Another year is in the books and this marks In Effect Hardcore's 3rd whirl at a year end summary. When I initially went over this year’s happenings one thing that jumped out at me was that not a lot really changed from last year… especially in how shows/festivals and tours went down. A lot of the bands who went off in 2013 went right back to work in 2014 and festival wise things pretty much mirrored the timing and successes of 2013. Hardcore can’t complain with the last couple of years it has had and 2014 further solidified an overall strong worldwide scene that has been built up in more recent years. Hardcore not only lived in 2014... it thrived. 

ALL GRAPHICS BY: BAS SPIERINGS

AGNOSTIC FRONT @ THIS IS HARDCORE FEST JULY 25, 2014. PHOTO BY: ANNE SPINA

I want to start off with the This Is Hardcore Festival which is held each year in Philadelphia (July 24th through the 27th) and is still the biggest and baddest fest of them all over here in the US of A. 2014 saw TIHC pull off another 4 day event at the Electric Factory that featured bands like Converge, Madball, Bold, Power Trip, Civ, Knuckledust, Wisdom In Chains, Expire, Rotting Out. Agnostic Front and a slew of others that totaled up to over 60 bands in a 4 day span. Hats off again to Joe Hardcore and crew for their hard work after delivering on their 9th straight year.

BLACK N BLUE BOWL 2014

Back in NYC the Black N Blue Bowl moved from Webster Hall in Manhattan to the Well in Brooklyn with an outdoor setting that probably could hold an additional 1000 people over Webster Hall's capacity. Over 25 bands played the 2 days (May 17th and 18th) headlined by Hatebreed on Day 1 and Discharge on Day 2. Other standouts included Biohazard, Ludichrist, 7 Seconds, Kraut and Beyond with Agnostic Front’s “Cause For Alarm” era lineup

(circa 1985) reuniting for both days as well. 

2014- ENOUGH FESTS TO MAKE YOUR HEAD EXPLODE!

Other key festivals included the annual Ieper Fest which was held on August 8th, 9th, and 10th in Belgium and featured bands like Gorilla Biscuits, Cold World, Ringworm, Poison Idea, Strife, Angel Du$t, Devil In Me, Antidote, Blacklisted and a ton of others. Groezrock in May (2nd and 3rd) is another Belgium Fest and this year had Wisdom In Chains, H2O, Madball, Terror, Cro-Mags, Judge, Ignite, Modern Life Is War, The Casualties, Quicksand, and The Descendents just to name a few. Staying in Europe the Persistence Tour ran from January 16th through the 26th with 11 shows spread out over a few different countries with Suicidal Tendencies sharing the stage with Terror, Strife, Evergreen Terrace, Ramallah, Nasty, and The Arrs.

Back in the USA the Keystone Jam was a 2 day event held at Club Reverb in Reading, PA (February 28th and March 1st) that had Comeback Kid and Sheer Terror with close to a 20 band total. The East Coast Tsunami (ECT) was also held at Club Reverb in Reading (September 26th, 27th, and 28th) with headliners Agnostic Front, Obituary, and Ignite sharing the stage with close to 30 other bands over the course of the 3 days. Punk Island (Staten Island, NY) was held on June 21st and again had over 90 bands play FOR FREE in a NYC public park on a pier adjacent to the Staten Island Ferry. United Blood Fest went down again in Richmond, VA (March 28th and 29th), Oneonta Punk- Oneonta, NY (October 25th and 26th), Ninja Fest- London, UK (October 25th and 26th),

TNT- Hartford, CT (August 29th, 30th, 31st), Damaged City Fest- Washington DC (April 11th and 12th),

Punk Rock Bowling- Las Vegas (May 23rd, 24th, and 25th), Rainfest- Seattle, WA (Memorial Day Weekend), and a shit ton of others that basically run throughout the year, all around the US and Europe and vary in degree and size. Just go through the archived flyers section of this site and you will see what I am talking about. 

SICK OF IT ALL @ THREE LINKS, DALLAS, TX NOVEMBER 6, 2014. PHOTO BY: GRAY MUNCY

On top of all of this some individual bands who really got out there and gigged their asses off were Vice, Backtrack, Expire, Cross Me, Urban Waste, Terror, Soul Search, Madball, Angel Du$t, Turnstile, Power Trip, H2O, Take Offense, Slapshot, Sick Of It All and insert your band here  _________.  Some noteworthy tours included Comeback Kid who went down to South Africa in late January/early February, Strife who visited Russia and The Ukraine in late February and Rotting Out who did a 12 date/6 country South American run in late January into early February. Euro bands Strength Approach (Italy) and Knuckledust (UK) visited the US not once but two times a piece and Violent Reaction and The Flex (both UK) staged a ridiculously long 40 plus date tour across the US that started in April and ran through late May. Hopefully this helps get more bands from outside of the US to come visit. 

