Publication:
HeartttaCk

Author:
Felix Von Havoc

HeartAttack #8
Top Ten
1. Inmates Government Crimes 7"
2. The Pist
3. Clockwork Orgy - video
4. Cluster Bomb Unit
5. Diskonto 7"
6. Disembodied CD and live
7. Stooges-Raw Power
8. Scorched Earth Policy LP
9. The Varukers
10. The New Wave of German Hardcore

Last issue I wondered out loud where all the anger and energy of the punk/ hardcore scene had gone. This issue I ask you "What the fuck happened to straight edge?"

It all began in Washington D.C. around '79-80. The Teen Idles where probably the first well known band to call themselves straight edge and bring the radical idea of an alert, sober lifestyle into the decadent punk scene. Indeed, in order to distance themselves from the poseur sell out bands that were spearheading the "new wave" the kids invented the term HARDCORE. Hardcore meaning the hard core of the punks. Not poseurs or fashion followers but kids who were truly dedicated to raw, relevant roots rock n' roll. Kids who were dedicated to a "scene". A close knit underground based around a powerful new music and a radical alternative life style which was light years removed from mainstream USA circa 1980. The Atlantic Club (now the 9:30 club) had a policy of allowing under age kids into shows but marking them as under age by putting a big black X on their hand with a magic marker so they couldn't buy drinks at the bar. As the straight edge movement emerged the X became its symbol.

In those days straight edge was certainly punk. The music was fast, angry three chord thrash/punk and set the standard for 80's hard core. Straight edge was about THINKING FOR YOURSELF. Being straight meant the ability to see clearly and make your own choices without being dragged down by society and its poisons. Straight edge was an act of rebellion, not conformity. Society wants the kids to be stoned and wasted. Drugs and alcohol keeps the kids stupid, unquestioning, and channels their rebellion into mindless self destruction rather than thought or action. You could hear the anger and conviction in the music. The early straight edge scene generated some of the best hardcore ever. Powerful, strong, with a sincere message. Minor Threat, SOA, Teen Idles, SSDecontrol, Government Issue, Seven Seconds, Stalag 13, the Abused, DYS, the Faith, etc.

Just when straight edge seemed to be on the wane bands like L'arm and the Skeezicks answered with a European take on the movement. And soon bands like Justice League and Youth of Today were carrying the banner. Then suddenly straight edge hardcore exploded again. The summer of '88 was a high water mark for straight edge if there ever was one, hard to think now that its been almost 8 years. Every suburb of every major city seemed to spawn a s.e.h.c. unit in the late 80's. YOT, Chain of Strength, Bold, Gorrilla Biscuits, etc. Just when Dischord turned its back on hardcore Revelation emerged to spearhead the new youth crew. But the '88 era was quite a bit different from the early 80's straight edge scene. The new kids definately were losing touch with the punk roots of the scene. Some of the worst conformist and macho attitudes of mainstream society took hold in the underground and "jock core" was born. Face it, Slapshot are about as punk as Loverboy. Metal and major labels got pretty mixed up with hardcore about this time, it also being the high point of "cross-over." The '88 youth crew era of hardcore produced some great and inspiring records but it also served to dilute the underground with a lot of attitudes that were pretty far removed from DIY punk attitudes. The whole idea of being a non-conformist and thinking for yourself seemed to fall by the wayside. The new school seemed to be based more around a conformist jock dress code and rigid adherence to a set of rules (which we all know straight edge is not). The weak willed became blind followers of whatever doctrine the charismatic lead singer spouted. Those with something to prove turned the pit into a macho battlezone. Those with visions of commercial success found solace in metal and the mainstream. Lost along the way was the punk spirit.

I was a straight edge punk kid when I first got into hardcore. At the time charged hair and studded jackets didn't clash with x'd hands. I started drinking and doing drugs about '86 and got pretty good at it. I wound up dealing drugs which taught me a lot about how to run a business and how not to pick your friends. I drank a lot of cheap beer. I stumbled through life just fine until about a year and a half ago. I'd spent a long time thinking about how much time and energy was being wasted on booze. I saw a lot of friends getting into speed and heroin. In contrast I saw how much guys like Neil at Tribal War and Kent at Ebullition were getting done for the scene by dedicating their energy to the movement instead of getting wasted. I was sick of standing around and waiting for someone else to book shows and put out records that I felt I could do pretty well myself. I was sick of waking up at noon with bloody knuckles, a few less freinds, and some new dents in my truck. So out went the booze. Being a well known drunk punk I got a lot of shit from my friends at first. This pissed me off so much that I started X ing out my hands and riding a skateboard again. I dusted off the Faith records and let the world know that Felix Von was not just a non drinker but STRAIGHT EDGE and proud.

I had always been up on SEHC, much to my punk friends dismay. In any event Judge is great drinking music. But taking a look around at the straight edge movement of the mid 90's I have to wonder if any of these kids have even heard of the Faith or even Minor Threat. With a few exceptions none of todays SE bands can hold a candle to your average quallity early 80's or mediocre late 80's SE band. The music is slow, and almost entirely dominated by metal. The kids dress like a bunch of ravers and the politics seem so shallow and temporary it makes me wonder why anyone keeps it up. While it is good to see that animal rights have entered the scene some kids have gone way off the deep end with ridiculous pro-life attitudes and militant vegan hoo ha. Worst of all is the Hare Krishna thing. Go listen to "Filler" by Minor Threat- one more time. Indeed, a certain charismatic lead singer is rumored to be intorducing his own line of Hare Krishna shoes and street wear. Don't get me wrong I like a lot of contemporary SE bands Chokehold, Groundwork, Refused, Unbroken and Minnesota's own Disembodied. However, the spirit seems to be gone. The anger the conviction, the power. Hardcore is like a car rolling on four flat tires, churning forward with no speed or direction and making a hell of a racket. Whichever way you slice it its very, very far removed from its punk roots. I sang a similar lament for punk in the last issue. The movement needs a jump start, a kick in the ass, something to fight for (or against). It would be good to see punk and straight edge marching side by side again, but I fear we have strayed too far.

