More than three decades after Flex Your Head came out, it finally feels that another moment is taking shape, thanks in part to a new D.C. hardcore compendium called The Red Line Comp.

Featuring 12 of the best and most interesting NWODCHC (New Wave Of D.C. Hardcore) bands active right now, the right time for a project like The Red Line Comp feels like it’s been bubbling up for the last 12 to 18 months. While annual D.C. hardcore festival Damaged City has helped put the spotlight on what is going on in D.C.’s contemporary hardcore scene, it’s the bands’ recordings that have made the biggest impact outside of D.C., with excellent releases from Protester, Public Suicide and Red Death, among others.

D.C. hardcore musician Ace Mendoza, who plays in a number of the bands featured on the release (Red Death, Stand Off, Jåvla, Pure Disgust) assembled The Red Line Comp. He says the collection’s timing was just a matter of circumstance. 

“Last year was mainly a demo year for a lot of these bands, so this year marks the beginning of the NWODCHC’s record debuts,” Mendoza writes via email. “Nine of the bands on the comp are putting out either a 7-inch or an LP, meaning a lot of [them] are also either starting extensive tours or playing out more in general.”

With bands like Red Death releasing a record on hardcore label Grave Mistake — which also released an LP from D.C. hardcore band Coke Bust in 2013 — and Pure Disgust putting out a 7-inch with Brooklyn’s Katorga Works, the comp feels not only vital today, but also potentially important years from now as a document of the scene, much like Flex Your Head.

Listening to The Red Line Comp, it isn’t hard to hear how diverse each band is: There’s the relatively straightforward hardcore of Public Suicide, the hard oi! of The Defense, the death metal sludge of Genocide Pact. What makes this recording sound essential is how high-impact each band is. You get the sense that all of them wanted to make a statement, and did.

But Mendoza didn’t necessarily aspire to put out a nouveau Flex Your Head. When asked what compilations influenced The Red Line Comp, Mendoza mentions two now-legendary New York hardcore compilations from 1989: Where The Wild Things Are and The New Breed, only citing Flex Your Head in passing. But with each track, The Red Line Comp writes a new chapter in D.C. hardcore history — a much-needed update to a story that many know by heart.

Pure Disgust distinguished itself from the start with a 2013 demo that aimed for the gut, relying on defined riffs instead of speed — not too different from influential English Oi! bands Combat 84 and Blitz. That was essentially what Watson set out to do when he and his bandmates decided to start what he calls an “Oi!-type band with D.C. influences.”

Then last year, the band released an even stronger 7-inch record that moved beyond the confines of Oi!’s stereotypically thin guitars and simple riffs, borrowing from anthemic mid-1980s New York hardcore.

In late April or early May, Pure Disgust plans to release what I consider the best 7-inch from this new wave of D.C. hardcore bands. (I got an early listen.) The Chained EP is set to come out on the labels Quality Control and Brooklyn’s Katorga Works, an imprint that’s become a tastemaker for certain segments of hardcore and indie.

Before Pure Disgust plays The Pinch as part of D.C.’s Damaged City Fest Saturday night, I talked to frontman Rob Watson about the band’s influences, his thoughts on D.C. hardcore and why he doesn’t consider Pure Disgust a remotely political band.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Bandwidth: What was it like recording that first demo?

Rob Watson: The demo was rushed. Connor, our original drummer, learned the songs that day. Rodrigo, a guitarist we picked up when Connor couldn’t play the first few shows, decided he would try to record something for the first time. The demo sounds great, and Rodrigo did a great job with it — especially for his first time.

The D.C. hardcore scene just keeps growing in the best ways possible. Bands seem to not only be starting left and right, but also making punk and hardcore that’s forward-thinking. What are your thoughts on this new breed of DCHC? And what about it seems exciting to you all?

The NWODCHC [new wave of D.C. hardcore] is so powerful and on the rise. It’s great to see young kids being in the center of it all as well. It’s even cooler to see that all my friends are [getting] on bigger labels, putting the name of D.C. back on the map. You’ve got Protester putting a record out on Triple-B Records, Stand Off putting one out on Youngblood, Red Death putting something out on Lockin’ Out and even bands like Genocide Pact putting something out on A389. I love it all. My friends are what keep me here, and I love every single one of them and what they’re doing. Be on the lookout for Jåvla and Spite.

