So I came across this article, and I was immediately taken aback by a number of really startling picks for the top 20 hardcore bands from America.
Now, I certainly don’t consider myself an authority, but to think that Mr. Sherburne does is a bit unnerving.
I sent this link to Billy from Shake It, and his response was:
For starters:
THE GERMS
Not HC and that album sucks (No. 1 !?).
POISON IDEA
RECORD COLLECTORS ARE PRENTIOUS ASSHOLES – great band , lousy record. Everybody picks it for the title.
MINUTEMEN
DOUBLE NICKELS ON THE DIME – In NO WAY HC, not even close in any "intellectual" stretch…and one should not use intelligence and HC in the same sentence.
HÜSKER DÜ
ZEN ARCADE – once gain not a HC album. Was this list made by some 24 year old putz? And if you’re going to play the Dü card you play Metal Circus anyway, duh.
RITES OF SPRING
Okay, this is getting OLD. Not a HC record, nor band. A great band, but NOT a hardcore punk band, no matter how many ‘zines this guy read.
BIG BLACK
SONGS ABOUT FUCKING – Now he/she is just being a dick?
EYEHATEGOD
TAKE AS NEEDED FOR PAIN – I shouldn’t even have to explain this to a Pitchfork writer? Plus everybody knows "Dope Sick" is the shit for EHG.
BIKINI KILL
THE CD VERSION OF THE FIRST TWO RECORDS – Obviously now we’re dealing with a Liberal Arts major, somewhere on the Western seaboard, dunce.
BORN AGAINST
BATTLE HYMNS OF THE RACE WAR – "Legendary" and "Virginia" in the same breath? That’s a big "NO" unless you’re talking about Thomas Jefferson.
HEROIN
HEROIN – Oh for Christ’s sake, I give up.
Die Kreuzen?! HELLO?????????????
And upon sending the link to the kids in Sex/Vid, RJ’s response was even more harsh:
That list is the WORST! Jesus Christ!
1) Bubba Dupree did NOT SING IN VOID! How can someone who does not even know the singer of a band feel qualified to make a "top ___" list of ANYTHING?! That would be like me saying "when Jimmy Page screams ‘I’ve been dazed and confused,’ it’s so powerful!!!"
2) Yes, the Negative Approach 7" was mega-influential and its importance cannot be understated, but NYHC would have happened without it. The Bad Brains were already there doing their work. It would have been better for him to say something like "good hardcore MIGHT not have happened without the FIX" aka best band ever.
3) NO BOSTON HARDCORE? XCLAIM! Released some of the the best records of the era. They did not have a bad release, SSD both 12" DYS brotherhood, FU’s both 12", JERRYS KIDS is this my world. Also, bands like Negative FX , Last Rights, fuck, I mean wtf?
4) That is the wrong Born Against album. He should have put the singles collection.
5) THE DEAD KENNEDYS SUCK DICK.
6) MDC is good, but boring as fuck. And by ‘good’ I mean, play it once every year and be like "why am I jamming this when I could jamming…..(which leads me to lucky number 7)
7) DRI DEALING WITH IT IS THE BEST RECORD EVER!
8) COC dude. Where the fuck is Eye for an Eye? Not EYEHATEGOD. EYE FOR AN EYE.
9) I reiterate: BUBBA DUPREE DID NOT SING IN VOID. "Man, when Keith Richards screams ‘please allow me to introduce myself, I’m a man of wealth and fame" it just GETS ME EVERYTIME!!!
10) He picked the right Misfits album. THAT’S ALL HE HAS. He picked the best Misfits LP. Hooray for him.
Discuss.