Nation of Ulysses were the most influential hardcore band you've probably never heard of. In fact, they're arguably the most influential hardcore band of the past twenty years, influencing the likes of Refused, The Locust, Bikini Kill, At the Drive-In, and even The Hives.
Formed in Washington DC, in 1988, with a strong free-jazz influence, a straight edge lifestyle, some nice suits, and the idea that punks should be clean and well dressed (you have them to thank for the thrift store fashions of the modern post-hardcore scene). They were as much an ideology as a band, publishing zines and pamphlets (some of which are reproduced in the liner notes of their albums) that were distributed at shows, and establishing a distinct aesthetic around themselves. Their live shows were legendarily violent, and their music loud, with Ian Svenonius desperately shouting over a well tempered mess of Steve Kroner and Tim Green's guitars, Steve Gamboa's bass, and James Canty's (brother of Fugazi's Brenan Canty) drums, and occasionally aimlessly blowing on a trumpet just to add to the chaos.
Their first record, The Sound of Young America was an EP released jointly by Dischord and K Records. 13-Point Program to Destroy America followed on Dischord in 1991, and Plays Pretty For Baby in 1992. While the earlier records were as close to traditional hardcore records (but not without plenty of hints as to where they were going) as they got, Plays Pretty For Baby featured the most defined version of the “Ulysses Aesthetic” of all of them. Opening with a live spoken word section over a crowd of hecklers, and never letting up with the chaos until the bizarre free jazz interlude, “Depression III,” (which picks right back up until the also bizarre – and also backed by a crowd of hecklers - spoken word that opens “The Sound of Jazz to Come”), the album single-handedly defined the post-hardcore sound of the 90's.
More recently, Ian Svenonius has been in The Make-Up (with James Canty and Steve Gamboa), and Weird War. Tim Green has been playing guitar in an instrumental prog metal band called The Fucking Champs, and James Canty has been touring as a Pharmacist with east coast punk rock legend, Ted Leo.
-Soup
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