I couldn’t care less what white people think of my lyrics. I don’t write it for them. I live to make white people uncomfortable. —Rob Watson, Pure Disgust

What really interests me about Pure Disgust is how direct the lyrics are. On “I.D.O.Y.S,” you say, “You need to listen when we speak our lives/ You must forget what you know/ Don’t reinforce that privilege you hold/ You know it’s keeping you safe.” I think it’s a great move to call out this kind of privilege. Would you say Pure Disgust is a political band?

Also, with a song like “Race War” calling out appropriating culture, how important is it to you for listeners to hear about these issues?

I would absolutely not say we’re a political band. My lyrics come from my life and what I experience. My life isn’t political, it’s just my life. Pure Disgust’s lyrics are just reflections of it. … I would like [white] people to come to understand what it’s like to be a punk/person of color, but honestly, I couldn’t care less what white people think of my lyrics. I don’t write it for them. I live to make white people uncomfortable.

The new 7-inch is a co-release from Katorga Works, a label that has released records from buzzy punk bands Merchandise, Dark Blue, Wart Hog and Sheer Mag. How did that come about?

Adam [Whites], who runs Katorga Works, tried to book us on a show in Brooklyn with Ajax, Jock’s Blood and Leather Daddy last July and it was a good show except it wasn’t all-ages. We don’t like playing [non-all-ages shows] so we dropped, and a thing sort of came out of that.

Adam then later invited us to play another show in Brooklyn in October with Blazing Eye, Hank Wood and Savageheads, and that show was most definitely all-ages. We played a killer set, and pretty recently actually, Adam told me that it was very important for us to play that show because it let the New York punk rockers know that D.C. is not to be ignored. After we recorded the record, we asked and he was more than down to do it, and he’s been doing a great job with it.

Musically the band seems to take aspects from everyone to Negative Approach to Blitz to hints of early Madball and Breakdown. The demo, and even the last 7-inch, is very heavy Oi!. That last 7-inch did seem to mark a sort of turning point that showed the band could hit harder in different ways. Then the Chained 7-inch seems to really take all these influences and spits them out in a way that’s fresh and hard to pin down. Is the direction of the new single where you see Pure Disgust going?

Honestly, we’re not sure what direction we want. I feel like with this 7-inch we got the sound we wanted nailed down. We got a little bit of everything ranging from pogo-punk stuff to straight-up D.C. hardcore. As for what’s next, who knows? But I told the guys for our second LP we’re going in the Second Empire Justice direction.

What I love about Pure Disgust is how commanding the vocals are without overshadowing what’s going on musically. Is that something you think about when writing and recording?

Nah, not really. We just ask for the vocals to be turned down when we’re mixing because I’m too loud. I think that’s what it is, though. Loud actual vocals being turned down.

What are you looking forward to on your upcoming tour?

We’re super excited for tour. All the dates are straight-up bangers and we’re touring with some of our good friends. I’m stoked for being on the road with Barge and Hard Stripes from Richmond, FURY from California and Social Damage from Indianapolis. I take pictures a bunch, so I’m excited for those long roads in the Southwest and the amazing scenery in the Northwest. We’re all just excited to be on the road for five weeks. Hopefully we don’t kill each other.

How about Damaged City Fest, the D.C. festival you’re playing this weekend? How important do you think a fest like that is to the health of the D.C. hardcore scene?

I think fests should be abolished. They make bands lazy, and in other scenes people start bands to be on That Big Fest 2kwhatever… I’m not a big fan. Fests are fun to play, don’t get me wrong, but they stress me out. Then again, here we are playing several fests in 2015. I’d rather have big shows happen than a fest.

Pure Disgust plays The Pinch April 11 as part of Damaged City Fest.

Gray complained to me on Twitter that our list had overlooked D.C. hardcore. So I asked him to make a list of his favorite local hardcore songs of the year — and he delivered that and more. If our list inflicted a wound on the D.C. hardcore community, I hope Gray’s contribution, below, helps heal it. —Ally Schweitzer

* * *

D.C. hardcore got a good bit of attention in 2014, especially from Bandwidth. I think that’s partly because of Damaged City Fest — the growing local festival of punk and hardcore scheduled to return in April — and also the scene’s quality: D.C. hardcore bands sounded excellent last year. But Bandwidth’s Best of 2014 list didn’t acknowledge any of it.

