Excerpts From The Birth of Hardcore
The messages conveyed by many early hardcore bands were certainly uncompromising; often, these messages addressed political or social issues. The Proletariat, a Boston-based band featuring the jarring guitar work of Frank Michaels, addressed sociopolitical issues with stunning tunes and articulate lyrics. "The drive behind the intensity of our music was a social consciousness," Michaels says. "We got lumped into a lot of political movements, a la communism, but we weren't communists. We called ourselves "humanists." We just cared a lot about people and society." Throughout Soma Holiday, The Proletariat's classic debut album, Michael's gagged stylings-achieved with a strat, a Vox amp, distortion boxes, and picks with small teeth-like protrusions-wrestled with the pained vocals of Richard Brown. Earlier this year, The Proletariat's entire recording history was released on a two-disk set by Taang!
...........................Thanks to their rocking, riff heavy hardcore and wild stage antics, Naked Raygun became a major influence for punk rock throughout the 80's and 90's. And so did Minor Threat, Black Flag, Bad Religion, Dead Kennedy's The Proletariat, the Bad Brains, Articles of Faith, and other progenators of hardcore.
- Jeffrey L Perlah, Guitar, October, 1999