Judge

Genre:Hardcore Punk


Judge was a New York-based straight edge band; formed in 1987 by Youth of Today guitarist, John "Porcell" Porcelly, and former Youth of Today drummer, Mike "Judge" Ferraro.Their first release was a 7" EP on Porcell's label Schism (which he ran along with Side By Side/ Gorilla Biscuits guitar-player Alex Brown) entitled New York Crew. The record featured 5 songs, one of which was a cover of "Warriors" by the British oi!/punk band Blitz. On this recording, the band was merely a two-piece, featuring Porcelly on bass and guitar, and Ferraro on vocals and drums. But with the addition of bass-player Jimmy Yu (of Mike's former band Death Before Dishonor, which eventually evolved into Supertouch) and drummer "Lukey" Luke Abbey (Warzone/ Gorilla Biscuits), they got together a fully-functional live line-up.
The band received lots of criticism due to their militant Straight Edge lyrics, especially from fanzines like San Francisco's Maximum Rock'N'Roll. The militant lyrics were a conscious move on the band's part, as they were sick of seeing bands like Youth Of Today, who in reality had a very positive message, get slagged for being too militant. So they decided to give the nay-sayers exactly what they wanted – the most militant Straight Edge band imaginable. Mike Ferraro has later on admitted that provocation was an important aim for the band.

Dwarves

Genre:Punk Rock,Hardcore Punk,Garage Punk

Dwarves is an American punk band formed in Chicago, Illinois, as The Suburban Nightmare, in the mid-1980s. They are currently based in San Francisco, California. Formed as a garage punk band, their career subsequently saw them move in a hardcore direction before settling into an eclectic punk rock sound. They have been described as "one of the last true bastions of punk rock ideology in the contemporary musical age".The original members of the Dwarves began making music together in the mid-1980s as teenagers in the Chicago garage rock outfit, Suburban Nightmare, which was compared to The Sonics, and which has been described as part of the Paisley Underground scene.
The band became notorious for self-mutilation, on-stage sex, and taking hard drugs, and their live shows would often only last around fifteen minutes, occasionally cut short due to injury caused by spectators. The band's sound began to evolve beyond its early garage roots with their second (nine minute long) LP, Toolin' For A Warm Teabag, which saw the band drifting towards a more truculent punk rock sound, influenced by GG Allin. The band released Blood Guts & Pussy on Sub Pop in 1989. By this time the Dwarves had dropped their early psychedelic sensibilities and morphed into a proper hardcore punk band. The Blood Guts & Pussy LP was followed up by EP Lucifer's Crank released by No.6 Records, as well as another Sub Pop LP, the metal-punk Thank Heaven For Little Girls, both in 1991.

Authority Zero

Genre:Punk Rock,Melodic Hardcore,Ska Punk

Authority Zero is a punk rock band from Mesa, Arizona. The band's style is rooted in reggae and skate punk, with Bad Religion, Pennywise, and Sublime cited as heavy influences. There is an obvious Spanish/Portuguese influence in the band's music as well.Authority Zero was started in 1994 and consisted of two guitarists Bill Marcks, Jerry Douglas (also performing vocals) and drummer J.W. Gordon, all from Westwood High School. This trio put a few songs together without lyrics or basslines until the summer of 1995. When that summer rolled around, Douglas was expecting the yearly visit of his friend Jason DeVore, from Wyoming. Douglas introduced his long time friend with Marcks who jokingly asked if he wanted to be their singer, soon after, it became more than just a joke.
Marcks was impressed with DeVore's ability to "write catchy songs in fifteen minutes with really sticky hooks". The two quickly enlisted Jeremy Wood on bass, who actually taught Marcks and Douglas how to play the guitar. His experience with lead guitar and musical theory separated his bass playing from others'. Not just a "follow along," his baselines were independent and yet fluid with the music.

Atheist Rap

Genre:Punk Rock,Hardcore Punk,Pop Punk


Atheist Rap is a punk rock band from Novi Sad, Serbia. Their lyrics are usually criticism of society and politics and are often humorous accounts of every day events.The idea of forming Atheist Rap came to vocalists Aleksandar Popov, also known as Dr. Pop, and Vladimir Kozbašić, also known as Pećinko at the Rambo Amadeus concert, which took place on November 29, 1988 at the local club Mašinac, but officially the band was formed on January 1, 1989. They merged with members of Fluorel Tatchkash, Vladimir Radusinović, also known as Radule, on guitar and Zoran Zarić, also known as Zare, on bass, and Stevan Gojkov, also knowns as Goja (from Kapetan Leshi, Fear Of Dog, A Better Life Zine), took over the drums.
The first live appearance the band made in late 1988 at the Petrovaradin Fortress gate called Beogradska kapija. After the appearance, the band, with the repertoire consisting of two songs, had another performance, on May 22, 1989, with several local acts. Before the appearance, Popov wrote the song "O.R.A.", which was performed by Popov on vocals, Kozbašić on backing vocals, with the band improvising to the lyrics. The performance provided the band a cult status, despite not having any recordings released. The band also got invitations to perform at several Novi Sad clubs, while writing new material.


 

BALZAC

Genre:Horror Punk,Hardcore Punk

BALZAC is a Japanese punk band formed in 1992 in Osaka. The band was founded by singer and songwriter Hirosuke Nishiyama, who has remained the only constant member of the band since its creation. Since the beginning, Balzac was highly influenced by the sound and image of the famous horror punk band The Misfits and, especially during the very early years, Glenn Danzig's Samhain, adopting and combining the musical and visual style of both bands to create their own. To this day, they are considered by many to be the Japanese counterpart to The Misfits. The band often stays away from the "campy" horror lyrics and image found in most horror punk bands, as the lyrics by Hirosuke tend to be more like dark poetry and, though not always serious, deal with themes of darkness, loneliness and fear.

The band has gained a certain amount of recognition and exposure outside of their native country, where they are well known. Currently they have five official clothing brands (Shocker!!!, Dementia 13, Culture, XXXxxx and Balzac) with one store in Japan, plus three online stores (Shocker Webstore, Shocker World Wide and Shocker EU). They also have their own official record label called Evilegend 13 Records on which they have released EPs, singles and videos. Balzac is also well known for its toy releases, some created by the companies T.W.I.M. and Secret Base, and its extensive discography and side-projects.

The current lineup of the band consists of Hirosuke Nishiyama (vocals), Atsushi Nakagawa (guitar/chorus), Akio Imai (bass/chorus) and Takayuki Manabe (drums/digital effects/chorus). Musically the band has drawn from punk, pop, industrial and noise, across their various releases.