UPTOWN RUMBLE: Bronx Hardcore
In the early ’90s, NYHC bands like Quicksand, with Bronxite Sergio Vega on bass, slowed things down, putting stress on groove and melody while retaining heaviness—a tendency called post-hardcore. Other bands, growing up in the golden age of hip hop, added an explicitly rap-infused approach to the NYHC mix. These kinds of bands also began to focus on the breakdown—slower and very heavy moments in songs that encouraged the development of martial arts dance styles in mosh pits. This kind of hip-hop-styled, breakdown-focused NYHC is known as beatdown hardcore.
Above: Puerto Rican Myke, vocalist for District 9, at CBGBs, 2006, courtesy of Michelle Mennona.
Since both tendencies were centered on an intensification of rhythmic elements in NYHC, it is no surprise that some of their early and most unique exemplars came from the Boogie Down. Godfathers of Bronx hardcore District 9 formed in 1994 from an earlier band, Close Call. They effortlessly combined the swagger of hip hop with an aggressive style of hardcore that nevertheless retained tremendous dynamic range. Closely related to District 9 were Fahrenheit 451 (descended from Without A Cause), a band that played in a more post-hardcore style while incorporating the same kind of hip hop swagger and depth of emotion as District 9. Both bands wrote about real struggles in their West Bronx neighborhood. Members of both bands were also responsible for the formation of a local Bronx hardcore scene, helping to organize a series of hardcore shows at Mullaly Skate Park in the mid ’90s, which kick-started more than a dozen new Bronx hardcore bands. Regular hardcore shows began to take place in Bronx apartments and backyards and at local venues like the Train Depot on Williamsbridge Road and the Blackthorn on Bainbridge, as well as at Castle Heights in Queens, a home away from home for Bronx bands like Irate and Billy Club Sandwich. Some newer bands formed the Boogie Down Crew (BDC), which helped promote local shows and coordinated equipment sharing through the late ’90s. In the twenty-first century and beyond, The Bronx Underground, Hydr0punk, La Jungla, and others took up the mantle, introducing new generations of Bronxites to heavy music.
Flyer for show at Bond Street in 1993 featuring two Bronx bands: Rampage, which was more metallic in sound, and Without A Cause, the band that Fahrenheit 451 came out of. Bond Street was a fixture for Bronx hardcore and metal bands of the early ’90s, and multiple members of these bands worked at the venue. Courtesy of Rui Correia.
Ray (drums), Loki (bass), Puerto Rican Myke (vocals), Cesar (lead guitar), and Todd (rhythm guitar) of godfathers of Bronx hardcore District 9, from the back cover of their Schoolahardknox EP (Striving for Togetherness, 1995). Uptown Rumble collection, The Bronx County Archives.
Flyer for show at Train Depot on Williamsbridge Road featuring three Bronx bands: Goatamentise, which pioneered death metal with hardcore influences, District 9, godfathers of Bronx hardcore, and Driven By Hatred, whose members were the driving force behind forming the Boogie Down Crew (BDC). Courtesy of Rui Correia.
Bronx band Irate in the late ’90s. Irate emerged in the mid ’90s, at a time when NYHC, and especially its Bronx variety, was at its heaviest, with a style of playing sometimes called “beatdown hardcore.” This style amplifies the consistently metallic direction that NYHC had been taking since the mid-’80s, while adding the swagger and style of hip hop. Irate provided one of the most celebrated examples of this style with their first EP, Burden of a Crumbling Society (1998), before taking their sound in even more metallic and technically proficient directions with 11:34 (2001) and New York Metal (2005). They remain one of the most celebrated bands from the Bronx underground heavy music scene today. Courtesy of Phil Vibez.
Flyer for a show on March 25, 2006 at Muzic Unlimited on Eastchester Road in The Bronx. Even though the Boogie Down Crew was mostly defunct by this point in time, with many of its bands no longer active, shows continued to take place under its name for multiple years. This particular show featured staples of the scene Billy Club Sandwich, 4 In The Chamber, and Goatamentise. Courtesy of Gary Muttley.
Flyer for a show at Alfie’s Place (RIP) in Throggs Neck celebrating the release of Enziguri’s Uptown Boogie Down (2017), also featuring Bronx hardcore band Crippled Earn and others. Multiple shows took place at Alfie’s Place in the late 2010s, including one that featured Candiria and Billy Club Sandwich. Courtesy of Chucky Brown.