasing many good records in the last 20 years, this label is still the benchmark of integrity in one of the most corrupt and venal industries on earth.

To my mind the most important year for Hardcore in DC was 1981 and this year produced two of the most important hardcore releases of all time, Minor Threat S/T 7” and Bad Brains ROIR Cassette. One of both of these releases are on most any US hardcore fans top five list.

It is ironic that one of the most important recordings in the history of hardcore was actually originally a cassette only release. ROIR “Reach Out International Records” was an NYC outfit who in the spirit of misguided futurism latched onto the cassette tape as the format of tomorrow. This “tape only” label has had most of it’s better releases finally re issued some 20 years later on vinyl. The irony of this fact is that the new label chose to embrace cassette as a futuristic format that was going to replace old fashioned vinyl. The inserts on the tapes actually carried the following disclaimer “Warning: this album length performance not available on vinyl” Decades later vinyl stands strong and cassette and CD are going the way of the buffalo.

Regardless, the RIOR sessions, as they became known, feature some of the most incendiary music ever recorded. The Bad Brains brought a level of musicianship and a sense of vision to hardcore that their younger peers could only hope to match with raw enthusiasm. The rampaging bass lines, high speed drumming, wailing vocals and most importantly shredding guitar on the ROIR tape took music as it was known at the time directly to the next level. Keep in mind that the top selling records of 1981 were by Pat Benetar, REO Speedwagon, the Moody Blues, Foreigner and Styxx.

Baffling many to this day is the presence of several stoned out reggae jams on this recording. The Rasta influence was already heavy on these dudes. Through out the 80’s it was common to re dub this tape without the reggae songs. Today there are some who feel that the song order was quite deliberate and the mellow interlude of the reggae jams only serves to amplify the intensity of the hardcore ragers. Similar theories have been advanced about some of Black Sabbath’s recordings as well, the whole idea of a “calm before the storm” building up the intensity. The “dive bomb scream” intro of Supertouch after the tropical placidity of Jah Calling is like waking up in a foxhole to an incoming air raid after dreaming about a sandy beach.

The cover of this record featured a lightning bolt striking the capital dome on a bold cover in the rasta colors of red, gold and green. The tape itself came on red, gold and green cassettes and the true die hards bought all three colors. The cover art was meant to imply the wrath of the almighty smiting down the corrupt and wicked. However, from a musical perspective that lightning bolt signified the pure power and intensity of hardcore delivering the youth from the days of old and smashing away the chains of mediocrity in music.

The guitar leads on this record are over dubbed in a style that makes it sound like they are being beamed in on a transmitter from outer space. I’ve been listening to this record for almost 25 years and my heart beat still speeds when it’s on. When the solo in Big Takeover kicks in I can’t help but gnash my teeth, clench my fists and close my eyes. When this came out there was really no band that sounded anything like what the Bad Brains were doing, and lets face it, this effort has never really been topped either. It’s quite probable that with the exception of some early Discharge recordings this record will NEVER be equaled or topped.

The album starts off with Sailin’ On which is a quintessential Bad Brains jam. The rumbling bass line is fast and frenetic with Darryl Jennifer’s “walking” fills that probably owe more to Bootsy Collins than Sid Vicious. It is tempting to write something like “it’s the bass lines that MAKE this record” but the fact is each of these dudes was such an incredible musician and so perfectly in sync that the combined effect is simply overpowering. The guitar tone on this record is perfect and Dr. Know shows his amazing ability to plow through raw and biting riffs that are catchy and simple and shift gears to serious fretboard gymnastics. The result is a style of hardcore that is neither “raw and simple” or “complex and technical” but a combination of the best elements of primal thrash and virtuosity. Sailin’ On features a simple buzz saw riff with several variations from verse to chrus and bridge. The first verse and chorus HR shouts and snarls in a typically hardcore style, but on the second verse he busts in with a soulful “whooo ooo ooo” that sounds perfectly matched to the song, but NOBODY could get away with doing today. The bridge features a short build up and one of Dr Know’s otherworldly solos followed by another chorus and a verse of just the “whooo ooo ooo” Then on the last verse HR sings out the vocals instead of shouting them, returning to a snarl on the last line. The song breaks down into a drum roll and short airy acoustic interlude.

There is not even a second before a snare roll announces the onslaught of Don’t Need It. The main intro riff for this song is actually a pretty complex sort of walking scale and it must be pretty hard to play because I never hear people covering this jam. The verse is more mid paced and Dr. Know kind of lets the chord ring out while the bass and drums race ahead. There is a quick fill between the first and second verse with a quick build up that breaks into a breathtaking bass fill. The song leads out with an amazing conclusion with a quick guitar lead that transitions into a thunderous drum outro punctuated by sharp stabs of guitar.

