It's the end of the year, so we made lists. We're joined by Brooklyn Vegan editor Andrew Sacher to count down our respective hardcore top 10s of 2024. 

Pick up Violent Treatment's first-ever label release, tapes for Chicago hardcore upstarts Majesty: https://violenttreatment.bigcartel.com/

Keep up with Andrew on Twitter: https://x.com/llllbfgllll

Intro song: Invertebrates - "No More"

Outro song: Speed - "First Test"

We're 20 years out from 2004 -- a great year in hardcore. To celebrate, we're joined by Nick Birtles (If It Rains, The Next Level, Ultimatum, etc.) and Dan Schultz (Worn, Fatal Wound) for a big 'ole draft. We build teams of five albums each, chat about everyone's picks, and then leave it to the listeners to decide which player assembled the best grip of 2004 hardcore releases.

Vote by visiting the Violent Treatment Instagram (@violenttreatment) and Twitter (@violentreatment) and selecting which team you like best in the corresponding poll.

Check out Nick's new label Physical Therapy: https://www.ptfanzine.com/

Listen to Worn: https://wornhardcore.bandcamp.com/

Intro song: Terror - "Overcome" 

Outro song: Think I Care - "The Hammer"

Buy the first ever Violent Treatment zine: https://violenttreatment.bigcartel.com/

In the 2000s, Kids Like Us were torchbearers for Florida hardcore of the Lockin' Out variety, doing splits with Down to Nothing and the Mongoloids, and playing shows all over the U.S. After breaking up in 2012 and playing one one-off gig in 2017, Kids Like Us will be reuniting at FYA in 2025, and they've just reissued their crucial 2005 LP, 'Outta Control,' via Triple B Records. 

KLU singer Lars Lundquist joins us to discuss the band's history, where they fit (or didn't) in the 2000s hardcore landscape, their musical arc, and whether or not they're here to stay after this one-off reunion.

Intro song: Kids Like Us - "Outta Control"

Outro song: Kids Like Us - "Don't Eat Rocks, We Rocks" 

Buy the first ever Violent Treatment zine: https://violenttreatment.bigcartel.com/

Nick Acosta of New Morality Zine joins us to recap some recent shows, chat about his label's eclectic output, discuss shoegaze's association with hardcore, and speculate on hardcore's cooked-ness. 

Intro song: Si Dios Quiere - "Roll the Dice"

Outro song: Dime - "Phases"

Buy the first ever Violent Treatment zine: https://violenttreatment.bigcartel.com/

We're back with a guest, and this time it's Mike Shaw, guitarist of Mindforce, Fatal Realm, New World Man, Sentinel, Collossal, and many other bands. Since Mike has almost never been interviewed about his work, we take some time going through his hardcore story and talking about his many bands, including his take on Mindforce's wild trajectory. Then, we switch gears and review the seminal 1984 Japanese hardcore comp 'Hardcore Unlawful Assembly,' featuring songs from GIZM, Lip Cream, Zouo, and many others. 

Listen to the 'Hardcore Unlawful Assembly' comp we discuss here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz35rchlZCU

Buy the first-ever Violent Treatment zine: https://violenttreatment.bigcartel.com/products

Intro song: Mindforce - "New Lords"

Outro song: Fatal Realm - "The Gift" 

Just Hugo and Eli this week, as we tear through a mega-episode of different hardcore happenings. First, we recap some recent shows we saw by Jivebomb, Destiny Bond, Cicada, Invertebrates, Public Acid, Speed, Candy and more. Then, we review new releases by Fentanyl, Cicada, Hindsight, and Chopping Block. And finally, we review a 1990 edition of the Good and Plenty zine, which leads us to talking about Turning Point, Carry Nation, Billingsgate, Moondog, and more. 

Read the Good and Plenty zine we discuss here: https://t.co/CnDFp6tEyI

ALSO. Hugo made a zine under the Violent Treatment banner, the first of more to come. It's about Chicago hardcore and you can buy it for $1. Pick it up: https://violenttreatment.bigcartel.com/

It'd be hard to deny that From Within Records' One Scene Unity compilations are the definitive hardcore comps of the 2020s thus far. The Florida-based DIY label has released four editions of their genre-wide series, and we had From Within head honcho Carter Holmes (also of the bands Statement of Pride, Payback, and more) join us for a discussion about all four comps. We talk about the bands and songs that appeared on each edition, and use the comps as a framework to discuss how hardcore has evolved in the 2020s thus far. Check it out. 

Peep the From Within Records store: https://www.fromwithinrecords.com/

Intro song: Payback - "The One Scene, Pt. II"

Outro song: Impunity - "4Giveness"

Michael Thorn of Razorblades and Aspirin joins us for a primer on the history of Richmond, VA hardcore. For a mid-size city of its kind, Richmond has had a thriving scene since the birth of hardcore, and we traced its lineage with the help of someone who lives there now, and has had one leg in the scene for decades. From White Cross and Honor Roll in the early 80s and Four Walls Falling and Avail in the 90s, to Municipal Waste and Direct Control in the 2000s and all the many bands rocking in Richmond today, there was so much to discuss — and almost all of the music is great. 

Intro song: Four Walls Falling - "Culture Shock"

Outro song: Direct Control - "Cleptomaniac"

Read Razorblades and Aspirin: https://razorbladesandaspirin.com/

It's time to check in on this thing we love. 

We're almost halfway through the 2020s, and hardcore is beginning to feel different now than it did at the beginning of the decade. We remark on how the vibes have shifted (for good and bad) since the post-COVID lockdown boom of summer 2021, and think about how 2024 has felt like a strange transitional year for the genre. Not too many essential LPs, a lot of ephemeral micro-trends, and a lot of reverence within hardcore for sounds that aren't hardcore. 

Intro song: Praise - "Coming Up for Air"

Outro song: Condition One - "Hard Shift" 

Andrew Vacante of Combust, Steamroll, Downfall, and more joins us to talk about NYHC from a modern New Yorker's perspective. We get into how the identity of NYHC has changed over time, the drought of native NYHC bands in the 2010s, and how Andrew's bands have helped change the tenor of the scene. Plus, many other digressions on hardcore minutia. 

Bands mentioned: Killing Time, Sheer Terror, Cro-Mags, Breakdown, Madball, Merauder, Sick of it All, Countdown, Krimewatch, and many more. 

Intro song: Combust - "Why I Hate"

Outro song: Steamroll - "Marked"