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Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of
hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier p ...
but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by
post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-r ...
and
noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, artists indulge in extre ...
. Like post-punk, the term has been applied to a broad constellation of groups. Post-hardcore began in the 1980s with bands like Hüsker Dü and Minutemen. The genre expanded in the 1980s and 1990s with releases by bands from cities that had established hardcore scenes, such as Fugazi from Washington, D.C. as well as groups such as Big Black and Jawbox that stuck closer to post-hardcore's noise rock roots. In the early- and mid-2000s, achieved mainstream success with the popularity of bands like
My Chemical Romance My Chemical Romance (commonly abbreviated to MCR or My Chem) is an American rock band from Newark, New Jersey. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, lead guitarist Ray Toro, rhythm guitarist Frank Iero, and bassist ...
,
Dance Gavin Dance Dance Gavin Dance is an American rock band from Sacramento, California, formed in 2005. The band currently consists of vocalists Jon Mess and Tilian Pearson, lead guitarist Will Swan, rhythm guitarist Andrew Wells, and drummer Matthew Mingus. ...
, AFI,
Underoath Underoath (stylized as Underøath or UnderOath) is an American rock band from Tampa, Florida. It was founded by lead vocalist Dallas Taylor and guitarist Luke Morton on November 30, 1997, in Ocala, Florida; subsequently, its additional membe ...
, Hawthorne Heights, Silverstein,
The Used The Used is an American rock band from Orem, Utah, that formed in 2001. The group consists of vocalist Bert McCracken, bassist Jeph Howard, drummer Dan Whitesides, and guitarist Joey Bradford. Former members include Quinn Allman, Branden Stei ...
, At the Drive-In,
Saosin Saosin is an American rock band formed in Orange County, California in 2003 by Beau Burchell, Justin Shekoski, Zach Kennedy, and Anthony Green. The band released their first EP, ''Translating the Name'', in 2003. That year, vocalist Anthony Gr ...
,
Alexisonfire Alexisonfire (pronounced "Alexis on Fire") is a Canadian post-hardcore band formed in St. Catharines, OntarioRoss, Mike.Band is a scream", CANOE JAM!, April 30, 2004. Retrieved on July 17, 2007. in 2001. The band's members are George Pettit ...
, and Senses Fail. In the 2010s, bands like Sleeping with Sirens and Pierce the Veil achieved mainstream success. Meanwhile, bands like Title Fight and
La Dispute :''This is for the Marivaux play, for the band, see La Dispute (band).'' ''La Dispute'' is a prose comedy written by Pierre de Marivaux, shown for the first time on 19 October 1744 by the Théâtre-Italien in the Hôtel de Bourgogne. The story ...
experienced underground popularity.


Characteristics

Hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier p ...
typically features very fast tempos, loud volume, and heavy bass levels, as well as a "do-it-yourself" ethic. Music database ''
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...
'' stated "These newer bands, termed post-hardcore, often found complex and dynamic ways of blowing off steam that generally went outside the strict hardcore realm of 'loud fast rules'. Additionally, many of these bands' vocalists were just as likely to deliver their lyrics with a whispered croon as they were a maniacal yelp." Allmusic also claims that post-hardcore bands find creative ways to build and release tension rather than "airing their dirty laundry in short, sharp, frenetic bursts". Jeff Terich of Treblezine stated, "Instead of sticking to hardcore's rigid constraints, these artists expanded beyond power chords and
gang vocals Screaming is an extended vocal technique that is popular in "aggressive" music genres such as heavy metal, punk rock, and noise music and others. It is common in the more extreme subgenres of heavy metal, such as death and black metal as we ...
, incorporating more creative outlets for punk rock energy." British
post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-r ...
of the late 1970s and early 1980s has been seen as influential on the musical development of post-hardcore bands. As the genre progressed, some of these groups also experimented with a wide array of influences, including
soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest att ...
, dub, funk,
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
, and dance-punk. It has also been noted that since some post-hardcore bands included members that were rooted in the beginnings of hardcore punk, some of them were able to expand their sound as they became more skilled musicians. During the early 2000s it became common for mainstream “melodic” post-hardcore bands to crossover into other related genres like metalcore,
indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produ ...
, screamo, and emo, straddling experimentation and accessibility.


