Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the off beat. It was developed in Jamaica in the 1960s when Stranger Cole, Prince Buster, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, and Duke Reid formed sound systems to play American rhythm and blues and then began recording their own songs. In the early 1960s, ska was the dominant music genre of Jamaica and was popular with British mods and with many skinheads.
Hardcore punk is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk scenes in San Francisco and Southern California which arose as a reaction against the still predominant hippie cultural climate of the time. It was also inspired by Washington D.C. and New York punk rock and early proto-punk. Hardcore punk generally disavows commercialism, the established music industry and "anything similar to the characteristics of mainstream rock" and often addresses social and political topics with "confrontational, politically-charged lyrics."
Rancid is the eponymously titled fifth studio album by the American punk rock band Rancid, released on August 1, 2000. It is the second eponymous album and the first to be released through frontman Tim Armstrong's label, Hellcat Records. It also features the return of producer Brett Gurewitz, who has produced every subsequent album by the band.
Against Me! is an American punk rock band formed in 1997 in Naples, Florida, by singer and guitarist Laura Jane Grace. That same year, Grace moved to Gainesville, Florida, which is considered the band's hometown. Since 2001, the band's lineup has also included guitarist James Bowman. After releasing three studio albums through independent record labels, Against Me! moved to Sire Records for 2007's New Wave, which reached no. 57 on the Billboard 200. In 2011, the band launched the record label Total Treble.
How to Start a Fire is the second album by the Pompano Beach, Florida rock band Further Seems Forever, released in 2003 by Tooth & Nail Records. It was the band's only album with vocalist Jason Gleason, who had replaced original singer Chris Carrabba when the latter left the band to focus on his new project Dashboard Confessional. Gleason would leave the band the following year due to interpersonal tensions and be replaced by former Sense Field singer Jon Bunch. How to Start a Fire was also the band's first album with guitarist Derick Cordoba, replacing original guitarist Nick Dominguez.
The Moon Is Down is the debut album by the Pompano Beach, Florida rock band Further Seems Forever, released in 2001 by Tooth & Nail Records. It was the band's first full-length album. Vocalist Chris Carrabba had already decided to leave the band to focus on his new project, Dashboard Confessional, but joined them in the studio to record the album. Dominguez left the band the following year to start the record label Pop Up Records. The two were replaced by Jason Gleason and Derick Cordoba, respectively, for the band's next album How to Start a Fire. A music video was filmed for the song "Snowbirds and Townies."
Screeching Weasel is an American punk rock band consisting of Ben Weasel (vocals), Trevor Jackson (guitar), Mike Hunchback (guitar), Zach "Poutine" Brandner (bass) and Pierre Marche (drums). Screeching Weasel is originally from the Chicago suburb of Prospect Heights, Illinois. The band was formed in 1986 by Ben Weasel and John Jughead. Since their formation, Screeching Weasel have reformed several times with line-up changes. Ben Weasel has been the only constant member, though Jughead was present in every incarnation of the band until 2009. Other prominent members include guitarist/bassist Dan Vapid and drummer Dan Panic, who have each appeared on six of the band's studio albums, and Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt who was briefly a member of the band.
Siren Song of the Counter Culture is the third studio album by American rock band Rise Against. Released on August 10, 2004, it was Rise Against's first album on a major record label, after the band signed with DreamWorks Records in September 2003. The recording sessions for the album with producer Garth Richardson were split between two studios in British Columbia. These sessions were marred by numerous distractions and inconveniences, such as the absorption of DreamWorks into Geffen Records, the arrival of a new guitarist, accusations of the band selling out, and the birth of lead vocalist Tim McIlrath's child.
Timothy James McIlrath is an American rock musician. He is the lead singer, rhythm guitarist, songwriter and co-founder of the American punk rock band Rise Against. He is vegan and straight edge.
Tsunami Bomb is an American punk rock band from Petaluma, California. They were formed in 1998 by bassist Dominic Davi, with keyboardist/vocalist Oobliette Sparks and later joined by drummer Gabe Lindeman. With vocalist Emily Whitehurst aka "Agent M" they would become a staple of Warped Tour and toured extensively throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan, going through a number of lineup changes until they disbanded in 2005 after releasing two full length albums and a number of EP's. In 2015 the band reformed with new vocalist Kate Jacobi and later guitarist Andy Pohl and has remained active since, touring and appearing on a variety of festivals.
Folk punk is a fusion of folk music and punk rock. It was popularized in the early 1980s by the Pogues in England, and by Violent Femmes in the United States. Folk punk achieved some mainstream success in that decade. In more recent years, its subgenres Celtic punk and Gypsy punk have experienced some commercial success.
The Killing Tree was a hardcore punk band from Chicago, Illinois. They were a side project of Tim McIlrath during the early days of Rise Against and featured former Rise Against guitarist Todd Mohney and bassist Geoff Reu of Baxter and Holy Roman Empire.
The Menzingers are an American punk rock band from Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States, formed in 2006. The band consists of Greg Barnett, Tom May, Eric Keen (bass) and Joe Godino (drums). To date, the band has released seven studio albums, with their most recent, From Exile, released on September 25, 2020.
Foxing is an American indie rock band from St. Louis, Missouri. The band has released four studio albums and an EP, as well as a pair of split albums and a single.
James Robert Bowman is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the punk rock band Against Me!. Starting as a solo act in 1997, Against Me! eventually expanded into a quartet, having currently released seven studio albums.
Arms Aloft is an American punk group from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, United States. Their name is a reference to a song by Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros on their 2003 album Streetcore. Since their founding in 2007, the band has released two LPs, two EPs, one live album, and four split singles. They have appeared on stage with notable groups such as Teenage Bottlerocket, The Falcon, Dillinger Four, and NOFX. Arms Aloft have appeared at festivals including The War on X-Mas, The Gilead Media Music Festival, The Fest, and Manchester Punk Festival.
Beatdown hardcore is a subgenre of hardcore punk with prominent elements of heavy metal. Beatdown hardcore features aggressive vocals, down-tuned electric guitars, gang vocals, heavy guitar riffs, and heavy breakdowns. The genre emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s with bands such as Killing Time, Madball, and Sheer Terror. In the mid-late 1990s and early 2000s, many other beatdown bands emerged, such as Hatebreed, Bulldoze, Shai Hulud, and Strife. Bands such as Terror and Death Before Dishonor gained cult followings in the mid–late 2000s. New York hardcore bands such as Agnostic Front, Warzone, Sick of It All, and Cro-Mags and the thrash metal subgenre crossover thrash paved the way for beatdown.
The Desperate Mind is a punk rock band from the Czech Republic. They were formed in 2011 by singer and rhythm guitarist Martin J. Polák, lead guitarist Tomáš Ondra, bassist Dominik Zavadil, and drummer Dominik Kubík. In 2014, Winc Janeček replaced Dominik Kubík, and in 2015 David Havelka replaced Dominik Zavadil. In 2018, Filip Buršík replaced Tomáš Ondra, forging the current lineup. Without being signed to any label, the band gained a significant following with their 2015 debut album, Amassed Sickness, and the following grew bigger with their 2016 release, an EP called False Flag. As of 2020, the band is on tour supporting their newest album, All Walls Will Fall.