2014 SHOW FLYERS

TONS OF SOLID RELEASES IN 2014 

2014 had a bunch of solid releases that may not necessarily have made headlines. I would say out of the last 3 years 2014 had the most to offer in the way of volume in regards to good to very good releases. Bands like Alone, Safe And Sound, A Strength Within, Punto De Encaje, Timebomb, Zero Progress, Ache, Spill Your Guts, Society Sucker, Straphangers, Social Damage, Cross Me, Freedom, and Social Decay all sent stuff in for review and all fit into this category with either an EP, demo or full length among them. I have said it a bunch of times in the past and it is so true and that is that bands don’t have to be named Agnostic Front or Sick Of It All for them to put out a quality product. Good music is right in front of your nose, do some digging around and you will find plenty out there! Every one of the bands just mentioned has either a Facebook or a Bandcamp page where you can find out more. 

BOOKS, ZINES & MORE!

In 2014 we saw the release of some cool new books including “NYHC- New York Hardcore 1980-1990” by Tony Rettman which came out in December and “No Slam Dancing, No Stage Diving, No Spikes” which was written by Amy Yates Wuelfing and Steven DiLodovicio and covered the story of Trenton, NJ’s historic City Gardens Club. Amy even got on to the Daily Show with Jon Stewart (who is interviewed in the book) as part of the books promotional run.

The Pennsylvania Hardcore Documentary which came out in August was another 2014 inclusion put out by Average Superstar Films and was released on DVD format and is still available. Zines that caught our attention included Not Like You out of New Mexico, Hashtag Hardcore out of the Netherlands, Outsider from NY and

The LA Journal from Europe with their fine debut. 

MILESTONES & MORE!

MILESTONES AND SHOUTOUTS! 

First off... hats off  to our boys in No Redeeming Social Value who played a 25th Anniversary show on March 29th in Brooklyn at the Grand Victory. Above is a photo of a few of the many members NRSV has had over the years after the show back in March.

 Also to Two Man Advantage who played their 500th! show back on February 8th also at the Grand Victory.

Madball put out their debut full length “Set It Off” 20 years ago back in July of 1994 and in December of 2014 they went out on an 8 show East Coast tour along with “Set It Off” guitarist Matt Henderson. Madball also played with the “Set It Off” lineup at the This Is Hardcore Festival back in July.

More in the way of Madball news… Casa De Roc is Madball bass player Hoya’s new clothing line which made its debut in 2014 rocking some nice shirts with the NYHC logo.  

One of the most important sources of information out there is the BNB Radio Takeover Show which WAS located in NYC at East Village Radio. Back in May EVR closed shop leaving the show temporarily without a home before they landed out at StonyBrook University doing shows twice a month from WUSB Radio. East Village Radio has made a comeback and have renovated their NYC studios and the BNB Takeover should be back in NYC within a few weeks. Hopefully they regain their old time slot and go back to weekly shows that they archive so the bunch of us with oddball work schedules can still tune in.

As 2014 coms to a close we want to make mention of a few bands that were with us at the start of 2014 but have disbanded over the course of the year for various reasons. Keeping 4 or 5 people in a band on the same page with ideas, work schedules, families etc is a tall order and although these bands are no longer with us I bet we will see certain members from all of them in new bands real soon! Some already are... So R.I.P. to...

Live Fast Die Fast, Wrong Answer, Stay Scared, Zero Progress, and Abject! 

New bands that kicked things off in 2014 included:

Ache, Close To The Edge, Alone, Relevant Anger, Ten Ton Hammer and Point Blank out of NY who should have their debut demo on the way very shortly. 