History


Origins (1980s)

Groups such as
Saccharine Trust Saccharine Trust is an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1980 by singer Jack Brewer and guitarist Joe Baiza. The band would frequently perform with SST labelmates Minutemen and Black Flag. However, Baiza descri ...
, Naked Raygun, and
The Effigies The Effigies were an American punk band from Chicago, Illinois, United States. The band played its first show in 1980 and was active initially for approximately a decade, undergoing multiple personnel changes with frontman John Kezdy the only cons ...
, which were active around the early 1980s, are considered to be forerunners to the post-hardcore genre.
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
's Naked Raygun, formed in 1981, has been seen as merging
post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-r ...
influences of bands such as
Wire Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm A wire is a flexible strand of metal. Wire is co ...
and Gang of Four with
hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier p ...
, while author Steven Blush notes the band's use of "oblique lyrics and stark post-punk melodies". Blush, Steven. '' American Hardcore: A Tribal History''.
Feral House Feral House is an American book publisher founded in 1989 by Adam Parfrey and based in Port Townsend, Washington. Early history The company's first book was '' The Satanic Witch'' (1989; originally published in 1971 by Dodd, Mead & Company) by ...
: 2001. p. 222.
Similarly, The Effigies, who also hailed from the Chicago scene, released music influenced by the hardcore of
Minor Threat Minor Threat was an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1980 in Washington, D.C. by vocalist Ian MacKaye and drummer Jeff Nelson (musician), Jeff Nelson. MacKaye and Nelson had played in several other bands together, and recruited bassist Br ...
and the British post-punk of bands like The Stranglers, Killing Joke, and The Ruts. During the early to mid-1980s, the desire to experiment with hardcore's basic template expanded to many musicians that had been associated with the genre or had strong roots in it. Many of these groups also took inspiration from the 1980s
noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, artists indulge in extre ...
scene pioneered by Sonic Youth. Some bands signed to the independent label Homestead Records, including Squirrel Bait (as well as David Grubbs-related bands
Bastro Bastro was an American post-hardcore band which was active in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band's main line-up consisted of David Grubbs on guitar, Clark Johnson on bass guitar, and John McEntire on drums. The band also experimented with ...
and Bitch Magnet) and Steve Albini's Big Black (just as his subsequent projects Rapeman and Shellac) are also associated with post-hardcore. Big Black, which also featured former Naked Raygun guitarist Santiago Durango, made themselves known for their strict DIY ethic, related to practices such as paying for their own recordings, booking their own shows, handling their own management and publicity, and remaining "stubbornly independent at a time when many independent bands were eagerly reaching out for the major-label brass ring". The band's music, punctuated by the use of a drum machine, has also been seen as influential to
industrial rock Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Cromagnon, Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten ...
, while Blush has also described the Albini-fronted project as "an angst-ridden response to the rigid English post-punk of Gang of Four". After the issuing of the " Il Duce" single and between the release of their only two full-length studio albums, Big Black left Homestead for
Touch and Go Records Touch and Go Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois. After its genesis as a handmade fanzine in 1979, it grew into one of the key record labels in the American 1980s underground and alternative rock scenes. ...
, which would later reissue not only their entire discography, but would also be responsible for the release of the complete works of Scratch Acid, an act from
Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
described as post-hardcore, that, according to Stephen Thomas Erlewine, "laid the groundwork for much of the distorted, grinding alternative punk rockers of the '90s". According to Ryan Cooper of About.com and author Doyle Greene, 1980s hardcore punk band Black Flag is one of the pioneers of for the experimental style the band started playing later on in the 1980s. Post-hardcore bands Minutemen and Hüsker Dü are prominent 1980s post-hardcore bands. Hüsker Dü's 1984 album '' Zen Arcade'' is the band's critical breakthrough. When ''Zen Arcade'' was first released, the album received positive critical reception from ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' and ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
''. Outside the United States, post-hardcore would take shape in the works of the Canadian group Nomeansno, related with Jello Biafra and his independently run label
Alternative Tentacles Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label established in 1979 in San Francisco, California. It was used by Dead Kennedys for the self-produced single " California Über Alles". After realizing the potential for an independent labe ...
, and that had been active since 1979. The magazine ''Dusted'' noted that the group's 1989's release '' Wrong'' was "one of the most aggressive and powerful opuses in post-hardcore ever made".


