Greetings, all. I guess I should start with an introduction. I'm new to this site but not to the HC Punk underground. I've been into Punk since the late 80's as a kid but mostly just scribbling band names on folders and stuff. It wasn't until the early 90's that I became seriously interested in the ideals, politics and music by reading the lyrics and inserts of band's records. That was when we (brother, sister and I) started buying our own records and tapes. (Not CD's, though. We knew the scam from the music industry that was going on at the time.) That quickly evolved in to record collecting that to this day, continues to grow. I like the early Punk bands from the late 70's but prefer the Hardcore Punk from the 80's. Especially the international political bands from the US and around the world. My introduction to that was the P.E.A.C.E. compilation from R Radical Records. Then it was MRR's "Welcome to 1984" and the Borderless Countries Tapes. I've pretty much given up on new bands at this point after being burned too much on the later bands of the 90's and beyond. It sounds more like harder Heavy Metal to me, despite the lyrics. For some reason the kids now even create new sub-genres and retroactively label old bands. It's crazy, back then it was just Punk and Hardcore Punk. (If you ignore the Death Rock and Oi! monikers, that is. Oi! is just slowed down, or medium-paced, Hardcore Punk to me.)
There are still fantastic newer hardcore bands, don't get complacent if you can help it. It takes weeding out but there are gems everywhere. Bumbklaatt and Cöaccion from Tijuana, Mexico, Generacion Suicida from East Los Angeles, Orden Mundial from Spain, Kontatto from Italy...these bands will all appeal to you if you love BCT.
