ia_2011_b_brodie

SUMMARY OF EVIDENCE Punk, to many, was becoming something of a broken scene where drugs and violence dominated the music. Kids became disillusioned with the self-destructive image that frequently hung by the side of hardcore[1]. For Washington DC outfit “Minor Threat”, dissatisfaction spawned into a collection of like-minded individuals who gained confidence through the words of Ian Mackaye: // I'm a person just like you / But I've got better things to do / Than sit around and f*ck my head / Hang out with the living dead / Snort white shit up my nose / Pass out at the shows / I don't even think about speed / That's something I just don't need / I’ve got the straight edge // -“Straight Edge” by Minor Threat, 1981[2] These words aimed to inspire young people to be themselves and endeavour to create a more positive youth culture in reaction to how they felt society stereotyped them. This positive and inspiring message incorporated punk’s questioning and politics without the “life fast, die young” motto as it had become a tired cliché representing a perverse conformity rather than genuine spirit of rebellion.[3] “//Sloshed, smashed, trashed, loaded, wrecked, wasted, blasted, plastered, tanked, f*cked up, bombed. Everyone’s heard of the arctic people with one hundred words for snow: we have one hundred words for drunk. We perpetuate our own culture of defeat.//”[4] Despite being located in Washington, DC the influence soon became widespread. By 1985 the message had resonated throughout America. For the first time bands such as “Slapshot”, “Youth of Today” and “Gorilla Biscuits” became self-identified as straight edge, adopting the ideology and constructing something of a label. The scene branched out into Europe. Today, they are identified as the first wave of Youth Crew artists[5]. Straight edge kids were united through a social alternative based on true values and a belief that sobriety, a clear conscience and a drug-free lifestyle could make it easier to develop their life for the best. “ // I think its easy to have a rough day and then get drunk and forget about it and carry on, but it is a lot harder and I think it makes you stronger if you just have a rough day, there’s no bother, you think about it, you deal with it, you’re forced to examine what happened. // ”[6] Youth crew band “Youth of Today” were cited as being influential within the movementfor the following reasons: // “ //// Here’s this guy: shaved head in good shape. He was onstage and he was a ball of fire, pointing his finger and he was saying positive messages about not drinking, not doing drugs, respecting yourself, being vegetarian...when you see your peers up there with fast aggressive music yelling this positive message it can stick in with you”**[7]** // In fig. 1 below “Youth of Today” lead singer Ray Cappo is seen “X’d up” – sporting crosses on his hand, a sign that the individual is straight edge[8]. // Fig.1. Ray Cappo of “Youth of Today” Photo: Chris Schneider**[9]** //

By the 90s straight edge spread further into Europe, Latin America and Israel, defining new school hardcore. Rejecting the mainstream even further, tackling issues such as animal rights/veganism, environmental issues[10], women’s rights, homophobia[11] and even communism[12]. Females became much more prominent within hardcore with the foundation of the online webzine xsisterhoodx and the birth of Emancypunx, an anarchafeminist group with straight edge sympathies[13]. The First signs of vegan bands such as New York’s Earth Crisis and California’s Vegan Reich spearheaded the “hardline” edge movement[14]. The 90s also experienced a youth crew revival in bands such as “In My Eyes”, “Bane” and “Ten Yard Fight”. As straight edge evolved and further subdivides were formed, clashes of opinion became inevitable[15]. New school tough guy image bands with a more aggressive stance from recently founded label Victory had little in common with more positive hardcore bands from the youth crew revival scene.

[1] Kuhn, P 15 “”Favouring low-key visual asthetics over extravagance and breaking with original punk rock song patterns.

[2] Minor Threat. “Straight edge”. __Minor Threat__. Dischord Records, 1981.

[3] Ross Haenfler (2006). //Straight edge.// New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, (ISBN: 0813539919), P 9

[4] [|www.crimethinc.com/tools/downloads/anarchy_and_alcohol_imposed.pdf]. P, 2.

[5] Ibid 3. P 13

[6] Pete Maher as quoted in: http://www.xsisterhoodx.com/transcripttrue-til-death-bbc-radio-1-2001.html

[7] Ibid

[8] Gabriel Kuhn (Editor) (2010) //Sober Living for the Revolution//. PM Press, (ISBN:0922915717), p 16

[9] Ray Cappo. Photo : Chris Schneider. http://doublecrosswebzine.blogspot.com/2009/11/everybodys-scene-outtakes-with-ray.html

[10] Earth Crisis. “Destroy the Machines”. __Destroy the Machines.__ Victory Records (1995)

[11] Outspoken. “Innocent” __The Current.__ New Age Records (1994)

[12] Manliftingbanner. “Commitment” __We Will Not Rest.__ Crucial Response Records (1995)

[13] Kuhn, p 218

[14] Ibid, p 9

[15] Haenfler, P 81