The Washington D.C. scene

During the years 1984 and 1985 in the " harDCore" scene, a new movement had "swept over". This movement was led by bands associated with the D.C. independent record label
Dischord Records Dischord Records is a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label specializing in punk rock. The label is co-owned by Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, who founded Dischord in 1980 to release '' Minor Disturbance'' by their band The Teen Idles ...
, home in the early 1980s to seminal hardcore bands such as Minor Threat, State of Alert, Void, and Government Issue. According to the Dischord website: "The violence and nihilism that had become identified with punk rock, largely by the media, had begun to take hold in DC and many of the older punks suddenly found themselves repelled and discouraged by their hometown scene", leading to "a time of redefinition". When The Faith put out the EP '' Subject to Change'' in 1983, it marked a critical evolution in the sound of D.C. hardcore and punk music in general. During these years, a new wave of bands started to form, these included Rites of Spring (which featured The Faith former guitarist Eddie Janney), Lunchmeat (later to become Soulside), Gray Matter,
Mission Impossible ''Mission: Impossible'' is a multimedia franchise based on a fictional secret espionage agency known as the Impossible Missions Force (IMF). The 1966 TV series ran for seven seasons and was revived in 1988 for two seasons. It inspired a serie ...
, Dag Nasty and Embrace, the latter featuring former Minor Threat singer and Dischord co-founder Ian MacKaye and former members of The Faith. This movement has been since widely known as the "Revolution Summer". Rites of Spring has been described as the band that "more than led the change", challenging the "macho posturing that had become so prevalent within the punk scene at that point", and "more importantly", defying "musical and stylistic rule". Journalist Steve Huey writes that while the band "strayed from hardcore's typically external concerns of the timenamely, social and political dissenttheir musical attack was no less blistering, and in fact a good deal more challenging and nuanced than the average three-chord speed-blur", a sound that, according to Huey, mapped out "a new direction for hardcore that built on the innovations" brought by Hüsker Dü's '' Zen Arcade''. Other bands have been perceived as taking inspiration from genres such as funk (as in the case of Beefeater) and 1960s pop (such as the example of Gray Matter). According to Eric Grubbs, a nickname was developed for the new sound, with some considering it "post-harDCore", but another name that floated around the scene was "
emo Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...
-core".Grubbs, p. 27 The latter, mentioned in skateboarding magazine ''Thrasher'', would come up in discussions around the D.C. area. While some of these bands have been considered contributors to the birth of emo, with Rites of Spring sometimes being named as the first or one of the earliest emo acts, musicians such as the band's former frontman Guy Picciotto and MacKaye himself have voiced their opposition against the term. In the nearby state of
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...
, similar bands that are categorized now as post-hardcore would also emerge, these include Moss Icon and The Hated. The former's music contained, according to Steve Huey, "shifting dynamics, chiming guitar arpeggios, and screaming, crying vocal climaxes", which would prove to be influential to later musicians in spite of the band's unstable existence. This group has also been considered one of the earliest emo acts. The second half of the 1980s saw the formation of several bands in D.C., which included Shudder to Think, Jawbox, The Nation of Ulysses, and Fugazi, as well as
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
's
Lungfish Lungfish are freshwater vertebrates belonging to the order Dipnoi. Lungfish are best known for retaining ancestral characteristics within the Osteichthyes, including the ability to breathe air, and ancestral structures within Sarcopterygii, i ...
. MacKaye described this period as the busiest that the Dischord Records label had ever seen. Most of these acts, along with earlier ones, would contribute to the 1989 compilation '' State of the Union'', a release that documented the new sound of the late 1980s D.C. punk scene. Fugazi gained "an extremely loyal and numerous global following", with reviewer Andy Kellman summarizing the band's influence with the statement: "To many, Fugazi meant as much to them as
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
did to their parents." It has also been noted that the group's "ever-evolving" sound would signal a more experimental turn in hardcore that paved the way for later Dischord releases. The band, which included MacKaye, Picciotto, and former Rites of Spring drummer Brendan Canty along with bassist Joe Lally, issued in 1989 '' 13 Songs'', a compilation of their earlier self-titled and '' Margin Walker'' EPs, which is now considered a landmark album. Similarly, the band's debut studio album, 1990's '' Repeater'', has also been "generally" regarded as a classic. The group also garnered recognition for their activism, cheaply priced shows and CDs, and their resistance to mainstream outlets. On the other hand, Jawbox had been influenced by "the tradition of Chicago's thriving early-'80s scene", while The Nation of Ulysses are "best remembered for lifting the motor-mouthed revolutionary rhetoric of the MC5" with the incorporation of "elements of R&B (as filtered through the MC5) and avant jazz" combined with "exciting, volatile live gigs", and being the inspiration for "a new crop of bands both locally and abroad".


