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The Breakdown ‘87 demo, and subsequent pressing on 7″ vinyl, is one of the more polarizing releases of its time. It’s also in my estimation, one of the more important releases to ever come out of the NYHC scene. I mean historically it has an important place, and also creatively speaking I think it’s an important moment. Assholes will disagree. Idiots might not believe me. That’s fine I guess, Breakdown isn’t really for everyone, but it is for me. At the time this one came out people argued. It was reactionary, violent, tossed around a popular homophobic epithet in one song (although that track is actually not on the 7″ pressing of this), and not Straight Edge in the least.

Sick People busts out at the top of the tape and vinyl versions of this, and for better or worse it’s a turning point. It essentially questions the standard hardcore formula of playing a song fast, as it starts and remains throughout, heavy, chunky, and utterly mid-paced. Additional to that, it’s sonically one of the first instances of a hardcore band that doesn’t have an immediate connection to “punk”. The lyrics threaten violence on anyone that gets in the way, the riffs have a metallic crunch that nonetheless, doesn’t have much resemblance to any metal band of the day, the drumming sounds kind of like a gorilla fighting a drumset. It’s positively inept, but SO powerful. I often feel that the most interesting, and important bands are the ones that refit a pre-existing genre/sound to their own selves, and in the process create something genuinely new. Breakdown did this right out of the box. In 1987 this was the new sound of New York Hardcore.

Plenty of other bands had already tried to combine hardcore with metal, but generally they were just hardcore bands trying to switch to heavy metal that ended up meeting a sound somewhere in the middle. Again generally speaking, this usually came about as the technical skills of the musicians increased and they began to find hardcore “limiting”. In the case of Breakdown though, the metallic aspect of their sound was simply harnessing the bludgeoning ability of 80’s metal and crossover bands, while still maintaining the shouted hardcore vocals (and ‘true life’ lyrics), the simple song structures, and the raw musicianship of NYHC bands past. The sound is thuggish and mean the same way that early UK82 punk could be (threatening working class kids), but obviously with no similarity in the sound.

The second song Kickback, starts with a heavy sludge riff that kind of sounds like Sabbath gone street, but eventually gives way to an actual fast hardcore part. Even the hardcore part has more lurch it than normal though, more of a back beat; and when the caveman style buildup on the toms brings back the mosh part, it summons the most base instincts in the listener. It commands a show of male supremacy. Breakdown is a testosterone band. I cannot view them any other way. They sound like animals (lions and cheetahs) fighting somewhere.

Breakdown’s demo ‘87  is a pure statement of primitive anger. It’s hard headed and dirty and mean. In this era though, where high and low culture have essentially merged into one giant puddle of muck, I say this deserves to be as praised and recognized as early Motorhead or Stooges recordings in the greater rock lexicon. Swear to all the angels and saints I mean that without any irony, this shit was, is, and always shall be great.

“Both Demos”.

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