There are many hardcore punk albums that have been lost to time, ending up forgotten by anyone who wasn’t there when the scenes were just developing. It makes it hard for new punks to learn about the roots, where it all came from. Some physical albums have been digitized and uploaded to YouTube, while others have earned formal reissues. Here are four examples of forgotten punk albums that either need a reissue, or recently got one.
‘Stains’ — The Stains
The Stains’ only LP is Stains from 1983, released on SST Records. The East-L.A. punks were groundbreaking all the same, meshing punk and metal way before that was something anyone wanted to do. Their sound was sludgy and purposefully sloppy, but still fast and thrashy. Essentially, they bridged the unknown gap between punk and metal and helped bring forth thrash as a subgenre. The band formed in 1976 in Boyle Heights, a prominent Mexican-American neighborhood in L.A., and while they didn’t get a lot of recognition in their brief time, they were still crucial in the development of a widespread hardcore subgenre.
‘Condition Red’ — Red Rockers
Red Rockers released their debut album, Condition Red, in 1981, and included backing vocals from Dead Kennedys’ Jello Biafra on the track “Folsom Prison Blues.” The band formed in New Orleans, which isn’t typically known for its hardcore punk scene. But while the album doesn’t exactly go as hard as the punk majority, there’s still some great work on the album. It definitely leans more rock and roll than hardcore punk, and that seems to be the direction the band was going in as well. They earned a hit in 1983 with the song “China” after going in an electronic new wave direction. Still, their early punk work still holds up to the times.
‘Senseless Offerings’ — Black market Baby
Black Market Baby came up in the D.C. hardcore scene in 1980, becoming an integral part of the community as it grew. Their first album was Senseless Offerings in 1983, which got a reissue in 2024 via Dr. Strange Records. Black Market Baby took the late-70s Clash-style punk and turned it up to 11, going harder, faster, and dirtier. Thrash was coming up at this time, and BMB were dextrous with their sound. But they also let it go off the rails a bit, lending itself to a unique exploration of not-yet-old-school punk anthems.
‘The Victims’ — The Victims
The Victims formed in Australia in 1977, but only lasted until 1979. They released a handful of singles and one five-track EP, The Victims. But although their career didn’t last long, they became a staple of the Perth punk scene. This style differed from the hardcore scenes that were developing in the U.S. and U.K., with early Australian punk sounding more like classic rock does today. There were only 500 copies of the EP released, making it extremely rare and probably hard to reissue by itself. However, their material dropped as a compilation album in 1989 called All Loud on the Western Front. This got a CD reissue in 2005, so The Victims retain their place as important pioneers of the Perth punk scene.
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