1979-1986: Necros

On the surface, Necros are a generic band. All their songs are made from a template used countless times before by predecessors and contemporaries. They have the slow song, the noisy chaotic song, the mid-tempo rocker with floor tom action, and track after track of double beat “too-pah” thrash to inspire mosh pits the world over. These miscreants from Maumee, Ohio were quintessential 80s hardcore.

Yes, many others were breaking things up and doing something different during the Reagan/Thatcher era, but Necros had that IT factor that makes a great punk band. Their music is unadorned and monolithic without being monotonous, they had the passion and the “don’t give a fuck” attitude of getting hurt and getting their instruments out of tune to make it feel like a beatdown on your nervous system; in other words, all you needed in life. They got blood flowing without being original, like folk music (to indulge a tired simile), using the same forms and rules but finding a way to sound all their own.

The other factor that makes Necros good is that, consciously or not, they used the low quality of recording technology available for them at the time to work in their favor. Like the EP version of “Police Brutality,” the guitar sounds massive, like nothing else before or since, which makes us lucky that they weren’t millionaires with a major record label paying a large recording studio.

They might have been following footsteps, but, like all the great hardcore bands, the Necros managed to sound like no one while trying what everybody else was doing.

DeLorean

There’s a lot of good music out there, and it’s not all being released this year. With DeLorean, we aim to rediscover overlooked artists and genres, to listen to music historically and contextually, to underscore the fluidity of music. While we will cover reissues here, our focus will be on music that’s not being pushed by a PR firm.

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