A lot of people ask what is Christian hardcore? Hardcore is a type of music that spawned out of punk rock in the 80′s. A lot of folks were fed up with the loose morals of punk rock and were just plain sick and tired of the scene. Sure, there were a lot of great bands that came out of the punk rock era, but nobody would take punk seriously. Well, along comes hardcore in the mid to late 80′s and early 90′s. It was a different scene. More clean cut, more responsible (I say that loosely), more…sober, with the advent of the straightedge movement (no drinking, no smoking, no sex).
Christian hardcore is a logical offshoot of the hardcore movement. What is hardcore all about? Sticking to your belief system and DIY (Do It Yourself) attitude. So hardcore lent itself to Christianity perfectly. After all, how best to deliver a message to thousands of kids that are yearning to hear the word of Christ (even if they don’t know it), but in a nice little package that they can understand. I have heard people say that Jesus will speak to you in a way you can understand to bring you closer to him. That is exactly what he is doing with Christian style hardcore music. I am so glad that Christ can speak to me in a medium that I can relate to and understand. I hope that the word can reach out to more folks. There are a ton of great Christian Hardcore bands promoting the word and I want to give them a big pat on the back.
I am also into Oi! Ska, and Punk. These areas, especially punk are dominated by the non-believer, people whom are lost, confused, or just plain pissed off (usually at their parents and are just rebelling, parents take comfort, most kids outgrow their “phony punk stage” and become well rounded adults like everyone else). I have had a harder time finding bands that are Christian in these genres. I have found an awesome Oi! band that has a great message, Flatfoot 56.
I really enjoy Flatfoot 56. I was a huge fan of the Dropkick Murphy’s and Flogging Mollys and am glad that there are Christian bands in this space. I would also lump The Deal and Hanover Saints into this bucket as well. Just an example of how God can use people to spread his word is the upcoming East Coast Oi! Fest in Pennsylvania this year. With all the bands that are playing, I am convinced that most are not Christian, but if you look, good old Flatfoot 56 is stuck right in the middle of the lineup. This has proved to me that God/Christ communicates with people in a way they understand. If Flatfoot 56 can help reach one person at that show with God’s help. that is awesome.
If you want to chat online about other bands that I may be missing, feel free to hit the forums on this site, they are up and running and I am looking for folks to have good discussions about Christian hardcore, Christian Oi!, Christian Ska, and Christian Punk. Click in the image below to get to the forum.