Expansion (late 1980s and 1990s)

The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the formation and rise to prominence of several bands associated with earlier acts that not only included the examples of Fugazi and Shellac, but also
Girls Against Boys Girls Against Boys is a post-hardcore band which formed in Washington, D.C. and subsequently relocated to New York City shortly after their formation in 1989. The band released albums on the labels Adult Swim, Touch and Go Records, Geffen Record ...
(originally a side-project of Brendan Canty and Eli Janney, which would later incorporate members of Soulside),
The Jesus Lizard The Jesus Lizard is an American rock band formed in 1987 in Austin, Texas and based in Chicago, Illinois. They were "a leading noise rock band in the American independent underground… hoturned out a series of independent records filled wit ...
(formed by ex-members of Scratch Acid), Quicksand (fronted by former Youth of Today and Gorilla Biscuits member
Walter Schreifels Walter Schreifels (born March 10, 1969) is an American rock musician and producer from New York City. Career In the late 1980s, he played in many New York hardcore bands, most notably Youth of Today and Gorilla Biscuits, where he was also th ...
), Rollins Band (led by former Black Flag singer
Henry Rollins Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1980, Rol ...
), Tar (which raised from the ashes of a hardcore outfit named Blatant Dissent), and Slint (containing members of Squirrel Bait). Acts such as Shellac and Louisville's Slint have been considered influential to the development of the genre of math rock, with the former featuring "awkward time signatures and trademark aggression" that has come to characterize "a certain slant" on math rock, while the latter presented "instrumental music seeped in dramatic tension but set to rigid systems of solid-structured guitar patterns and percussive repetition". According to reviewer Jason Arkeny, Slint's "deft, extremist manipulations of volume, tempo, and structure cast them as clear progenitors of the post-rock movement". AllMusic has noted that younger bands "flowered into post-hardcore after cutting their teeth in high school punk bands". In Washington D.C., new bands such as
Hoover Hoover may refer to: Music * Hoover (band), an American post-hardcore band * Hooverphonic, a Belgian band originally named Hoover * Hoover (singer), Willis Hoover, a country and western performer active in 1960s and '70s * "Hoover" (song), a 2016 ...
(as well as the related
The Crownhate Ruin The Crownhate Ruin was an American short-lived post-hardcore band from Washington, D.C. Formed by ex-Hoover members Fred Erskine and Joe McRedmond, the band also featured Vin Novara (ex-1.6 Band) on drums. History Hoover disbanded after a 19 ...
),
Circus Lupus Circus Lupus was a post-hardcore band based in the area of Washington, D.C. The band originally formed in Madison, Wisconsin, where one-time Ignition and Soul Side bassist Chris Thomson met guitarist Chris Hamley and drummer Arika Casebolt while ...
, Bluetip, and
Smart Went Crazy Smart Went Crazy was an American rock band from Washington, D.C. History Smart Went Crazy was formed by high school students, Chad Clark (guitar and vocals), Abram Goodrich (bass) and Hilary Soldati (cello and vocals). Following graduation the ...
were added to the Dischord roster. Hoover has been cited by journalist Charles Spano as a band that had "a tremendous impact on post-hardcore music". In New York City, in addition to Quicksand, post-hardcore bands such as Helmet, Unsane, Chavez and Texas Is the Reason emerged. Chicago, which alongside the
Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...
has been important to the progression of math rock, also saw the birth of post-hardcore acts such as the examples of Shellac, Tar, Trenchmouth, and the Jade Tree-released group
Cap'n Jazz Cap'n Jazz (sometimes stylised as caP'n Jazz) was an American emo band formed in Chicago in 1989 by brothers Tim and Mike Kinsella, who were joined by Sam Zurick and Victor Villarreal. After a number of name changes and the addition of guita ...
(as well as the subsequent related project
Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronat ...
, which also released their work through Jade Tree). Steve Huey argues that the release of Cap'n Jazz's retrospective compilation album '' Analphabetapolothology'' helped spread the band's influence "far beyond their original audience", while also considering the group as influential for the development of emo in the independent music scene. Champaign, also in
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...
, was known for an independent scene that would give way to groups like Hum, Braid and Poster Children. The American Northwest saw the creation of acts such as Karp, Lync and Unwound, all hailing from the
Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region. Europea ...
area. The latter's music has been considered by critic John Bush to be a combination of "the noise of Sonic Youth's more raucous passages" with a "rare energetic flair which rivals even that of Fugazi".
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
saw the formation of groups such as The Jesus Lizard (later to be based in Chicago) and ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead in Austin, and At the Drive-In from El Paso. This last band was known for their energy in both performances and music, and for their "driving melodic punk riffs, meshed together with quieter interlocking note-picking". The genre also saw representation outside the United States in Refused who emerged from the
Umeå Umeå ( , , , locally ; South Westrobothnian: ;). fi, Uumaja; sju, Ubmeje; sma, Upmeje; se, Ubmi) is a city in northeast Sweden. It is the seat of Umeå Municipality and the capital of Västerbotten County. Situated on the Ume River, Um ...
, Sweden music scene. The band, which made itself known earlier in their career for its "massive hardcore sound", released in 1998 '' The Shape of Punk to Come'', an album that saw the group take inspiration from The Nation of Ulysses while incorporating elements such as " ambient textures, jazz breakdowns", metal and electronica to their hardcore sound.


