Slant - 1집 LP

The relationship between so-called ‘cleanshirt’ hardcore and its underground DIY counterpart, hardcore punk—at least since those distinctions had any real significance—has been stuck in something of an endless Hegelian dialectic, one that never quite reaches a satisfying synthesis.

For ageing millennials such as myself, the late 2000s saw a tribal, identitarian drawing of a line in the sand. Myself and others disaffected by the perceived excesses of the ‘cleanshirt’ crowd—associated with PARKWAY DRIVE, RESIST RECORDS and the like—reached for a nostalgic sense of authenticity that we saw in early 80s hardcore punk. Under the influence of the AMERICAN HARDCORE documentary and book, and the sorely missed blogspot/mediafirecut revolution that made bands previously only known by heads and collectors accessible to low-income millennials, we cut our teeth on bands like STRAIGHTJACKET NATION, WARKRIME and SEX/VID. These were bands that were suitably referential to the past we revered while also feeling like they were our own. Although I don’t know we recognised it at the time, Mark Fisher would have had a field day writing about our brand of hardcore ‘hauntology’. 

Since then, many a self-respecting punk purist has come to the realisation that ‘cleanshirt’ bands such as WARZONE, INTEGRITY and RIVAL MOB are actually pretty bloody good. This has resulted in the worlds of clean- and dirty-shirt hardcore coming together in innovative ways. While NWOBHC (New Wave of British Hardcore) bands like ARMS RACE and VIOLENT REACTION did much to lead the charge, Singapore’s LUBRICANT and Australian bands SCAB EATER (remember them?), RAPID DYE and HACKER have all helped bridge this divide.

Korea’s SLANT are a welcome addition to this list. Their speedy, pogo-driven drums, perfectly executed breakdowns and aggressive vocals have the quality of sounding as though they could have emerged at any point over the past 40 years. They sound both of the moment and embedded within the tradition from which they sprang. -Oli