Since its inception in the 1970s, punk rock has always been an explicitly political genre of music. Seminal British punks The Clash wrote songs inspired by radical left-wing ideology — opposition to police repression, support for militant groups like the Sandinistas and the Red Brigades, and a rejection of capitalism, consumerism and Margaret Thatcher. In American in the 1980s, hardcore punk emerged in response to the new conservatism of Ronald Reagan. Bands like Black Flag, Minor Threat, Bad Brains, the Circle Jerks, and others mixed the political messages of traditional punk with a faster, harder, more aggressive musicality. Presaging the political polarization and violence of our modern era, punk shows in the 1980s became battlegrounds between punks and racist skinheads, establishing punk’s reputation as a safe space for minorities, women, and LGBTQ people.
The ethos of the 1980s is still alive and well in the hardcore scene. As transgender people have become the subject of increasing politicization, criminalization, and victimization, today’s punk scene stands as a bulwark against anti-trans sentiment. Like 90s “queercore” bands Team Dresch and Pansy Division, modern bands like Against Me!, Worriers, RVIVR, G.L.O.S.S. and HIRS Collective are making music by and for queer people.
“Typically I ask trans folks or queer folks or whatever to come to the front, but I was like, this place is like trans, queer folks are the majority,” said Jenna, the singer of The HIRS Collective, who played a raucous show at Denver’s Seventh Circle Music Collective last Friday. “We’re just out here trying to live still. Touring and playing music and meeting new people and being surrounded by folks that have your back is the best thing in the world.”
For trans musicians, touring is becoming an increasingly difficult proposition. Last week, Kansas’ legislature overturned their governor’s veto on a sweeping bathroom bill. Arkansas is considering a similar measure, and over a dozen states have passed laws banning gender-affirming care for minors. For punk bands like HIRS, these measures make their work all the more important.
“All the bills and all the stuff there, that makes me want to play those places more,” said Jenna. “We would rather provide — hopefully — a safer space for folks to be in, and feel taken care of and feel safe. If somebody wants to come to one of our shows and be a transphobe or violent towards any trans folks, that’s the worst place for that person to be, because typically, our people take care of each other. I want to go to the places where it sucks being trans because I would like for at least one moment of feeling empowered and feeling able to be queer and shout your lungs out and not hide from anything.”
The HIRS Collective’s Debut album, “Friends. Lovers. Favorites.” features 30 songs — many of them clocking in at under 1:00, in true hardcore style — that address the alienation and pain of existing, and the joy of enduring, as queer person in society today. The album features guest appearances from musicians like Shirley Manson(Garbage), Laura Jane Grace(Against Me!), Erica Freas(RVIVR), Sadie Switchblade(G.L.O.S.S.), and others. Their most recent album, “We’re Still Here,” continues in the same vein.
It’s not just politics and anti-trans sentiment that are making things difficult for touring musicians like HIRS, but the ongoing impact of COVID-19. The entertainment industry was hit hard by the pandemic, and it had a pronounced impact on smaller venues that independent and underground artists rely on when organizing tours.
“When we were in Albuquerque, we learned that an info shop was closed,” said Jenna. “There’s been a lot of places where I’m like, I’m very grateful that they still exist. There are a lot of the places have been like, Yeah, this spot is closed, that spot is closed.”
In addition to politics of radical inclusion, the hardcore punk scene has a strong DIY ethos, with better known national acts playing independent venues, like Seventh Circle, supported by local bands. Opening for HIRS last week were Denver-area bands The Better Selfs, SQERM, Endless Nameless, and Ukko’s Hammer.
Disclosure: Heidi Beedle is the bassist for The Better Selfs.
