Australian hardcore punk bands tend to have local fan bases, although a number have toured Australia and internationally. Recorded material by these bands is often hard to find, as many focus on the live shows (which are the mainstay of the scene). Prominent bands from the scene that have been recognised by the mainstream have included Toe to Toe, Massappeal and Mindsnare, while many relative newcomers (such as Ill Brigade, Miles Away, Break Even and 50 Lions to name a few examples) have enjoyed some commercial success due to the recent popularity of the genre. Many of these bands are currently very popular and are bringing some mainstream attention to the label "hardcore", Australian hardcore is played on the national Triple J network in the short.fast.loud program and on a number of local stations.
Contents
Early history (1980s)
Massappeal of Sydney were one of the first hardcore acts to perform in Sydney playing their first gig in 1985 and releasing a 12" album entitled "Nobody Likes A Thinker" in 1986. As well as the Hard-Ons at the same time. Another early band in the hardcore punk scene was Adelaide's Where's the Pope?, which formed around 1985 and released their first LP, Straight Edge Holocaust, in 1987. Also forming in the 1980s was the Perth band Rupture.
But the real home, from the early 1980s, of Punk Rock in Australia was Melbourne. The Seaview Ballroom, The Duke of Edinburgh and The Prince of Wales were the places where legends were made, with a scene that grew and grew. Some of the legends were:
All of these bands had vinyl releases in the 1980s. However, there were also a lot of bands that went straight to CD or were never recorded, such as:
Ideology
Winston McCall of Parkway Drive commented in an interview about straight edge and veganism:
Veganism and straight edge beliefs are becoming more prominent in the hardcore scene, and in Adelaide in particular, according to McCall. "I'd say Adelaide has probably got the biggest straight edge/vegan scene in Australia. In Byron there's about five straight edge kids and I think maybe two kids that are vegan and that's about it," McCall laughs. "I'm vegetarian myself and there's a couple of us that are straight edge, but we just wanna have fun and play music. We do believe in trying to make a difference in some way, but as a whole we don't really champion any beliefs. We're just a hardcore band!"Radio shows
The ABC Triple J network has a weekly program, short.fast.loud, which showcases some punk and hardcore music released both locally and elsewhere. The show focuses on a range of music, from radio-friendly acts such as Go It Alone, Stolen Youth and Miles Away, to smaller, more obscure act such as Hospital The Musical, Bad Day Down, Robotosaurus, This City Sunrise and R.A.D.