Attitude, like Sailin’ On, calls on both a spirit of rebellious defiance and a divine inspiration. Attitude seems more based in UK punk than a lot of other Bad Brains tunes, but at three times the speed and with some characteristically rampaging bass fills in the chorus. During the outro there’s a quick break down where the guitar has a riff over dubbed in such a blatant manner that it adds a whole extra dimension to the song. I’m sure the studio engineer was just like “I’m punching in the guitar here” but the difference in the tone between the base track and over dub is so blatant that it adds a whole extra level to the intensity.

The bass intro for Regulator sets the tone for the whole song. This is a surprisingly restrained song, much slower than the previous numbers. The power in this one comes less from a strong riff than the driving bass line. You can hear the righteous anger in HR’s voice as he rails against the powers that be. The song shifts gear abruptly into a rapid fire staccato driving by HR’s shouts against the Regulator.

The most triumphant bass once again brings us back to the known for the intro to Banned in DC. Another song with a fairly simple and direct punk riff but with some amazingly hot bass playing and at high speeds. The intro bust is a high speed, high tension, build up and erupts in HR’s bone chilling scream. The breakdown in this song features a strong and direct bass that mirrors the guitar riff while only stabs of guitar. Then there is one of those amazing “beamed from outer space” guitar solos. This lead is much slower and more deliberate than some of the other leads. And in the midst of it the bass breaks out into a sick fill at just the right moment.

Jah Calling is a short dub reggae number. Cool for what it is, I don’t mind the reggae parts of this record any more, but I don’t really have much to say about them either.

As mentioned earlier the screaming dive bomb effect (I’m assuming that’s just HR’s voice with some studio gimmick) that announces the arrival of Supertouch/Shitfit seems about five times more intense sandwiched in between two mellow reggae numbers. Supertouch is another short and fast rager with the defiant, yet positive lyrics HR was known for. It segues seamlessly into Shiftit which features one of the more important crunchy build ups in the early years of hardcore. One can hear a lot of the future of “mosh” and metal influenced hardcore in some of these build ups and intro busts. Luckily, unlike future generations of talentless hacks to who turned short breakdowns and intro build ups into entire songs, this jam is just setting the stage for some intense fast hardcore. The vocals on this are so ridiculously fast and sped up it would sound cartoonish if anyone but HR was singing it. The intro build up returns at the end to underpin a wicked guitar lead. And following the pattern, some ill bass fills as well.

Leaving this Babylon is another reggae number which closes out the first side of the tape.
Press the eject and flip over to Fearless Vampire Killers which starts out with a fearsome guitar intro then busts into some more over the top fast hardcore. There is some more of that “walking” kind of scale arrangement which must have been tricky to play.

Before you can catch your breath “I” which is another one of the uncharacteristically slow jams kicks in. Once again nailed down by a thunderously rumbling bass line this song has a sort of “freight train rolling through” groove to it that sets it apart from most of the other songs on the tape. HR’s vocals are at their most soulful on this during the end of the verses. There’s some great call and response backing vocals in the chorus. A sick guitar solo and then HR does this weird yodel kind of shit at the end of the song that no one else in hardcore could ever get away with.

Big Take Over might be my favorite song on this record. The intro bust is break taking, a pounding drum beat while some dude cited in the liner notes as “Dave Id” taps out SOS in morse code. The guitar builds up and busts into a sick build up that explodes into the song like a bomb going off. It’s not super fast, but the riff is strong and the bass punishing. The highlight of this song however is the guitar lead. They introduce it with kind of a one, two, three, GO! Build up and then it’s overdubbed in with so much reverb it sounds like it’s beamed directly from Jah into the studio through some cosmic power. The lead itself isn’t even terribly fast or complex but like a lead on one of the early Rolling Stones classics, it has this “less is more” approach that makes it stick in your head for life.

Pay to Cum was recorded several times before this session, and we talked about some of the earlier versions in the last column, this version is faster and tighter and when compared to the 7” and demo versions you can see the logical progression in speed and intensity as the hardcore trajectory hit the stratosphere.

Right Brigade starts out with a marching intro build up followed by some intense riffing. but it’s the breakdown in this song that is the most crucial. In fact I’d have to place this in the top five of most influential breakdowns of the early hardcore era. One can hear the pounding, galloping groove of this breakdown in so much hardcore today it’s hard to think that so many bands trace their sound back to a few seconds of this song. The breakdown backs up another extra terrestrial guitar lead, probably the lead on this record most rooted in 70’s hard rock and blues. Right Brigade comes to a screeching halt and there’s another reggae number I Luv I Jah, which is both the weakest and longest jam on the tape. The finale of the whole session though is a sick one measure build up and fade out titled “intro” which has me mystified to this day.

Next month, 1981 in DC continued!

Publication Date:
January 1, 1984

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