The San Diego scene

The early-to-mid 1990s would see the birth of several bands in the San Diego, California music scene, some of which would lead a post-hardcore movement associated with the independent label Gravity Records. This movement would eventually become known as the "San Diego sound". Gravity was founded in 1991 by Matt Anderson, member of the band Heroin, as a means to release the music of his band and of other related San Diego groups, which also included Antioch Arrow and Clikatat Ikatowi. The label's earlier releases are known for the definition of "a new sound in hardcore rooted in tradition but boasting a chaotic sound that showcased a new approach" to the genre. Heroin were known for being innovators of early 1990s hardcore and for making dynamic landscapes "out of one minute blasts of noisy vitriol". These bands were influenced by acts like Fugazi and The Nation of Ulysses, while also helping propagate an offshoot of hardcore that "grafted spastic intensity to willfully experimental dissonance and dynamics". This movement has been associated to the development of the subgenre of screamo, while it also should be noticed that this term has been, as with the case of emo, the subject of controversy. The label also featured releases by non-San Diego bands that included Mohinder (from Cupertino, California), Angel Hair and its subsequent related project The VSS (from
Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Colora ...
), groups that have also been associated with this sound. The VSS was known for their use of synthesizers "vying with post-hardcore's rabid atonality". Outside the Gravity roster, another band that played an important role in the development of the "San Diego sound" was Drive Like Jehu. This group, founded by former members of Pitchfork, was known, according to Steve Huey, for their lengthy and multisectioned compositions based on the innovations brought by the releases on Dischord, incorporating elements such as "odd time signatures played an important role on its development in spite of the band's music not resembling the sound such term would later signify. In a similar manner,
Swing Kids The Swing Youth (german: Swingjugend) were a group of jazz and swing lovers in Germany formed in Hamburg in 1939. Primarily active in Hamburg and Berlin, they were composed of 14- to 21-year-old Germans, mostly middle or upper-class student ...
, composed of former members of hardcore bands from the San Diego scene such as Unbroken, Struggle and Spanakorzo, have been described by journalist Zach Baron as the moment in which the "hardcore" sound of bands like Unbroken effectively became "post-hardcore", known for "covering Joy Division songs" and for its sonic "jazz-quoting" and "guitar feedback" experimentation features. They were also one of the first bands released under the independent label
Three One G 31G Records, or Three One G, is a San Diego, California-based independent record label, started by musician Justin Pearson in 1994 and focusing on punk and experimental music. The label has released a number of albums and compilations in what has ...
, founded by the band's vocalist
Justin Pearson Justin Pearson (born August 20, 1975) is a vocalist and bassist known for his music career, playing in a number of San Diego-based noise rock, punk and grindcore bands, as well as his record label Three One G Records. Starting off in the punk ...
and later known for releasing the works of several other post-hardcore, noise rock, mathcore and grindcore groups. Bands like At the Drive-In have acknowledged the influence of the post-hardcore sound coming from the San Diego scene, with vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala citing elements such as "screaming vocals with over-the-top emotions, calculated, heavy riffs, ..offbeat rhythms" and an "incredible amount of energy, chaos and melody" put by these groups as crucial in the development of his band's sound.


