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There’s nothing like being young and piling into a vehicle with a bunch of friends to head out to a gig. The roadtrip is a huge part of the hardcore/punk experience, whether you’re in a band driving to play out of town or a fan making that diehard pilgrimage to see a band who like more than anyone else. Or maybe you’re just along for the ride cuz you have nothing better to do. It doesn’t matter, you’ll probably walk away with lifelong memories too.
My band In Control toured the country four times between 2001 and 2003 and I think I’ve been to like 40 states or something at this point. Sometimes I think about what it would take to bring this country back together. After the guillotines have worn dull, what is something that the remaining populace should be able to embrace? Public lands of course, although who knows how long we’ll have them either? Although our government is shit, this country is beautiful and you should make an effort to get out there and go where the internet connection is so bad that you can’t doom scroll.
For this episode, I wanted to take a virtual roadtrip around America to try to search for the earliest hardcore band from each state. To start, we’ll look at the first 12 states in the alphabet: Alabama to Idaho. There are going to be some cannon bands that you no doubt have heard of and maybe a couple you haven’t.
If I get something wrong, let me know: 185milessouth@gmail.com. This and all projects that 185 Miles South does are done to put respect on hardcore’s history, so let’s get it right together. Keep in mind that we’re looking for bands who put out a piece of documented recorded material, not your uncle’s band who practiced twice and had no drummer. One song on a rando European cassette comp? That counts. Even if a rehearsal tape exists and the band played documented gigs, that would count in my opinion.
ALABAMA: KNOCKABOUTS
According to this article, the Huntsville, AL hardcore punk band Knockabouts put out a demo in 1983. One of the songs from it was used for the Barricaded Suspects compilation that came out the same year on Toxic Shock Records. That comp featured notable bands such as Septic Death, Massacre Guys, Decry, and Roach Motel. They also had a song on the German cassette compilation Infernal Noise that featured Sacrilege, Mob 47, Crudity, Agoni, and Disarray. They were around until ‘86 or ‘87.
ALASKA: SKATE DEATH
Frank Harlan and Paul Arvold aka Bill Bored and Jiz did a punk fanzine called Warning in Anchorage, AK from 1982-1985. Harlan also did a public access TV show called Bomb Shelter Videos. There were a few punk bands that did records in the mid-1980s. By all accounts they were around in the years prior, but three of them put out records in 1985 on the Alaskan label, Bullhead Records. Clyng-Onz and The Psychedelic Skeltons put out a split LP and Skate Death put out their LP called You Break It, You Buy It.
As a testament to the strength of their scene, the Anchorage punks brought Suicidal Tendencies up to play two gigs in 1984. Skate Death played both of them.
ARIZONA: J.F.A.
In 1981, J.F.A. aka Jodie Foster’s Army was the punkest name there was. For the non-history heads out there, there was dude named John Hinkley Jr. who was obsessed with the movie Taxi Driver and one of the actors in it, Jodie Foster. He basically stalked her by writing letters, calling her, and he even enrolled in a class at Yale University cuz he read that she went there.
In Taxi Driver, the main character attempts to assassinate a senator, so Hinkley thought he’d gain fame by doing something similar. Inevitably his newfound fame would certainly impress Foster. Suicidal Tendencies talked about it, but Hinckley actually did it. On March 30th, 1981 outside the Hilton in Washington, D.C., he fired six shots at President Ronald Reagan, hitting him once.
Unfortunately, the devil lived.
Pretty punk band name though, eh?
J.F.A. are a legendary band credited with being one of the first “skate punk” bands. They put out a classic 7” in 1981 that was in our best USHC 7” 1981-1983 tournament. To my ears their 1983 LP is a spiritual follow up to the first two Circle Jerks LPs. They put out a ton of records over the years and are still playing, I believe.
ARKANSAS: ???
Did any hardcore or punk band put out a record before Econochrist in 1988? Not from my research.
We know that Black Flag ended up playing Little Rock, AR on Henry Rollins’ 25th birthday, February 13th, 1986 with Gone and Painted Willie. I have no idea if there were any openers, but Rollins wrote a couple anecdotes about post-gig shenanigans in his book Get In The Van, so the gig definitely happened.
If anyone has any information on any Arkansas punk or hardcore bands in the early or mid-1980s, get at me.
CALIFORNIA: THE MIDDLE CLASS
The Middle Class put out the first hardcore punk 7” in either late 1978 or early 1979. I always thought it came out in 1978 as Discogs states, but according to this article it apparently came out in January of 1979.
“Many hold the Middle Class up as probably the first American hardcore band, which basically meant playing faster downbeat tempos than the first wave of 'Hollywood' proto-hardcore bands like the Germs and the Bags,” says Brendan Mullen, founder of the Masque, the Hollywood underground club/rehearsal space considered to be the birthplace of the Los Angeles and Orange County punk scenes.
OC Weekly - December 5, 2002
For context, Black Flag Nervous Breakdown came out a month later in February ‘79. The Rhino 39 7” came out in December. ‘79 The first Discharge 7” came out in March of 1980. Bad Brains Pay To Cum came out in June 1980. Circle Jerks Group Sex came out in November 1980. And then, of course, when 1981 rolls around hardcore is off to the races and everyone is playing fast and yelling into the mic.
COLORADO: WHITE TRASH
White Trash started their band and put out a demo in 1982. In ‘83, they put out an excellent 7” on Local Anesthetic. That label also put out other notable early Denver hardcore punk bands Frantix and Bum Kon. I have no real idea who came first since the 1st Frantix 7” is also ‘82, but the White Trash Wake Up! 7” is the best of the lot for sure.