WISDOM IN CHAINS @ ECT FEST WITH KARL STRENGTH FOR A REASON

PHOTO BY: WASS PHOTOGRAPHY

ALL FOR NOTHING, GOES, THE NETHERLANDS JUNE 8, 2014 

PHOTO BY: BAS SPIERINGS

MADBALL @ THE UNDERWORLD IN LONDON. UK. SEPTEMBER 2014

PHOTO BY: AGA HAIRESIS

MODERN PAIN @ 1919 HEMPHILL, FORT WORTH, TX. APRIL 12, 2014 

PHOTO BY: GRAY MUNCY

CRO-MAGS @ GROEZROCK FEST BELGIUM. MAY 2014

PHOTO BY: AGA HAIRESIS

BANE @ REVOLUTION AMITYVILLE, NY DECEMBER 20, 2014

PHOTO BY: JC PHOTO MEDIA

KIDS INSANE @ GROEZROCK FEST BELGIUM MAY 2014

PHOTO BY: BAS SPIERINGS

THE CASUALTIES @ GROEZROCK FESTBELGIUM MAY 2014 

PHOTO BY: AGA HAIRESIS

Ok, here we go... In Effect Hardcore's Top 10 Releases of 2014. We get things sent in from all over the world from some of the bigger bands and labels to bands that are basically just starting out and we review and check out 99.9% of it. There are however cases where labels or bands basically blow us off and don't care about getting their stuff reviewed so something you may be looking for here may fall into that category. 2014 was a really solid year and if you like the majority of the bands that this site covers I really encourage people to go out and look into some of the releases on here that you may have looked over. Between this list and the In Effect 2013 Mix Tape list below there is a ton of great music to check out. 

1: MADBALL “HARDCORE LIVES” (The Black ‘N Blue Label)

To me, the cream of the crop of 2014 hardcore as Madball spoke to me lyrically, musically and visually with an all around AMAZING effort here. This comes from a guy who always liked Madball but they never had that one album that shook the foundations for me… until now. They start it off with an old style instrumental intro that has you stomping your feet before the title track kicks in with a head nodding type of beat that has some of the slickest and well thought out lyrics I have seen in a while. The intensity of the first 5 tracks on this album is hard to match and carries “Hardcore Lives” to the top of the heap for 2014.

STANDOUT TRACKS: “Intro/Hardcore Lives”, “Doc Martin Stomp”, “DNA”

2: SICK OF IT ALL “THE LAST ACT OF DEFIANCE” (Century Media Records)

Still spreading that hardcore reality all these years later is the mighty Sick Of It All showing that they got no quit in their bones 28 years after their formation as a band. “The Last Act Of Defiance” is the type of album that I knew on the very first listen that I was going to love the shit out of and play into the ground (and that I did). Musically there were no real surprises as SOIA pretty much sticks to the blueprint (If it ain’t broke…) that got them here but it’s lyrically where I was impressed with an overall eye opening political take on what’s going on here in the United States of America (and the world) in 2014. Music and message delivered loud and clear.

STANDOUT TRACKS: “Road Less Traveled”, “Facing The Abyss”, “Losing War”

3: 7 SECONDS “LEAVE A LIGHT ON” (Rise Records)

Their first new album in 9 years comes out 34 years after they formed as a band. Somehow, someway 7 Seconds keep that youthful flame burning with 14 tracks that rivals some of their best work. If you were never a fan this will not flip you but for those of us who are... wow!

STAND OUT TRACKS: “Slogan On A Shirt”,  “Leave A Light On”, Heads Are Bound To Roll”

4: BANE “DON’T WAIT UP” (Equal Vision Records)

Leading up to the release of “Don’t Wait Up” Bane announced this would be their last recorded album and if this is true they got as close to a perfect sendoff ad you can get with this 10 song banger. From the mixed tempo starter "Non Negotiable" to the classic finale in "Final Backward Glance" Bane holds nothing back with deep tracks that challenge the boundaries of what hardcore is all about. A final record does not necessarily mean that they are gone as Bane played a bunch of shows in 2014 and already have multiple dates set for early 2015.

STANDOUT TRACKS:  “All The Way Through”, “Hard To Find”, “Final Backward Glance”

5: COMEBACK KID “DIE KNOWING” (Victory Records)

Heavy, melodic and super catchy are all perfect ways to describe CBK'S  "Die Knowing". This album came out earlier in the year back in March and hijacked my iPod right from the get go with probably a months worth of it being on constant "repeat". Even after that initial bump wore off I still came back to this album over and over and even dug into their back catalog a bunch as I admittedly had slept on this band in the past. WTF was I smoking? CBK is awesome and "Die Knowing" is just one in a line of solid hardcore releases from Winnepeg's finest.

STANDOUT TRACKS: "Should Know Better", "Wasted Arrows", "Somewhere In This Miserable"

6: SHEER TERROR “STANDING UP FOR FALLING DOWN” (Reaper Records)

The first new Sheer Terror full length in well over a decade and half showed that the Rev and crew are still a potent force to be reckoned with dropping 11 tracks that showcased the band's strong music writing diversity. Straight up thrashers like the opener "Heartburn In G" and "Ain't Alright" are mixed in with more melodic numbers like "Boots, Braces & Alimony", " Did You Just Meet Me" and slower more brooding  tracks like "Coffee, 5 Sugars" which features a catchy horn part that really gets stuck in your head. Like it or not they are here to stay. 

