Core Principal

In response to these comments:

I admit I misapplied the sub-genre. My bad. I didn't realize the hardcore scene was so obsessed with labels.

But this:
Test Icicles - Catch It

Is a lot more like this:
Forca Macabra - Sem Poluicao-Nem

Than this:
Bloc Party - This Modern Love

Especially live. That's really all I was trying to say.

Comments

[jerry]

Having been at that show, Jeff, I agree with you. I found very little dance/disco in their show.

[j]

interestingly enough, i thought their opening set at northsix was actually very dance/punk and not as "hardcore" as some of their album sounds. if only that awful, awful band the occassion didn't play a set it would've been a really memorable show. art brut was simply fantastic and there wasnt enough a mohawk guy but everyone was definitely moving in the front.

[bill p]

having seeing these guys play friday night at northsix... they aren't hardcore, but i can see where you were going with that. to me, it's much more in the art/noise school that gaves us (early) PiL, (early) Butthole Surfers, the Boredoms, Lightning Bolt, even A.R.E. Weapons.

That, mixed with a fashion sense that recalls Frankie Goes to Hollywood and EMF.

I was amazed that they haven't injured one another on stage, the way they flail around. fun to watch live, but the records don't do much for me.

[drew]

i didn't think the occasion were particularly bad. they just didn't belong on that particular set, or, if nothing else they should've been the opener. the occasion killed any momentum the test icicles got going. but put the occasion on the same bill with blonde redhead or low or something, and i think they'd make much more sense.

[Glenn]

I see what you're getting at. And yes, the hardcore scene is just like any other scene in that it's very particular with its labels. (Is it trance or progressive house? Is it post-rock or indie rock? Important debates for some people.) Hardcore is a word that is pretty generic but means something very specific when it comes to music. Often it's just as much about the lifestyle and one's outward appearance as it is about the music.

There are hardcore elements in the TI's songs, and occasionally the band approximates a hardcore sound. (Some parts actually remind me of Atari Teenage Riot, which is a very *hard* band but not a hardcore band.) The EP I have is pretty representative of the show I saw at Scenic, and it makes me think of Bloc Party and the umpteen million bands that followed them. Dressing it up with screams and fast drumming doesn't change what's at the core.

OK, I'm done with semantics for the rest of the year. Let's enjoy the music.

Hardcore and punk people are some of the mosty close minded people alive. Or, so says Henry Rollins.