Moderate popularity

According to Ian MacKaye, the sudden interest in underground and independent music brought by the success of
Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lamp Richard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colomb ...
's ''
Nevermind ''Nevermind'' is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991, by DGC Records. It was Nirvana's first release on a major label and the first to feature drummer Dave Grohl. Produced by Butch Vig, ''Nev ...
'' attracted the attention of major labels towards the Dischord imprint and many of its bands. While the label rejected these offers, two Dischord acts, Jawbox and Shudder to Think, would sign deals with major labels. The former's signing to Atlantic Records would alienate some of the band's long-term fanbase, but it would also help with the development and recording of the 1994 release '' For Your Own Special Sweetheart'', considered by Andy Kellman to be "one of the best releases to come out of the fertile D.C. scene of the '80s and '90s". The subsequent tour for the album and the
MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
rotation of some videos would introduce the band to a handful of new crowds, but ultimately the album would remain "unnoticed outside of the usual indie community". Likewise, out of the Dischord label, Interscope Records would sign Helmet after a reportedly "ferocious" bidding war between several major record companies, and while MTV would air some videos by the group, which by the time of the release of their major-label debut '' Meantime'', was considered then "the only band close to the
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...
grunge sound" on the American East Coast and would be hailed as "the next big thing", these expectations would "never be fully realized" in spite of the record's later influence. In another notable case, Hum was signed to RCA in 1994, selling approximately 250,000 copies of their album '' You'd Prefer an Astronaut'' fueled by the success of the album's lead single " Stars", and while the band had established by this point a strong underground fanbase, this would prove to be "the pinnacle of Hum's media attention", as its follow-up, 1998's '' Downward Is Heavenward'' would sell poorly, resulting in the decision of RCA to drop the band from their roster.


2000s (mainstream success)