STANDOUT TRACKS:: “Boots, Braces & Alimony”, “Did You Just Meet Me?”, “Heartburn In G”

7: RANCID “HONOR IS ALL WE KNOW” (Epitaph Records)

2014 marched along with more of the names we have come to know and love taking charge in regards to new albums. Rancid is just another case of the old guard showing that they still got what it takes to win over people from all age brackets and whatever your punk rock lineage is. To me at least, you are cheating yourself out of good music if you just listen to one little niche of hardcore/punk or metal. “Honor Is All We Know” is a great mixed bag of sounds that is obviously rooted in a more traditional punk rock style but some nice tempo changes and cool ska type numbers break things up and separate Rancid from the rest of the pack. A great album that is easily played from start to finish over and over.

STANDOUT TRACKS: “Back Where I Belong”, “Raise Your Fist”, “Diabolical”

8: ANGEL DU$T "A.D." (Reaper Records)

A breath of fresh air out of the Baltimore area with members of Trapped Under Ice and Turnstile teaming up to produce some catchy Ramones infused hardcore? If it's hard to nail down and slap a label on it you know you got something different. 12 songs in 15 minutes makes you want more and although short, Angel Du$t makes a nice statement with "A.D." showing that hardcore can be melodic and catchy while maintaining a "hard" edge.

STANDOUT TRACKS: “Let It Rot”, “Big One”, “Set Me Up”

9: MODERN PAIN “SELF DECONSTRUCTION” (Six Feet Under Records)

The Dallas Kings of amazing EP's follow up their 2011 “Cast Aside, Left Behind” EP and their 2012 “Reality Of The Pain” EP with their 2014 offering “Self Deconstruction”. Modern Pain again shows their uniqueness with a dirty and raw sound that mixes in elements of punk, metal, grind and hardcore that translates into a one of a kind band doing things their way. A perfect band for those who cry that hardcore has run out of new ideas.

STANDOUT TRACKS: “Mind Grinder”, “Self Deconstruction”

10: CAUGHT IN A TRAP “GOODNIGHT NEW YORK” (Dead City Records)

Straight up NYC hardcore out of the Q Borough is Caught In A Trap who follow up their 2007 effort “Rats Get Fat” with a far superior product to its predecessor. In that 7 year gap between albums CIAT actually recorded another album that they felt had no “soul” according to their singer in an interview run on this site earlier this year. They put that album on the shelf and never used it. What we get in “Goodnight New York” is 12 tracks of the type of hardcore you would have been accustomed to seeing/hearing at a CBGB’s Sunday Matinee a long, long time ago. Blue collar through and through with heads up lyrics backed by a pounding beat that screams NYHC.

STANDOUT TRACKS: “S.T.F.U.”, “The Daily Grind”, “Envy, Power, Greed”

10A: ALL FOR NOTHING “WHAT LIES WITHIN US” (GSR Records)

10A? WTF? I thought this was a top 10? Yeah but I declare a tie between Caught In A Trap and “What Lies Within Us” from All For Nothing. Go start your own website if you don’t like it. The 2 year void between 2012’s “To Live And Die For” and this is behind us as Cindy and crew return with another kick in the nutz delivering a nice blend of old school and new school style hardcore DUTCH style!. Cindy’s vocals (and lyrics) again are strong with AFN backing her up with some well written tunes that have crunch, melody, moshability, and an overall infectiousness.  Get infected with some AFN.

STANDOUT TRACKS: “Five Leaf Clover”, “Burn The Lies”, “Luctor Et Emergo”

TOP 3 VIDEOS OF 2014

CLICK SCREEN SHOTS TO WATCH VIDEOS

1: IRON REAGAN "MISERABLE FAILURE" (SEPTEMBER 2014)

We probably will never know how the poem “Finding Oneself In A World Full Of Selfies” turned out as the opening of “Miserable Failure” turns into a failure for the lone poem reader who didn’t know what was up as Iron Reagan walks in and tears the joint up. From the super market, to the coffee house, to the record store Iron Reagan brings their act to the streets of Portland, Oregon in what appears to be (in spots) a legit flash mob style video and who doesn’t like street moshing? Concept style videos in hardcore often don’t cut it as they run out of gas long before the song is over but IR amuses AND rebels through this 3 minute gem that is oh by the way one really ass kicking song as well.

