American Hardcore (The History of American Punk Rock 1980-1986)

By 1980, the Ramones had simplified and sped up rock and roll, helping at the same time to put it back into the hands of kids. This aural companion to punk documentary American Hardcore covers what bunches of them did with it in their turn: generally revving it up even more – so much so that little room remained for da brudders’ pop hooks – to deliver potentially tongue-twisting shouts against what would later be called “the dominant paradigm” (Untouchables’ “Nic Fit,” D.O.A.’s “F***ed Up Ronnie”). This 26-tracks-in-37 minutes set also documents anti-lockstep indictments of the scene itself (the Freeze’s “Boston Not L.A.”), deadpan irony (the Adolescents’ “I Hate Children”) and blasts of certitude that the truth will never be conquered (YDI’s “Enemy for Life”). Not to mention reminders, by way of Void’s avant-garde solos on “Who Are You?/Time to Die” and Flipper’s existential plod “Ha Ha Ha,” that hardcore was never any one thing.