In the halcyon days of 1996, Boston hardcore was a dirty term. If self-applied, it relegated you to the dusty confines of corny nostalgia and adolescent identity crisis. But there were believers. An unsung group of olderish, foolish romantics who still identified with passionate three- chord bludgeon. They made their debuts in dusty basements and practice spaces. They self- released demos on cassettes. It was a wonderful example of pre-internet underground- acutely in tune with the ethos of hardcore days gone by. Bane emerged at this time.

For quite a while, any so-called hardcore band from Boston wore the red badge of reactionary politics forged by such stalwarts as Slapshot, and of course, before them, SSD, The FUs and DYS. Overlooked were the roads traveled by Eye for and Eye, Dive, Kingpin and Backbone- bands that didn