NEW WAVE OF MOKUM HARDCORE/PUNK

I moved to A’dam a bit less than 4 years ago and first thing I did, since this is my eternal passion, was to dive deep into the city’s DIY hardcore/punk scene. I knew that,  historically, North Holland, and especially Amsterdam, was never famous for its hardcore/punk scene, even though there was a time in the late 90s and early 00s that bands like Antidote, Vitamin X, Bettercore and (a bit later) Gewapend Beton and Landverraad (mid 10s) were considered among the top of Europe’s hardcore/punk bands. Amsterdam had (or still has?) Commitment Records, too, a label that carried the straight edge flag for over 20 years. And of course, there is always The Ex, and if you don’t know The Ex, go do your research.

A’dam had the punks, the squatters, OCCII, the Winston Kingdom scene, bands like Fury playing the Vrankrijk, and even a vegan straight edge instrumental band, And So We Escaped (got their CD at Fluff Fest in 2009 or so). But it seems that the scene was never that big. So, my expectations when moving here weren’t high but also not low at all, but to be crystal clear honest, I got a bit disappointed with what I found. How such a vibrant city, with that unique squat & autonomous centers history, be so behind when it comes to a hardcore/punk scene? In every corner there’s an ex-squat, or a social center, but where are all the hardcore/punk shows? But most importantly (something I noticed a bit later when I started booking shows), where have all the bands gone?!

Fast forward 4 years and I can definitely say that there’s a fresh air in the city’s hardcore/punk (and everything adjacent) scene. Cool shows happening 2-3 times a month, mixed bills, a diverse crowd of young and old scenesters and most importantly new bands & initiatives, like the following:

GARDEN WALK

Sick new international band based in Amsterdam. Their debut album ‘Does It Feel Like Home?’ is insanely good and if you like emo, post-hardcore or shoegaze, don’t sleep on this. This is FRESH. They are gonna do a release show sooner or later, so keep an eye on their socials. https://www.instagram.com/gardenwalk.band/ 

Garden Walk

FED UP

A band that was missing from Amsterdam. Members of bands like Get Sad and 32 Elephants teamed up to create this modern heavy hardcore combo! Heard they even cover Floorpunch! Their first demo is streaming now and they play shows around, so you’ll definitely catch them live soon. https://www.instagram.com/fdup_hc/ 

Fed Up

SOOTHING CREW

New band, first show in May, music out soon. For fans of Nails, Modern Life Is War, Gulch and Tragedy. www.soothingcrew.nl

HARD TEGEN HARD ZINE

One of the few (if not the only) Dutch hardcore fanzines out there. Jordi (also sings for Soothing Crew) is doing an amazing job. Issue 4 is out now. He is also doing the Hardcore College sessions, which are both educational and fun! https://www.instagram.com/hardtegenhardzine 

Hard Tegem Hard

12FU BOOKING

New D.I.Y. booking team focusing on weird punk and booking shows at OCCII! https://www.instagram.com/12fu_booking 

12FU Show

TWEEDE OOG

Another new D.I.Y. hardcore/punk booking team. They already organized events for Violencia and Flores Y Fuego from Mexico, and Hard Nips from USA. 

https://www.instagram.com/tweede.oog 

Tweede Oog show

Soooo, get off the couch, go form a band, do a label, a zine, organize shows, support the scene and let’s get Mokum hardcore (back) on the map! 

P.S.1 Check out the new Vitamin X record, ‘Ride the Apocalypse’, it’s sick.

P.S.2 Vondelbunker is seeking for people to volunteer or organize events. https://www.instagram.com/vondelbunker/ 

P.S.3 Check regularly https://calendar.askapunk.nl for shows in Amsterdam and all over The Netherlands.

P.S.4 The housing situation STILL SUCKS.