Prank Records is a hardcore punk record label based in San Francisco, California. They began in 1995, releasing hardcore punk bands on vinyl and in CD format, with over 90 releases. Started by former Auburn University WEGL 91.1 FM radio DJ, Maximum Rock and Roll columnist and reviewer, former 924 Gilman Street booker and long-time Mordam Records employee Ken Sanderson. Modeling the label after classic 1980's punk labels like Pusmort and Over The Top, it focuses on its local Bay Area punk scene, as well as the owner's native Southeast and points around the globe.
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 New York punk rock and early proto-punk. New York punk had a harder-edged sound than its San Francisco counterpart, featuring anti-art expressions of masculine anger, energy, and subversive humor. 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."
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing, promotion, and enforcement of copyright for sound recordings and music videos, while also conducting talent scouting and development of new artists, and maintaining contracts with recording artists and their managers. The term "record label" derives from the circular label in the center of a vinyl record which prominently displays the manufacturer's name, along with other information. Within the mainstream music industry, recording artists have traditionally been reliant upon record labels to broaden their consumer base, market their albums, and be both promoted and heard on music streaming services, radio, and television. Record labels also provide publicists, who assist performers in gaining positive media coverage, and arrange for their merchandise to be available via stores and other media outlets.
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a city in, and the cultural, commercial, and financial center of, Northern California. San Francisco is the 13th-most populous city in the United States, and the fourth-most populous in California, with 883,305 residents as of 2018. It covers an area of about 46.89 square miles (121.4 km2), mostly at the north end of the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area, making it the second-most densely populated large US city, and the fifth-most densely populated U.S. county, behind only four of the five New York City boroughs. San Francisco is also part of the fifth-most populous primary statistical area in the United States, the San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland, CA Combined Statistical Area.
In 1995, Prank hosted the first Japanese hardcore band to tour in the US, a brief mini-tour by Tokyo band Assfort, which paved the way for multiple visits of Japanese hardcore bands to the US, including one the following year by Gauze. The next year, the band began its association with southerners His Hero Is Gone and Damad, whose dark, low end distorted records for the label helped affix "the Prank sound." In 1997 and 1998, Prank hosted two "Prank fest" Festivals in Atlanta, Georgia, showcasing the strong Southeast punk scene and bands associated with the label. This festival was revised and relocated in 2004 to Austin, Texas and morphed in subsequent years into the "Chaos In Tejas" festival.
Assfort is a Japanese hardcore punk band from Tokyo. Their musical style is fast and loud with angry, fast, undecipherable vocals.
Gauze is a Japanese hardcore punk band formed in September 1981. Having released five albums as well as appearing on numerous compilations since their formation, the band has had a major impact on the Japanese hardcore punk scene.
His Hero Is Gone was an influential American hardcore punk band from Memphis, Tennessee. Formed in 1995 from members of Copout, Man With Gun Lives Here, and FaceDown, they disbanded in 1999, playing their last show in Memphis. They toured the U.S. extensively several times, as well as Europe and Japan.
MDC is an American hardcore punk band formed in Austin, Texas in 1979. The band was subsequently based in San Francisco, California, and are currently based in Portland, Oregon. Originally formed as The Stains before changing their name, the band also changed their name to a different initialism of MDC with every new record released. They play fast hardcore punk music espousing far-left sociopolitical ideals, with singer Dave Dictor expressing his animal rights, gay rights, transgender rights, pro-racial equality and anti-capitalist convictions.
Necros was an early American hardcore punk band from Maumee, Ohio, although they are usually identified with the Detroit music scene. They were the first band to record for Touch and Go Records.
Poison Idea was an American punk rock band formed in Portland, Oregon, in 1980. The band originally dissolved in 1993, but has been playing intermittently since 1998. They officially disbanded as of January 1, 2017.
Limp Wrist is an American punk rock band, who formed in 1998. Featuring members of Los Crudos, Hail Mary, Devoid of Faith, By The Throat, and Kill the Man Who Questions, the band plays short, fast hardcore music, and covers themes concerning the gay community in their live performances and lyrics. They identify as part of the "queercore" punk subculture: referring to their style of music, the band declared in Frontiers magazine, "We put the 'core' back in 'Queercore'". The band are featured on the cover of My Brain Hurts, Liz Baillie's comic about queer teenagers in New York City.
Dropdead is an American hardcore punk band based in Providence, Rhode Island. They have been active in the punk scene since 1991, having been formed in January of that year. The band's songs are generally short and very fast-paced, with few lasting longer than one minute. Other famous crust punk and grindcore bands like Nasum have covered some of their songs. The band has a strong do-it-yourself ethic.
Severed Head of State is a Crust punk band with members split between Austin, Texas & Portland, Oregon. Band members play in other bands such as World Burns To Death, J Church, Tragedy, Warcry, Defiance. Their lyrics usually focus on deep detestation of both human nature and the Christian belief system. Their sound ranges from slow melodies to furious thrashcore.
