Oh, god, yes. It would be absolutely absurd if there were genuine animosity there. It's just a lifestyle and ethics difference (and not even a very big one re: the latter) in terms of personal conduct. That's the thing: It was all '80s underground music, and there was a lot of room for everybody. It's not like Albini and Pezzati were into Reagan or some horribleness! Quite the opposite. More common ground than not.penningtron wrote:A friend and I were talking about this recently, both fans of Dischord bands to varying degrees, and acknowledged that some of that stuff was the product of privilege with parents who were bureaucrats, professors, journalists, etc. I mean at the end of the day it’s music and that doesn’t matter much (besides: our mutual favorite is Baltimore’s Lungfish anyway), but.. it does come out sometimes.OrthodoxEaster wrote: Sun Feb 15, 2026 6:06 pm I should also add that I remember an interview w/Ian MacKaye saying that he felt no connection to this type of music b/c bands like Big Black and Naked Raygun (singled out by name) were the kind of guys who "smoked cigars and ate ribs" (ie it wasn't advocacy music and its creators had no interest in that, at least not at the time).
ps: all those bands are friendly, btw. It’s not like rap turf war or some shit.
The Teen Idles and very early Minor Threat had beefs and seemed keen to get into physical fights (DC vs. NYC "crews"), but they were children and felt the need to protect their thing. And uh, this was much earlier. Hardcore scene. And hardcore was kiddie music. They grew out of that pretty fucking quickly and matured as you would have expected. It would have been laughable if the fights carried over into these bands' adulthood. Hence, MayKaye, in about five or six years, going from beating on rival hardcore bands to policing violence at Fugazi gigs from the stage. People grow up. (Although I'm personally not fond of either approach.)
Honestly, having some personal history w/metro DC, the Dischord bands, though greatly admired, also had a reputation for being rich kids. They had some attitude about their lofty position, plus some could be self-righteous, w/a slight herd mentality. (Glaring and wonderful exception: Void. Who were very much Beltway outsiders.) Which is why locally, more working-class and/or queer/art-school kids like 9353, Nuclear Crayons, No Trend, and Neil Hagerty were so skeptical of Dischord and chose to play music that was decidedly at odds w/all that. Personally, I preferred the free-thinking freaks. But it's not like everything on Dischord sucked and sounded the same either. It's not like anyone actually hated anyone either. That would have been too silly. And this was decades ago! Barely relevant nowadays.
PS: Lungfish (once they matured after the first record) and Void are probably my favorite Dischord bands.
Man, I get that there's a (very slight) language barrier w/you, but I'm starting to think you're just not capable of paying attention. You seem kind of thick-headed and like you maybe didn't do too well in Art Appreciation 101.Lu Zwei wrote: All the exchanges I had with you on this platform about anything significant is like reading a Ben Shapiro pod transcript.
Imma bow out from now on. My bad.
The whole Albini-apologizes-for-his-edgelord (hate this childish internet term, btw)-past is precisely because of songs like "Steelworker." Not in spite of them!
"Steelworker" is a metaphor, dude. The guy in the song is not literally a steelworker. Or a bricklayer. It's not about labor. In fact, the protagonist seems like kind of a jerk, and that's maybe the point. (See also: "Grinder.")
Songs like this, "Seth" and "Ugly American" and "Pete, King of All Detectives" are not inherently political. They actually disturbed a lot of leftist types at the time precisely b/c they did not condemn their ugly, awful, sometimes vaguely right-wing subjects. But there was no "political" opinion one way or the other. Nobody was glorifying anything or condemning anything very explicitly. They were simply reports from the underbelly. Sometimes accompanied by a cruel laugh and a childish attempt to shock.
It's a pity that many of the forum members who were around for that time and place jumped ship long ago and won't clarify this for you better than I can, Lu. I've given you far too much grace as it is. But believe whatever you like if it helps you feel more secure in your politics, dude.