Revolution Summer

Revolution Summer refers to the metamorphosis of the punk rock community of Washington, DC in the summer of 1985. The most notable and memorable of the Revolution Summer bands are Rites of Spring, Moss Icon and Embrace, though other bands such as Gray Matter, Fire Party, and Beefeater were involved and vital.

Background

The DC punk rock and Hardcore punk scene of the late 1970s/early 1980s spawned dozens of fast and aggressive bands such as Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Government Issue, and Faith. These bands and their numerous counterparts, many of whose recordings were documented on Dischord Records, helped to shape the very definition of punk rock and hardcore, and lend influence and inspiration to this day. However, the fast and aggressive music they produced at the time was attracting an element of violence and intolerance to the venues these bands would play. White power skinhead groups were largely responsible for the unrest at DC punk venues. At one DC (WUST Radio Hall) Dead Kennedy's show in 1985, a DK crew member was hit by a bottle thrown by a skinhead and later in the show Jello Biafra jumped out into the crowd and brawled with a skin that was causing trouble. Not coincidentally, the first song in their set was Nazi Punks Fuck Off.

In an effort to end the violence and take back the community that they had worked to create, the idea was launched to start bands that played a more melodic and mid-tempo type of music, and to focus on more introspective and emotional issues. In theory, this type of music would keep away the violent crowd and allow a more inclusive, artistic, and creative community to flourish. Thus, Revolution Summer was born.

Influence

Revolution Summer, though short lived, helped redirect the energy of the DC scene and give it a sound to build on. In the years following, bands such as Fugazi, Soulside, Jawbox, and Shudder to Think would arise from this change of direction and expand upon its ideas.

It bears mentioning that the Revolution Summer bands are widely credited with starting the sub-genre of punk rock known as emo, by the time known as "emotional hardcore". Certainly, this is a label that has been applied to these bands in retrospect and not something that they called themselves at the time or would likely associate themselves with presently.

References in popular culture

There is a brief account of Revolution Summer in Michael Azerrad's book Our Band Could Be Your Life (2001). The movement is also well documented in Dance Of Days by Mark Andersen and Mark Jenkins (2001). The significance of Revolution Summer is disputed -- others beyond Andersen/Jenkins regarded it at the time as a small, cliquish, and incessantly self-promotional affair, and far from representative of a diverse and vibrant punk scene that went far beyond Dischord-centric hardcore.