Before I get to my list of the year’s best D.C. hardcore, I want to say something first: It bums me out that the bands listed below are all-male. Right now DCHC seems stronger than it’s been in ages. Let’s hope in 2015 we see more women involved. This scene has the power to make a change for the better.

With that said, it’s hard to deny how many great releases came out of the local hardcore scene in 2014. That’s often how I’m hearing this music — through recordings, not live shows — because I have cerebral palsy and use a walker. Lots of hardcore shows happen in places that aren’t accessible to me.

That means I base my understanding and critique of new D.C. hardcore purely on the releases. Certainly, it makes for a different experience of the scene. But I can’t hear Misled Youth’s “Deadbeat” and “Waste” and not imagine how sick that band sounds live.

D.C. hardcore also sounds contemporary. Local scenester Pat Walsh recently tweeted at me that hardcore is “obsessed with 1980.” But I’m sure most people playing hardcore in D.C. now — regardless of this city’s storied hardcore scene — don’t care what happened in 1980, 1985 or 1995.

The urgency and energy of these bands seems as fresh to me as any hardcore I heard in my teens and 20s. This scene, right now, is as important as it ever was. I hope my list demonstrates that. — Sean Gray

Warning: Some of these songs contain explicit lyrics.

Pure Disgust, “Denied”

I finally happened to get a copy of this 7-inch a few weeks ago. Instead of listening online, I just waited until I was able to play it from start to finish. Right off the bat I hear tinges of oi, but this doesn’t just sound like The Oppressed if they started a hardcore band. “Denied” is completely tight and packs more dynamics into two minutes than most hardcore bands can do on a full LP.

Public Suicide, “No Pity”

Some people live for the breakdown, and those people would love the last 10 seconds of this song. “No Pity” pounds through until it completely falls apart in the best way. Its production sparkles, and for a lot of bands doing this, that could be a bad thing. (The vocals seem questionable at first, too.) But it works here, underscoring how much work was put into these songs.

Jävla, “Warped Ones”

Supposedly the brainchild of a teenager named Brendan Reichhardt, Jävla could come off as a tribute to bands like Anti Cimex (I hear some No Security in here, too), but this demo offers more than that. The drumming makes “Warped Ones” shine, and the guitar solo gets buried in the mix — a nice change for music in this style. It all adds up to a strong demo not just for D.C.’s scene, but for the genre overall.

Misled Youth, “Nothing Left”

“Nothing Left” solidifies Misled Youth as one of the most promising new hardcore acts in D.C. Mark Jubert has the strongest vocals of any band in DCHC right now; he’s aggressive without sounding overbearing. Closing the band’s debut 7-inch, “Nothing Left” seems to split midway through, revealing a sort of coda to everything else on this single.

Red Death, “Unholy Agony”

Red Death put out the best demo of the year, period. For some purists, this may be too metal, but for my money, the band found the perfect balance with its brand of metal-tinged hardcore. This demo comes out of the gate with a “take no prisoners” attitude: “Unholy Agony” feels as brutal as any Consumer Electronics dirge and as thrashy as the best of Death Angel, and it carries the energy of underrated New York hardcore band Misguided. But don’t let these comparisons seal the deal for you: Not many bands achieve this sound as confidently.

Collusion, “Don’t Care”

With members of Coke Bust, Public Suicide, Misled Youth and Pure Disgust, Collusion could be called a DCHC supergroup — and as expected, this demo represented a snapshot of where DCHC is right now. It’s angry and bitter, sure, but for some reason I find these songs catchy. “Don’t Care” has a slight sing-along vibe. Maybe that’s because of the simple lyrics, or the fact that this song boasts the best DCHC riff of 2014.

Protester, “Let You Forget”

If there’s a band that can recruit listeners to the new school of DCHC, it’s Protester. This single packs energy that most hardcore bands would envy, and wraps with one of the most intense song endings I’ve heard in a while — vocalist Connor Donegan screams, “Will you ever fight back?”, and the song cuts out. It’s one of those moments that makes fans remember why they started loving hardcore in the first place.

Photo by Flickr user Chey Rawhoof used under a Creative Commons license.