Record producer Ross Robinson, who was credited for popularizing nu metal with bands like
Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn, or occasionally KoRn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream. Originally formed in 1993 ...
, Slipknot, Soulfly and Limp Bizkit in the 1990s, helped post-hardcore achieve popularity during the 2000s. Mehan Jayasuriya of
PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television ...
suggested that Robinson's sudden focus on post-hardcore was his "pet project" designed to redeem himself of "the 'Nu-Metal' scourge of the late '90s". Robinson recorded At the Drive-In's '' Relationship of Command'' (2000),
Glassjaw Glassjaw is an American post-hardcore band from Hempstead, New York. The band is fronted by vocalist Daryl Palumbo and guitarist Justin Beck, and was a major part of the Long Island music scene in the early 2000s. The band has been influential ...
's ''
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence ''Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence'' is the debut album of American rock band Glassjaw, released on May 9, 2000 by Roadrunner Records. It was produced by Ross Robinson. Since its release, the album has received positive reviews ...
'' (2000) and ''
Worship and Tribute ''Worship and Tribute'' is the second studio album by American post-hardcore band Glassjaw, released on July 9, 2002, through I Am and Warner Bros. Records. As with their first full-length album, ''Worship and Tribute'' was produced by Ross Robins ...
'' (2002), and The Blood Brothers' '' ...Burn, Piano Island, Burn'' (2003); four albums that are said to "stand as some of the best post-hardcore records produced" during the 2000s. In John Franck's review of ''Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence'' for Allmusic, he stated: "Featuring extraordinary ambidextrous drummer
Sammy Siegler Sammy Siegler (born March 21, 1973) is an American rock drummer, notable for his many contributions to the New York hardcore scene. He is currently living in Venice, California with his wife, model Siew Longhorn. Discography With Project X * ...
(of Gorilla Biscuits/ CIV fame), Glassjaw has paired up with producer/entrepreneur Ross Robinson (a key catalyst in the reinvention of the aggro rock sound) to take you on a pummeling ride that would make Bad Brains and Quicksand proud." These bands allowed the genre to grow and become much more varied with At the Drive-In taking influence from art rock and
rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm ...
, and Glassjaw using elements of both pop music and heavy metal; furthermore, bands such as Hell Is for Heroes, Hundred Reasons,
Hondo Maclean Hondo Maclean was a hardcore punk outfit from Bridgend, Wales. History Taking their name from a character in 1980s cartoon series M.A.S.K., Hondo Maclean emerged from the South Wales hardcore scene to wider recognition, including touring with ...
and
Funeral for a Friend Funeral for a Friend are a Welsh post-hardcore band from Bridgend, formed in 2001 and currently consists of Matthew Davies-Kreye (lead vocals), Kris Coombs-Roberts (guitar, backing vocals), Gavin Burrough (guitar, backing vocals), Darran Smi ...
took significant influence from heavy metal bands like Pantera as well as hardcore bands like The Hope Conspiracy. Post-hardcore achieved mainstream success with the success of
emo Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...
post-hardcore bands such as
My Chemical Romance My Chemical Romance (commonly abbreviated to MCR or My Chem) is an American rock band from Newark, New Jersey. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, lead guitarist Ray Toro, rhythm guitarist Frank Iero, and bassist ...
, Senses Fail,
Alexisonfire Alexisonfire (pronounced "Alexis on Fire") is a Canadian post-hardcore band formed in St. Catharines, OntarioRoss, Mike.Band is a scream", CANOE JAM!, April 30, 2004. Retrieved on July 17, 2007. in 2001. The band's members are George Pettit ...
, Taking Back Sunday, Brand New,
Thrice Thrice is an American rock band from Irvine, California, formed in 1998. The group was founded by guitarist/vocalist Dustin Kensrue and lead guitarist Teppei Teranishi while they were in high school. Early in their career, the band was known ...
, AFI,
The Used The Used is an American rock band from Orem, Utah, that formed in 2001. The group consists of vocalist Bert McCracken, bassist Jeph Howard, drummer Dan Whitesides, and guitarist Joey Bradford. Former members include Quinn Allman, Branden Stei ...
, Silverstein, From First To Last, Thursday and Hawthorne Heights. Some bands also began to incorporate progressive elements; with bands such as Chiodos, Scary Kids Scaring Kids,
Circa Survive Circa Survive is an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that formed in 2004. The band, led and founded by Anthony Green, consisted of former members from This Day Forward and Taken. Circa Survive quickly made a name for them ...
,
The Fall of Troy The Fall of Troy is an American rock band from Mukilteo, Washington. The band is a trio consisting of Thomas Erak (guitars, vocals, keyboards), Andrew Forsman (drums, percussion) and Tim Ward (bass, screamed vocals) who was later replaced by Fra ...
and
Dance Gavin Dance Dance Gavin Dance is an American rock band from Sacramento, California, formed in 2005. The band currently consists of vocalists Jon Mess and Tilian Pearson, lead guitarist Will Swan, rhythm guitarist Andrew Wells, and drummer Matthew Mingus. ...
gaining significant success, and bands such as Damiera, The Sound of Animals Fighting, The Bled, Norma Jean and The Chariot being left under the wood works; as well as bands taking influence from metalcore like
Ice Nine Kills Ice Nine Kills (sometimes stylized in all capital letters or abbreviated to INK, and formerly known as Ice Nine) is an American heavy metal band from Boston, Massachusetts, who are signed to Fearless Records. Best known for its horror-inspire ...
, Blessthefall and Pierce the Veil, inspired by acts such as
Killswitch Engage Killswitch Engage is an American metalcore band from Westfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1999 after the disbanding of Overcast and Aftershock. Killswitch Engage's current lineup consists of vocalist Jesse Leach, guitarists Joel Stroetzel and A ...
,
Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Zacky Vengeance, ...
and Atreyu.


