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Check out photos from New York's hardcore heyday

Relive the macho mayhem and sweaty stage dives of NYC's most feral punk moment, with shots from a new book

Written by
Hank Shteamer
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We often speak about New York punk as if it were a unified movement. But in the scene's ’70s and ’80s glory days, each great band forged its own aesthetic path. The Ramones sounded nothing like Television, for example, which in turn sounded nothing like the Misfits. And none of them really had anything to do with New York hardcore—a seething, strident and fiercely insular movement that sprang up in the East Village during the early ’80s. NYHC: New York Hardcore 1980–1990, a new oral history from crucial local imprint Bazillion Points, tells the tale of Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags, Reagan Youth and the myriad other bands that helped put the scene on the map. Check out photos from the book below, and if you're intrigued by what you see, turn up at 20 Cooper Square on February 24 at 6:30pm for a free discussion featuring NYHC author Tony Rettman and scene vets Richie Birkenhead (Underdog, Into Another) and Walter Schreifels (Gorilla Biscuits, Quicksand). Visit the Bazillion Points blog for more info on the event.

Photograph: Courtesy Randy Underwood

Future Agnostic Front singer Roger Miret takes a dive, while early A.F. vocalist John Watson looks ready to pummel.
Photograph: Courtesy Ken Salerno

CBGB on the Bowery
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Photograph: Courtesy Gary Tse Tse Fly

HR of Bad Brains spits truth to the youth.
Photograph: Courtesy Gary Tse Tse Fly

The last days of Reagan Youth with Dave Insurgent
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Photograph: Courtesy Greg Licht

Kevin Crowley of the Abused
Photograph: Courtesy Randy Underwood

Hang session at the entrance of A7, including Harley Flanagan (second from left), NYHC scenester Blue (center) and Rob Kabula (second from right)
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Photograph: Courtesy Randy Underwood

Agnostic Front hitting its stride with third and final singer Roger Miret
Photograph: Courtesy Ken Salerno

CBGB on the Bowery
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Photograph: Courtesy Ken Salerno

Murphy's Law rages at the Ritz.
Photograph: Courtesy Ken Salerno

The Cro-Mags
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Photograph: Courtesy Ken Salerno

The Cro-Mags
Photograph: Courtesy Gary Tse Tse Fly

Youth of Today at CBGB
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Photograph: Courtesy Gary Tse Tse Fly

Warzone, with Raybeez on vocals
Photograph: Courtesy Jamie Davis

Mike Judge bringing it down
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Photograph: Courtesy Ken Salerno

Late-’80s NYHC aggression
Photograph: Courtesy Randy Underwood

The NYHC crew
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Photograph: Courtesy Gary Tse Tse Fly

Freddy Cricien leads Agnostic Front in a pre-Madball moment, August 1988
Photograph: Courtesy Adam Tanner

Sick of It All performing
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