Sunday, January 1, 2012

Old School Classics: One Life Crew - "Crime Ridden Society"

OK, so last year ended with a post about the up & coming positive straight edge hardcore band, Focused X Minds. This year will kick off at the totally opposite side, with One Life Crew's truly mean stra-hate edge (negative straight edge) hardcore. This is some shit taken from back in the day (1996 to be exact).

OLC has gotten a definite negative rep throughout the years, mainly for being tough guys and/or for being racist. I will not discuss this matter here, as this band has broken up and I don't know what's up with them or their personal agendas. What I do know is that they did have some pretty provocative lyrics for sure, but they had also repeatedly stated that they were not a racist band. We could say that One Life Crew was not a politically correct (PC) band and just leave it at that. No matter the case, OLC mananged to stay at the forefront of HC kids' agenda more than 10 years after they broke up, and is still a band that is widely talked about.

We gotta face the fact that the people in some of the better bands in hardcore have always been unusual individuals with a lack for better judgement. In many cases, awesome hardcore has come these kind of people, who are not your everyday PC dudes. We can be sorry for who these people are, but it doesn't undermine the importance of the music they put out. Extreme minds make extreme music and that's the whole case sometimes. At the end of the day, antisocial, provocative, negative behavior and extreme viewpoints are and have always been part of hardcore music. For better of for worse, it's what makes it hardcore. And if you don't like it, maybe you shouldn't be listening to this type of music in the first place.
The video below contains OLC's whole Crime Ridden Society recording (released in 1996), which is a piece of hardcore history you wouldn't want to miss. It is stompy, angry, heavy old school hardcore that countless bands have tried to imitate since (more often than not without the same intensity factor). Crime Ridden Society hits hard and explains a lot about the route hardcore took in the years to come, up to this day.

3 comments:

  1. well, hardcore is more than music, isn't it? so let's get the facts straight (at least some): olc released the anti-immigrant song "pure disgust". on their second album they had even more provoking lyrics. furthermore they did a split with rac-band empire falls on prophecy records.

    they might state that they are not racist but (remember doa?) talk-action=0.

    it makes me sad that even in 2012 this band/album is promoted with lame excuses about "extreme viewpoints", anti-pc-bullshit-bingo and freedom-of-speech-attitude. if hardcore is more than music than this album is definitely not a "classic".

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  2. Hardcore is more than music...and it's for open-mind people...and this is a "classic"...

    Well done Fotis,for have the "balls" to represent us this band and this record,that every kid must know...everyone can listen the music and read the lyrics and...have his own opinion for this band and for every band...

    Fuck racism,Fuck homophobia

    OLD SCHOOL STYLE!

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  3. Don't come over here
    we don't need or want you
    a country for Americans
    vultures won't rule
    in your rat land
    you belong and rot
    D.P. worthless scums
    should all die enraged
    Dirty fucking leaches
    you must GET OUT
    don't use this country
    for free HAND OUTS

    Bringing your infections
    don't infect our people
    we pay out of our pockets
    not for your fucking free rides
    --------------------------------------

    these are the lyrics of "Pure Disgust". Anonymous 12:09 i did what you said. I read the lyrics and have my own opinion. They can fuck off. Problem solved.

    ReplyDelete