IN EFFECT RATING: ** 2 DOC MARTENS TO THE HEAD **

2: COMEBACK KID "SHOULD KNOW BETTER" (FEBRUARY 2014)

A video that I have gone back and watched over and over because… what the fuck are Comeback Kids’ friends on? The party video to end all party videos with a wild posse of lunatics running around the band with beer, fire, motorcycles, sledge hammers, welding equipment, baseball bats and axes! A straight up scary scene that at the same time makes you wish you were there. Who had to clean all that shit up afterwards? Ambitious Films was behind the making of this video and you can read more about the making of it by clicking on the link below.

IN EFFECT RATING: ** 2 WALLS OF DEATH WHILE YOUR HOLDING A DRINK IN EACH HAND **

http://ambitiousfilms.tumblr.com/post/82533430861/comeback-kid-should-know-better ​

3: BRICK BY BRICK "SUFFER IN SILENCE" (AUGUST 2014)

When this video first came out and I saw that it was 7 and a half minutes long I thought there was something wrong with the link and that the whole thing would end after 3 or so minutes but no fucking way! Brick By Brick essentially made a short story out of “Suffer In Silence” taking a hilarious look at how each of the band members ends up at their show at NERD CON booked by their “scumbag manager” John Steinburgh. When the band shows up at the "show" they look surprised but then are able to get a nerd to use his computer to produce their instruments. The highlight of the live portion is when all of the nerds get up and almost in a zombie like stupor start learning how to mosh and eventually turn into possessed hardcore maniacs with shit breaking everywhere. Great stuff!

IN EFFECT RATING ** 2 FACE PLANTING FALLS ON A BEER SOAKED DANCE FLOOR **

THE IN EFFECT 2014 MIXTAPE

In no particular order here are some of the best songs of 2014

that I would toss on a mix tape if my car still had a cassette player!

01: Madball- "Intro", "Hardcore Lives", "Doc Marten Stomp"

02: Caught In A Trap- "Envy Power Greed", "STFU"

03: A Strength Within- "Inner Demons", "Pushing Forward"

04: Zero Progress- "Cutthroat", "United Slam"

05: Sheer Terror- "Boots, Braces, & Alimony", "Did You Just Meet Me?"

06: Timebomb- "Pulled Under", "Trap Doors"

07: Ache- "Pain Driven River", "Dirty Roads"

08: Angel Du$t- "Let It Rot", "Set Me Up"

09: Alone- "You", "No Youth"

10: Cross Me- "Don't Cross Me", "Bad Company"

11: Spill Your Guts- "Growing Tide", "Snakes"

12: Bane- "All The Way Through", "Final Backward Glance"

13: Tarakany- "God And Police"                 

14: Wisdom In Chains- "Exodus", "When We Were Young"

15: Punto De Encaje- "Hazlo Tu Mismo", "Yo Resisto"

16: Social Damage- "Missing Link", "Eye For An Eye"

17: Modern Pain- "Mind Grinder", "Self Deconstruction"

18: 7 Seconds- "Slogan On A Shirt", "Heads Are Bound To Roll"

19: Society Sucker- "Sentenced", "Burdened"

20: Safe And Sound- "The Tides", "Drift"

21: Iron Reagan- "Miserable Failure", "I Won't Go"

22: Slander- "Scars And Ashes", "Empty Pod"

23: Comeback Kid- "Should Know Better", "Somewhere In This Miserable"

24: All For Nothing- "Luctor Et Emergo", "Burn The Lies"

25: Zombie Fight- "Barbed Wire At Home", "Violent Couture"

26: Sick Of It All- "Road Less Traveled", "Facing The Abyss"

27: Stay Scared- "Skintro/Reality In Chains"

REST IN PEACE

Unfortunately 2014 didn’t pass by without some losses and it saddens me to have to make an obituary type of section for a music genre that is essentially a young mans game. With that said Suicidal Tendencies’ bass player Tim “Rawbiz” Williams passed in August. Tim had been with ST the past four years and an interesting side note of info that was put out there when he passed was that he was previously a session musician who had worked with Toni Braxton and Boys II Men. RIP Tim.

Brad Hancock was the singer for Utah’s Close Grip and in probably what was the most fucked up news of the year was shot and killed at a show his band was opening up for in Salt Lake City. The 24 year old leaves behind his fiancée and a 1 year old son. The guy who did it was caught and hopefully is getting his ass kicked in jail at the very moment you are reading this. RIP Brad.

Lastly John Barlow from PA’s Animalhaus passed at the age of 30 in January. There was an emotional benefit show held for John’s family at Club Reverb in Reading PA and below is a photo of John’s brother Brian banging out vocals in place of his late brother. A great shot from the super talented Rachel Wass. RIP John.