Intervention
The energy of a Void: some lessons on hardcore punk, faith & what not
Recently I had reason to reminisce about hardcore, a music very close to my heart. Want proof? Pictured below is the wall of my bedroom. Below: framed cover of Void/The Faith split 12" (Dischord, 1982) Above: a copy of the etched side of The Locust's “Well I'll Be a Monkey's Uncle” double 12” (Gold Standard Labs, 2000).

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And here is a pictorial detail of The Locust 12":

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One of the problems with explaining an appreciation for this music is its obscurity, its inexplicability compared to most of what people would consider music, and -- the topic I'm going to focus on in this post -- its energy, an energy so untidy and chaotic it doesn't translate well into adulthood which, if you define adulthood like most people do, means that it does not translate well anywhere that is considered polite society.

Now for some Void videos, sorted by YouTube popularity:

LESSON #1: ENERGY - 58,000 views

When you're done with the above watch these three songs from Void's chronological peers from the same Washington, DC hardcore scene, a band called Minor Threat, perhaps the most popular hardcore punk band that ever came out of that classic era. Or, more accurately watch what is an almost equal sampling of banter & song. It takes three minutes for singer Ian MacKaye to finish his monologue and for his band to kick into song.

Lesson? Add some stand-up comedy and some melody to the more inchoate mess that was Void and you have yourself the recipe for popularity & sustainability. Minor Threat are probably more famous today than they ever were in their lifetime.

Lesson? It's easier to grow an audience for music that takes a form and adds one or two unfamiliar elements (in Minor Threat's case pop music + speed) than it is to create an audience for music that serves up the pure essence of a thing (in Void's case, sheer youthful rage). The areas of musical agreement among Minor Threat's membership might seem absurd to the punk fan -- they cop to a common love of the Beatles -- but it wouldn't seem at all a surprise to fans of music.

Evidence of persistence: Where the internet has barely thought of Void, another video of Minor Threat -- this live version of "In My Eyes" -- has logged well over 400,000 views! Members of this band have not died young. Rather they are downright respectable. Notice how, in the embedded video above bassist Lyle Preslar wears a white button-up shirt, a hint at the music executive and lawyer he would one day become. Or read this great conversation between two members of the group, MacKaye and drummer Jeff Nelson, that appeared in Spin in 2003, around the 25th anniversary of the label they founded to document their band, Void, and many others.

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