One more note about mediocre, apolitical, and definately not punk music. I volunteer at a record store and I am constantly amazed by hordes of peoples' loyalty to the Dischord and Revelation labels some 7-10 years since either have put out a decent record. Brand loyalty? Give it up. How many of todays SE kids would have ever heard of, much less be into Iceburn or Into Another if ther weren't on Rev. Its not hardcore, its not straight edge its not even listenable. Check out some Swedish or Italian SEHC instead.

This summer in the Twin Cities saw the scene got its act together and undertake its second major attempt to Do It For The Kids. We have had an independent, volunteer run all punk and hardcore record store now for a year and a half. Extreme Noise Records may not be perfect, or have everything for everybody, but it's doing a decent job of making punk available at a decent price. Extreme Noise was the first major attempt by a lot of local scenesters to put "unity" to the test to acheive a common goal. At ENR punk, straight edge, pop-punk, emo, hardcore, and garage rock and ska all are represented and have their champions on the staff. The store is run on a shoestring budget and there never seems to be enough cash to go around at ordering time. So every week there is a little give and a little take and somehow we get a little of everthing.

After seeing Extreme Noise get off the ground a lot of people began to examine the sad state of booking shows in the Twin Cities. No venue existed soley for punk/ hardcore, and the main options were either shitty clubs or basement shows. The scene was rapidly outgrowing basements and the clubs of course all sucked. Last winter a group of people began to meet to lay plans for a DIY punk club in the summer of '95. While ENR was more or less a junta of established scenesters the new gig collective was a lot more open and brought in a lot of younger volunteers and a wider variety of people and commitments. We scoured the city for possible buildings to rent. We researched the legalities of licensing, insurance, and code compliance. We looked into buying PA equipment and building a stage. We held numerous benefit shows and planned a benefit compiliation album. Eventually several of us donated a several hundred bucks a piece to get things rolling. What is essential is that we worked together, despite our disagreements and made it happen. We spent four months looking for a space to rent and eventually would up taking over the lease on a hall that had been used in the past. Myself and Kaos Jack had been renting a local practice hall/ party spot for punk shows until the guy who ran it got thrown out. By a weird twist of fate a realtor offered to rent us the same hall a month or so after the Youth Brigade show we booked there. $850 a month and summer full of shows loomed ahead. We managed to build a stage and a sound booth, set up concessions, borrow, buy, steal and build a PA system and put the word on the street about the hot new venue.

A loose booking collective emerged and a system of volunteer staffing of shows as well. I imagine the day to day running of the place is not too different from ABC no Rio or Gilman street. We choose not to get a license, insurance or any of that other fascist bullshit from the man. This was more due to financial constraints than any desire to fight the system. Our location was in a busy college/hippie/biker area and right across the street from a housing project with asshole rent a cops. This led to a lot of nervousness on our part and a lot of real and imagined hassles from the cops. They basically were cool with us as long as we kept everyone inside. Not as easy as it seems because people weren't too ready to listen and it got very hot inside. We tried to institute a no drugs and alcohol policy to keep the cops off our back as we were committed to all ages booking. This policy was difficult to enforce and was blatantly flaunted by the too cool punk crowd who felt they had a god given right to bring cases of beer into shows.

We were tried to stick to a low $3-5 door price even for big shows and bands from as far away as Sweden, Belgium and England. We stayed all ages, at least half, if not more, of the money collected every night went to the bands. In fact over the summer we paid out between fifteen and twenty thousand dollars to bands. No chump change for a bunch of upstarts. We used the rest of the money to pay rent and buy PA and other equipment. We did our best to work around the whole Booking agent, guarantee, contract rock and roll bullshit. We made one exception (a major label band, a booking agent, a contract and a guarantee) and it was pretty much a disaster. Most of our troubles were with the unruly and disrespectful crowds at the bigger punk gigs. Dumb fucks starting fights, throwing bottles at passing cars, etc. Believe it or not we had virtually no trouble with skinheads but tons of problems with tattoo faced crusty train hopper bums. Indeed it was the crust bums who caused the most trouble by far. Demanded to be let in for free then proceeded to start fights and fuck things up for everyone. In the end we pulled off several shows a week all summer long and decided to bail at the end of September due to problems with out landlord and the touring season slowing down. With two shows left on the calendar the cops ordered us to shut down and the landlord changed the locks on our doors, holding our PA and stage hostage. We cleverly gained entry and liberated everything of value. We then destroyed everything that was left. I felt an era had ended as I looked at the ruined room through the haze from the fire extiguisher, and I closed the door for the last time.

Now we are back to basement shows and shitty clubs. But we are armed with a lot of experience and about two grand in the bank. Meetings continue weekly and hopefully by next summer we will bounce back with a bigger better club. The lesson to be learned here is that by setting aside differences and working together you can start a venue in your town that will help build your scene. It is hard work and very stressful at times but it really does make a difference. After months of arguing with people at the door, throwing out gate crashers and breaking up fights I finally got to see the Varukers and it all seemed worth it.

Publication Date:
January 1, 1988

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