Still Having Their Say (Lp+Book,Hardcore,Punk) (Vinyl)

OVERVIEW: xXx Fanzine (1983-1988), Hardcore & Punk in the Eighties isn’t merely a collection of articles, reviews and photographs from one of Hardcore America’s best-known fanzines. It’s a chronicle of punk’s evolution in the 80’s: a story of music and ideologies in motion. xXx’s story picks up while the first wave of hardcore was in full swing. Major players including Minor Threat had already released landmark records and bands were loading up station wagons to play now infamous venues like The Channel, A7 or D.C. Space.While based in Boston, xXx’s main writer and editor, Mike Gitter, not only concentrated on his own city’s burgeoning scene, spearheaded by bands like SS Decontrol and D.Y.S., but looked to other states and countries for xXx’s reportage. This 288 page book documents a time when hardcore and punk were not mutually exclusive and bands and cities had a chance to developtheir own diverse and strident sounds. This creative ethos and aural zeitgeist is literally spelt out on the 19-song compilation that’s included with xXx Fanzine, a limited-edition 12” (available exclusively through mail-order or special sales outlets). A wide variety of current hardcore, punk and hard music luminaries including Strife, letlive, Fu Manchu and The Riverboat Gamblers contributed their interpretations to some of the most influential songs to come from xXx’s original era. Now, in addition to reproducing (and restoring) countless interviews and pages from the ‘zine itself, xXx Fanzine re-interviews countless bands and musical prime-movers including Ian MacKaye, Keith Morris and members of Agnostic Front, Bad Brains and Cro-Mags to give the book a rare “Then-And-Now” perspective.