Harder. Faster. Thicker. Heavier.
Hardcore Music. Quite frankly, this sounds more like a tagline for some enhancement drug or the latest flick in the porn world. Got you all excited didn't we.
Currently all the rage with emo-kids and pissed off adolescents, Hardcore music has become more of a "fad" than anything. And by the way, what the crap is it anyways?
A bunch of sweaty, moody guys who perform shirtless screaming unintelligible noises into a microphone? A barbaric, tribal-influenced genre of music that encourages anger, hate, and violence? Well, that is precisely what we have ventured to discover.
Our research was pretty extensive; involving our attendance at numerous shows, a plethora of fights & mosh pits, too many bruises to count, and a lunch meeting at Ruby Tuesdays during which we talked a lot of crap and scoured the internet for more information. All of this pretty much led us to the same point. Hard core music & it's "crowd" teeters on the edge of pathetic.
First of all, the music. One site we checked out described it as a "melodic exploration." Seriously? Sounds like something middle schoolers do in their rooms alone. Not really a satisfying description of a musical genre. From what we have heard, hardcore does rely heavily on rhythm, and the use of the ever-typical guitar/bass/drums setup. There is a "singer" or "screamer". The lyrics are barely understandable. The vast majority of Hardcore musicians are not trained. Many are not even educated past a little high school. (Way to go America) That's probably why they rely heavily on extremely basic guitar chords and simple keys. And indeterminate lyrics. Sorry guys, screaming syllables for a living doesn't seem like much of a musical profession.
And seriously, isn't Christian Hardcore kind of an oxymoron? Think about it. Have you ever heard an uplifting or positively charged hardcore song? Us either. Let's be brutally honest. Do you really even have a clue what they are saying? For all you know, they're screaming about the positive affects of devil worship and murdering kitty cats. I mean, isn't the point of Christian music spreading the "message". How do you spread a message that the audience doesn't even understand? How do you profess Christian ideals while the audience is beating the mess out of each other? So sorry guys, unfortunately screaming about the virgin birth of Jesus Christ does not a Christian-hardcore-band make.
Besides the music being sub-par, what the hello-kitty is going on with their logos and merchandise?? Is it NOT the point of a font or logo to be clearly legible so that it represents the band and gains them exposure? Half of the logos that we've seen for hardcore bands are either completely illegible or so freaking distorted it takes forever to figure out. C'mon hardcore bands. Are you trying to make a statement: "We're overcomplicated & a waste of your time."??? If all other musical genres can figure out the art of branding; I think the hardcore guys might can squeeze something out as well. In other words, get with the program.
The current generation of hardcore kids seems to be littered with underachieving, over-tattooed assholes. Go ahead. Load up on those crappy tattoos. I mean, it's not like most of you have steady employment anyways. Not to mention that you're going to look like a sagging bag of ink by the time your 60. Most of the guys there show up wearing hoodies, even in the dead of July. Sounds like you're super smart. Girls usually parade around wearing anything they can to catch the attention of a band member. But that's a whole different blog entry entirely. What's so funny is that they are trying SO hard NOT to conform to a style, genre, or society in general, that they end up conforming MORE. Oh, the irony. Guys (and even some REALLY intelligent girls) hang out around the "mosh pit" bumping around like gorillas on cocaine. The "pit" is just the hard core version of a Homosexual night club where everyone gets sweaty and rubs up against people of the same sex. The only difference is that people actually get hurt, hurt other people, and are too cool to care. Guys, do whatever you want. We already expect this type of primal behavior from you, but please realize, no girls' dreamboat is missing his front teeth. Ladies, get with it. You look like complete trash in a mosh pit. Unfortunately, you are NOT the shit, and you are just begging someone to kick your ass.
Hugs & kisses.