2010s (continued popularity)

Later forms of post-hardcore have garnered more mainstream attention with bands such as Sleeping with Sirens, whose third album '' Feel'' (2013) debuted at No. 3 on the US Billboard 200 chart, making it one of the highest charting post-hardcore album by any band to date. Chart History– Billboard.com Pierce the Veil's third album, ''
Collide with the Sky ''Collide with the Sky'' is the third studio album by American rock band Pierce the Veil, released on July 17, 2012. Composition According to vocalist/rhythm guitarist Vic Fuentes, "King for a Day" is about "standing up to the people who think t ...
'' (2012), has also received much attention. While ''Madness'' (2015) and ''Misadventures'' (2016)—by Sleeping with Sirens and Pierce the Veil respectively—incorporate more elements of pop rock and pop punk, entering territory that many find to be loosely defined as post-hardcore. Seen also is the emergence of independent post-hardcore bands like The Men,
Cloud Nothings Cloud Nothings is an American indie rock band from Cleveland, Ohio, United States, founded by singer-songwriter Dylan Baldi. It currently consists of lead singer and guitarist Dylan Baldi, drummer Jayson Gerycz, bassist Noah Depew, and guitaris ...
and
METZ Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...
, who are described as moving closer to the dynamics and aesthetics of earlier acts, whilst diverging deeper into external influences. Reviewers have also noted the incorporation of a diversity of elements like krautrock, post-rock, sludge metal, shoegaze,
power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, an ...
and no wave in addition to previous hardcore,
noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, artists indulge in extre ...
and
post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-r ...
sensibilities. Despite originally being used jokingly, the term "The Wave" began being used to describe a new wave of post-hardcore bands, with bands generally being experimental, heavily emotional, boundary pushing and disregarding of gimmicks. The term was originally only used to describe
Touché Amoré Touché Amoré is an American post-hardcore band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2007. The band consists of vocalist Jeremy Bolm, guitarists Clayton Stevens and Nick Steinhardt, bassist Tyler Kirby, and drummer Elliot Babin. Among othe ...
, Defeater,
La Dispute :''This is for the Marivaux play, for the band, see La Dispute (band).'' ''La Dispute'' is a prose comedy written by Pierre de Marivaux, shown for the first time on 19 October 1744 by the Théâtre-Italien in the Hôtel de Bourgogne. The story ...
, Make Do and Mend and Pianos Become the Teeth, however eventually grew to include bands such as Title Fight, Balance and Composure and Casey. It has also been noted that many bands have been influenced by At the Drive-In.


See also

*
List of post-hardcore bands This is a list of notable musical artists who have been referred to or have had their music described as post-hardcore. Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a great ...


References


Bibliography

* Andersen, Mark and Mark Jenkins (2003). ''Dance of Days: Two Decades of Punk in the Nation's Capital''. Akashic Books. * Azzerad, Michael (2002). ''Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981–1991''. Back Bay Books. * * Reynolds, Simon. ''The Blasting Concept: Progressive Punk from SST Records to Mission of Burma''. ''Rip It Up and Start Again: Post-punk 1978–84''. London: Faber and Faber, Ltd., 2005. {{New wave and post-punk Hardcore punk genres Punk rock genres American rock music genres American styles of music Canadian styles of music 1980s in music 1990s in music 2000s in music 2010s in music 20th-century music genres 21st-century music genres 2000s fads and trends 2010s fads and trends