Guitarist James Clower has previously played in the band Conservatives who put out songs on the Hell Comes To Your House and You Can’t Argue With Sucksess compilations in ‘81/’82. After White Trash broke up, three of the dudes formed the indie rock band The Fluid in 1984 and went on to put out records into the 1990s.
CONNECTICUT: YOUTH KORPS
This early hardcore band from CT put out a demo in 1982. We put the CIA 7” from 1983 in our USHC tournament, but this predates it by a year. It’s super mean, hyper speed 1st wave USHC for most of it, but peep the song “JB Theme.” It’s totally proto-powerviolence and I never see this band get mentioned in that convo. The way it bounces back and forth between mid-tempo and a blazing fast scissor beat is unmistakable.
Anyone have a photo of this band?
Shoutout also to the Reflex From Pain 7” which is ‘83 CT as well.
DELEWARE: RUDE AWAKENING
This band was formed from the ashes of a band called Y.I.A. so they weren’t the first. I read on a blog that Y.I.A. had a rehearsal demo, but I can’t find anything about them online. They’re also referenced in the Rude Awakening MRR review so they may have been known a bit at the time or maybe Rude Awakening sent in a little bio with their demo. Who knows?
Rude Awakening put out a demo in ‘83. It got played on the MRR radio show and apparently someone in Germany put out that episode on cassette. They also appeared on the Infernal Noise tape compilation from Germany in 1985, alongside Alabama's The Knockabouts who we talked about earlier. They also had a track on the French S2D tape comp in 1985 alongside Dezerter, Olho Seco, Poison Idea, Inferno, Solucion Mortal, The Execute, Larm, Septic Death, and others.
FLORIDA: ROACH MOTEL
This hardcore band out of Gainesville, FL featured George Tabb before he became my 2nd favorite columnist in MRR. They put out 7”s in ‘82 and ‘85. In 2002, Burrito Records put out a split with them and fellow Floridians, Hated Youth outta Tallahassee. Those two bands had the best tracks on the seminal Florida punk comp from ‘83, We Can’t Help It If We’re From Florida. Hated Youth had a 7” that they recorded in ‘83 that didn’t come out until the year 2000—a great injustice, since that 7” would've been first wave USHC cannon and totally smokes all their FL contemporaries. Roach Motel also appeared on the Annoy Your Neighbor With This Tape comp in ‘82 (Angry Samoans, Meatmen, etc.), Barricaded Suspects in ‘83, and Flipside Vinyl Fanzine #2 in ‘85.
We should mention that there’s a bummer of a song on the Roach Motel 7” called “Wetback.” Who knows what’s up with that…were they being satirical in a way that just misses looking back? The lyrics are credited to the non-George Tabb guitarist, Jeff Hodapp and someone named “D. Don” who has no other credits. Maybe that was just their racist friend? Perhaps they were radicalized by listening to Jealous Again and In My Eyes too much? I kid, I kid. I get that it was the olden days and they were probably kids, but that tune does kinda put a dark cloud over this 7”.
GEORGIA: DDT
In 1984 Atlanta’s Neon Christ put out one of the fastest 7”s on the planet—an essential record at the tail end of the first wave of USHC. I would love to gush about it but DDT’s Brave New World 7” predates it by a year and is excellent in its own right. Sure, it’s definitely a bigger mixed bag than Neon Christ but it has a lot of cool moments and some rippers. They also released an LP called Broken Toy in ‘84.
Guitarist Jim Youngue (AKA Jimbo) went on to play in an alt-rock band in the 1990s with JD Pinkus from the Butthole Surfers called Daddy Longhead. Their first LP came out on Touch And Go. They put out a few more records in the ‘90s and have a release as recently as 2021.
(Pro tip: skip the first song)
HAWAII: THE SHARX
First off, what a sick ass name for a Hawaiian hardcore band.
The Sharx were an early hardcore punk band from Honolulu, HI that featured Gardner Maxam who would later play in Cringer and J Church. They put out two demos in 1983. There’s a great archive here if you’re interested in the history of Hawaii’s punk scene.
In 1988, a Hawaiian record store called Jelly’s put out a tape compilation called No Place To Play that showcased the notable ‘80s Honolulu punk bands. There was also a zine that came out around the time called Your Complete Guide To Hawaii’s Underground. Here is the initial blurb on and the page dedicated to The Sharx:
IDAHO: SEPTIC DEATH
In what appears to be a theme of this post, Septic Death first appeared on the Barricaded Suspects compilation LP in 1983. In ‘84, they put out their first 12” on vocalist Pushead’s label, Pusmort, and appeared on the Empty Skulls tape comp and the International P.E.A.C.E. Benefit Compilation. They broke up in ‘86, but in my opinion their best material was released posthumously: the Burial = 埋葬 Mai So (1987) and Kichigai (1988) 7”s.
Pushead was notable outside of Septic Death for a handful of different reasons. His reviews in MRR (1983-1986) were the absolute best out of all the reviewers and he was one of the main touts for international hardcore. He is also famous for his art which graced the covers of some of those bands like Rattus, Inferno, and Gastunk, as well Metallica, The Exploited, Integrity, and a plethora of others. Pusmort also put out some of the most classic 1980s LPs like the Cleanse The Bacteria compilation, Sacrilege Behind The Realms Of Madness, Poison Idea Kings of Punk, and Final Conflict Ashes To Ashes.
His column in Thrasher magazine, Puszone (1984-1990), served as a gateway for skaters to discover punk if they hadn’t already. He also curated the 7th volume of the Thrasher Skate Rock cassette compilation series titled Noise Forest, with his art gracing the cover. And of course his top 100 hardcore records of the 1980s that appeared in the March 1990 edition of Thrasher is the gold standard of hardcore lists.
Did you dig this? If so, let me know and maybe we will continue down the alphabet. Projects like this take a shit ton of time so please consider supporting 185 Miles South.
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