F-Minus was a hardcore punk band formed in 1995 in Huntington Beach, California, started by Jen Johnson and Brad Logan. F-Minus was known for their dueling male and female vocals in songs that were sometimes as short as 12 seconds. Before breaking up in 2004, their last album was recorded by Steve Albini. Throughout their career, they covered such bands as Antidote, Black Randy and the Metro Squad, 7 Seconds, Negative Approach, and Agnostic Front. Brad Logan currently runs his own record label Blacknoise, and is also member of the New York band Leftöver Crack. Jen Johnson currently is the designer and owner of clothing label E.C. Star, and also is a member of the California band Ammunition Affair.
Born/Dead is a hardcore punk band formed in late 2000 in Oakland, California consisting of Bill Jackson playing drums, Wyatt Culbertson playing bass and splitting vocal duties with guitarist Will Kinser. Will had been a member of the short-lived Santa Cruz/San Francisco, California band No Options. No Options had broken up suddenly upon the death of member Chad W. Rickley. All of Born/Dead's records have been dedicated to his memory and they still play No Options songs in their live set.
Guyana Punch Line was an American hardcore punk band from Columbia, South Carolina that existed from 1998 until 2003.
World Burns to Death is an American Crust punk band from Austin, Texas. Formed in 2000, the current lineup consists of: Jack Control, vocals; Zac Tew, guitar; Craig Merritt, bass; and Jon Guerinot, drums. Current and former members are also involved with other bands, including Kegcharge, Severed Head of State, and Butcher.
From Ashes Rise is an American hardcore punk band, formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in the mid-1990s. They helped define the gloom-heavy thrash sound attributed to groups like His Hero is Gone and Tragedy by combining a dynamic, eerie open chord dissonace with a down-tuned power-chord-laden heaviness.
Devoid of Faith was an American Hardcore punk band from Albany, NY in the mid 90's. Playing hardcore punk, the band shared members from Monster X, Hail Mary, Limp Wrist, John Brown's Army, and Das Oath. Devoid of Faith had several releases including a split with Voorhees. DOF were influenced by the likes of Life's Blood, Agnostic Front, Gauze, SSD, Jerrys Kids, etc. The band broke up in 1999, though they played a reunion show in 2004 at Gloomfest 2 with the original line up. The band did several small mini tours, but never made any further out West than Minnesota. Pushead released two very limited records by the band, and put them on one of his Bacteria Sour compilations.
Kaaos was a hardcore punk band from Tampere, Finland. Formed in March 1980, they were one of the first hardcore punk bands in Finland to release a record, and though their lineup has changed frequently through the years, the band is somewhat active through the years. Only the band's guitarist Jakke remained as the original member and grew to become the center figure of Kaaos.
Filth is a hardcore punk band from East Bay, California.
Kylesa is an American heavy metal band that was formed in Savannah, Georgia. Their music incorporates experimentalism with heavy riffs, drop-tuned guitars and elements of psychedelic rock. The group was established in 2001 by the former members of Damad, with the addition of guitar player Laura Pleasants who is from North Carolina. The band has since undergone line up changes; the remaining original members are Phillip Cope and Laura Pleasants. In 2006, the band added two drummers. Eric Hernandez joined in 2008 to replace Porter. The dual drum tracks are often panned strongly to the right and left.
Chaos UK are an English punk rock band formed in 1979 in Portishead, near Bristol. They emerged as part of the anarcho-punk scene, developing a fast and aggressive hardcore punk style. The original line-up of Simon Greenham on vocals, Andy on guitar, Chaos on bass and Potts on drums recorded two EP's and a full LP for Riot City Records. In the process, they, along with fellow Bristolians Disorder and Stoke's Discharge, revolutionised the hardcore punk scene. In particular, the Japanese '80s hardcore punk bands were heavily influenced by Chaos UK and Disorder's brutal take on punk. Chaos UK's debut LP was notable in the fact that the band's label claimed it was the "fastest, noisiest LP in the cosmos" in the short lived "Punk Lives" magazine. Vocal duties on this recording were also handled by bassist Chaos.
Iron Lung are an American hardcore punk duo based in Seattle, Washington. The band formed in 1999 in Reno and is currently in Seattle after spending some time in Oakland. Live, the band has toured extensively across the U.S., Asia, Australia and Europe. They have released music on several labels including Prank Records, 625 Thrashcore, and their own label, Iron Lung Records. In recent years the band has collaborated with other members of the hardcore punk and powerviolence scene, including Hatred Surge and Dave Bailey, formerly of Running for Cover. In 2009, an album titled Public Humiliation was released; a three-way collaboration between Iron Lung and Kortland and Ward's side projects, Pig Heart Transplant and Walls respectively. The recording is of a one-off live performance from Halloween of 2008. Jon Kortland is also half of the art project Feeding, which has made artwork for several Iron Lung, Walls and PHT releases, as well as album covers for several other bands.
Busted Heads Records was an independent record label operating between 1997 and 2004 in Umeå, Sweden. It released records by both local and worldwide punk and hardcore bands.