Bent edge
Bent edge or curved edge was an offshoot of hardcore punk that was formed to be a counter-movement to straight edge at the time straight edge was starting to gain traction and support. Bent edge was also part of a rising anti-Dischord sentiment among many people in the punk scene.[1]
It was started by members of Washington, DC hardcore scene who were fed up with the rigidness and intolerance in the nascent straight edge scene.[1] To combat straight edge, they started throwing beer and drug-fuelled punk shows.[2] The point of these shows was to be the complete antithesis of straight edge. Many adherents to this lifestyle became known for their heavy drug and alcohol use.[3]
Quickly, this idea spread throughout the US. As early as 1982, only a year after Straight Edge was released, kids were approaching Minor Threat while they were on tour telling them that they were bent or curved edge.[4] To Ian Mackaye, "the anti-movement started before the movement began. People were rebelling against straight edge before there was even a movement to rebel against".[4]
At the time that bent edge started, there were several people living in the Dischord Records House that were not straight edge.[1] Straight edge and non straight edge people mixed freely, but as time went on, the tolerance in the straight edge scene faded, adding momentum to the bent edge ideals.[1]
Bands
- Grand Mal[1]
- Black Market Baby[1]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Andersen, Mark; Mark Jenkins (2003). Dance of Days: Two Decades of Punk in the Nation's Capital. Akashic Books. p. 125. ISBN 1-888451-44-0.
- ↑ Beebe, Roger (2002). Rock Over the Edge: Transformations in Popular Music Culture. Duke University Press Books. p. 343. ISBN 0-8223-2915-8.
- ↑ Hannon, Sharon M. (2009). Punks: A Guide to an American Subculture. ABC-CLIO, Incorporated. p. 161. ISBN 0-313-36456-7.
- 1 2 Kuhn, Gabriel (2010). Sober Living for the Revolution: Hardcore Punk, Straight Edge, and Radical Politics. PM Press. p. 37. ISBN 1-60486-051-0.