1986 was a weird time to be 16. The hardcore scene was collapsing in on itself in fits of conservatism. In hindsight I see a strain of reactionary thinking running through hardcore right from the beginning. It was always on risky ideological ground because as a reaction to hippie culture, it flirted with right wing concepts from the get-go. Look at the two proto-hardcore bands; on the East Coast we had the Bad Brains who got their PMI concepts from a conservative self-help book and were rapidly getting entrenched in the religious conservatism of rastafarianism. On the West Coast we had The Middle Class, four guys who dressed like Junior Republicans.
Within a few years, albums like The Record by Fear, Back From Samoa by the Angry Samoans and My America by the FUs were released and at the time they seemed like a great cure for the feelgood me-generationisms that just oppressed everything. Listening though, to songs like I Don’t Care About You and Homosexual today, it’s easy to see where the seeds were being sown for a more hard-line second wave. You think Ian Mackaye represents all that is DIY and ethical? He does, BUT at the same time if you don’t see straight-edge as also a reaction against the feel good permissiveness of the me-generation you’re in self-denial. Ian’s a smart guy. I’m a smart guy. I understood what he was trying to say. Maybe the kids in Insted didn’t get the subtleties of his message?
Look at this lineup - are you shitting me?
Now I’m not trying to knock Ian or Fear or anybody. It’s not Lee Ving’s responsibility to worry whether people aren’t smart enough to get the irony and black humor of what he is doing. I’m just saying that the humor and irony got lost by 1986 and the hard-line was starting to rear its ugly shaved head. Neo-nazi skins were in vogue. Straight Edge had taken over the scene and kids were emulating Youth of Today down to the Filas and sweatpants. An aura of kitsch started to takeover. I mean look at that Insted record cover. Are you fucking serious? The ability to appreciate irony is a hallmark of an educated mind. What if you are a dumbshit?
So yeah, all it took was some younger lunkheads to strip bands like Fear and Minor Threat of all their irony and rework the music from a more earnest perspective and viola, you get eithern republican rock-n-roll or feelgood nonsense. By 1986, this was what was left of the scene.
So existing hardcore bands were rapidly finding themselves, as the Middle Class once so eloquently put it, out of vogue and they started reacting in a variety of ways. Some went metal. We’ve talked about these guys. We even put together a list. Some went emo. This was the moment when Articles of Faith and MIA, along with the Revolution Summer bands, started the whole emo movement. Others, like the band Blatant Dissent (who became Tar), went experimental and helped launch the noise rock movement of the 1990’s. That’s the direction I went in. Very few, tried to go more hard-line. We all just threw in the towel and on the sidelines Th’Inbred played over the closing credits.
For most of my 20’s I, like a lot of people, played down my hardcore roots. I listened to a lot of Am Rep and KBD punk. I rediscovered hip-hop which was my first musical interest. I got into Les Baxter. I even listened to Hawkwind fer chrissakes. But at some point, I started to realize that I had nothing to do with where hardcore went after I walked away from it. When I was into it, it was one hell of a fuckin’ ride and I wouldn’t change the experience for the world. I started buying old hardcore records again and really listening to them and I realize now that listening to bands like Th’Inbred at 15 made me what I am today. Which is to say, a complete an utter prick. Ha…
I also realize that I missed a lot of really great bands at the time. Some I knew about (like SSD) but just couldn’t find. Others, like 76% Uncertain and Social Unrest, I just didn’t pay attention to. Some of my favorite recent discoveries have been these bands. It’s like finding some kick-ass musical time capsule. You just can’t believe how pure the whole thing is.
Social Unrest in particular has had two anthologies released over the last few years on New Red Archives (the home of St Louis’ much beloved Ultraman) and they are both amazing. They collect the entire recorded output of this seminal band. Hopefully they will re-establish the band for people like me as one of the greats while introducing some kids to some of the most trailblazing hardcore of the 1980s. I’ve collected a few choice songs from each of their original releases. All of these are compiled on the New Red Archives releases. I think it gives you both a good overview of this great band and some insight into one of the paths I mentioned above. Like Articles of Faith and MIA, I think Social Unrest dealt with the changing of the HC guard by going emo and you can trace the development of this by listening to their discography.
Making Room for Youth 7inch EP 1981 (Infra Red records) Making Room for Youth. This was the first release by the band from 1981. It was produced by Geza X East Bay Ray and mastered by Geza X of all people (what a pedigree!) and it features the bands original singer Cretin K-os. It’s an excellent example of SF HC circa 1981 and is highly recommended. It also really benefits from Geza’s production.
Rat in a Maze 12inch EP 1982 (Libertine records) Lords Prayer. The followup to the 7inch was a 12 inch EP. This is the last release to feature Cretin. It suffers from, in my opinion, generic production. It’s my least favorite Social Unrest release. It’s still good but nothing like what was to come later.
SU2000 1985 (Libertine records) Jimmy Rocks, Good For You, Remember It Black. THIS is just one of the greatest hardcore records ever. Period. The end. Every fucking song is brilliant. New singer Jason Honea clearly comes from the Darby Crash school of singing which by 1985 was defininitely considered veryy passe. Maybe this is why these guys flew under my radar? I dunno. On this album, you basically hear a hardcore band bursting at the seams. Weird time signatures, unique chord structures abound. Some of the songs harken back to the Germs (take Jimmy Rocks and juxtapose it with Manimal for instance). Other songs like Out My Window are starting to flirt with the emo sound that would come later. Regardless, this is a totally original and unique album that everyone should hear. One of my favorite records ever and a record that I totally missed in 1985.
Before The Fall 1986 (Libertine records) Before the Fall, Night of the Long Knives. This album was the followup to SU2000 and there was no way they could do it again. It is good, great even. Basically they took the formula they established with SU2000 and kept going with it. The songs are probably equally as good but the production is a little flat and the sequencing is off. We are forced to listen to a bunch of 1-2, 1-2 HC polka type songs in a row and with Social Unrest, they were at their best changing rythms and chords between and in songs. With that said, this is a great and totally inventive album. The melodic, emo elements are no more pronounced than on SU2000. If anything this is maybe a little more generically hardcore. Again by 1986, this was just not of interest to anyone. Even the bands name seemed passe, as new bands came on the scene with names like “Bold” and “Insted”.
Now and Forever 1988 (Libertine records) Highroller Desolation Angels. On this album Social Unrest officially expanded their sound. They flirted with glam elements, increasingly relied on melody and really abandoned the 1-2, 1-2 polka thing. Its a proto-emo album in the same sense that In This Life or After the Fact are. It’s really good and I admire bands like this for going in this direction instead of metal which was lame. I didn’t even know this record existed because by this time there was no way in hell I would have bought an album by a band with a name like Social Unrest. I imagine most of my peers felt the same way.
I also imagine that this lack of relevance to any existing audience spelled the death knell for the band like it did for so many others. Looking at them now, they were just an amazing group. At the time though, their timing was off. I believe they have re-formed for some shows with Cretin on vocals. Second vocalist Jason, who was on SU2000, has written in a few times to this site. Their myspace is here.
