- Hardcore Skinheads
Hardcore Skinheads are skinheads who are affiliated with the American Hardcore Punk subculture, as opposed to British
Oi! or traditionalSka .Origins
It is debatable where the american hardcore skinhead subculture originated from. Some rgue that the Oi! influenced Washington DC band
Iron Cross brought the skinhead style and attitude to the United States. Other's claim that the then drummer of the Stimulators Harley Flanagan was the first skinhead in the hardcore seen after having adopted the style from Oi! skinheads while touring Ireland.However, what can't be debated is that the strongest and most dominant skinhead scene surfaced in
NYHC , primarily in New York City, although Detroit, Chicago, Seattle and Boston Also had strong scenes. Skinheads became prevalent towards the end of the first wave of hardcore, and continued to be through the Youth Crew era of hardcore. However, in the early 90's there was a steep decline in the involvement of skinheads in the hardcore scene as more of them moved on to the growing american Oi! scene with bands such as theAnti-Heros andOxblood . However, these Oi! bands had a were distinct from their British forerunners by their distinct hardcore influence. In addition to this, the hardcore skinhead scene did not completely die away in it's traditional stronghold New York City, with a slew of bands coming from the DMS crew (Doc Martin Skinheads) such asMadball ,Vietnom andBulldoze .Politics
Hardcore skinheads have traditionally been associated with conservative, patriotic politics. However, hardcore skinheads have identified with ideologies as the far-right, the far-left, Hare Krishna (Harley Flanagan) and
Straight Edge (Raybeez ofWarzone ). It should be noted that the group Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice had its roots in the hardcore skinhead scene.Fashion
Although characterised by the same items as British skinhead fashion (Bomber jackets, Ben Shermans, Fred Perry's, Rolled up jeans, suspenders and Combat boots or doc martins) Hardcore Skinheads dress is considerably less strict than their British equivalents. They are distinguishable by such items as:
Leather jackets (perhaps due to the tendency of american skinheads to ride motorcycles instead of Vespa's), army jackets, windbreaker jackets, hooded sweatshirts, string vests, white "wife beater" shirts, looser jeans perhaps torn at the knee, heavy chains worn as belts and construction or rigger's gloves. Adidas Samba and Dragon trainer sneakers have been becoming more and more popular in hardcore skinhead culture, primarily on the east coast of the United States.
It should be noted that shaven heads have been, and continue to be, popular amongst individuals in the hardcore scene who do not identify themselves as skinheads, while certain hardcore skinheads may grow thier hair far beyond what would be viewed as acceptable by skinheads in Britain.
Bands
*
Agnostic Front
*Breakdown
*Cause For Alarm
*Channel 3
*Cro-Mags
*The Effigies
*Iron Cross
*Krakdown
*Life's Blood
*Lockjaw
*Madball
*Murphy's Law
*Merauder
*Negative Approach
*Nihilistics
*No Redeemin Social Value
*Sheer Terror
*Skarhead
*Slumlords
*Sons Of Skam
*Vietnom
*Youth Defense League
*Warzone
*7 Seconds
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