A Beginner's Guide to post-hardcore

The point of this column is to give you enough guidance so that you can go out into the big bad world of post-hardcore and not end up naked, lying in filth and eating your own rancid faeces. That was meant to be symbolic for listening to poor music by the way. To set you up with a solid foundation, the first few episodes in this saga consist of the older but integral champions of this genre and to add another sturdy block to this foundation, this week I give you Glassjaw.

The majority of you will probably know the lead singer Daryl Palumbo from pop group Head Automatica but I assure you, Glassjaw could not be more different. Being from New York themselves, their style is heavily influenced by the early NY hardcore scene although Palumbo’s signature vocal sound adds a great deal of likeability to this niche style. Their debut album Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Silence is held by their “most loyal” fans to be their best but those not perched comfortably on a hipster-high-horse recognise their second and most recent full-length release Worship And Tribute to be a work of mastery.

Along with these two full-length albums, Glassjaw have also released four incredible EPs and various demos. All of these releases have their share of savage and softer tracks but the pure essence of post-hardcore is wired into every second. EYEWTKAS is mainly composed of heavy tracks but after this release the band started showing a less aggressive side, with Palumbo starting to sing more than just blare pig noises. Their music is hard to describe but I think the best way would be to say it has palpable hardcore roots with a chilling edge… sometimes. The experience can be likened to someone punching you in the teeth and then whispering in your ear to take your little pants off… or something less rapey. (Why does rape always come up in this column?)

Anyway what I’m trying to say is that the music is very good and has given the band it’s rightful place in post-hardcore history. Glassjaw have a new release in the works so keep your eye out for that and make sure you check out the Recommendations. Yeah, that’s right there’s two this week, suck on that bitches!

Writer’s Recommendation

1. For the fans of heavier stuff check out the song ‘You Think You’re (John Fucking Lennon)’.
2. For something a bit more reasonable, check out the song ‘All Good Junkies Go To Heaven’ (check out the amazing rehearsal version on YouTube).