Essays

The Best of Anti-Matter

The archives are free and open until 2025. Preorders for the final merch drop are winding down shortly. It's the holiday season, so let's put a bow on…

Dec 20, 2024 •

To End a Letter

On the eve of our indefinite hiatus, I offer you gratitude—and a gift. Let it be known that we did something special here.

Dec 10, 2024 •

Keeping Up Disappearances

Notoriety comes at different levels, from the kid with the fanzine to the guy on TV. But how does growing up as a hardcore kid prepare you—or leave you…

Dec 3, 2024 •

You're the Reason I Don't Want the World to End

It's never easy to know when, but sadly, all things must pass.

Nov 19, 2024 •

Debates over "hardcore ethics" typically turn our focus to major labels or ticket prices. Meanwhile, the ethics of doing an interview—on either side of…

Nov 12, 2024 •

What Price Happiness?

For some, social media provided a platform for hardcore kids to treat each other like soulless ones and zeroes. The joy in hardcore shouldn't be this…

Nov 5, 2024 •

“Hardcore saved my life." We’ve all said it at one point or another. But when our personal struggles are too much to bear, we need to know: Asking for…

Oct 15, 2024 •

Recreate The World

Revolution Summer is best known as the moment Washington D.C. centered political activism and personal expression in hardcore. But it was also an era…

Oct 8, 2024 •

So Much Staying Alive

There was a time when accusations of "selling out" could end even the most promising careers, but these days, the term has lost all its sting. That's…

Oct 1, 2024 •

Heroes and Villains

If the intersection between comic books and punk rock runs deep, it's because we know: Fitting in is fine, but being a misfit is a superpower.

Sep 17, 2024 •

Feeling Older Faster

If it feels like there are more records being made about mortality and aging these days, that's no accident. Getting older means getting real about…

Sep 10, 2024 •

In spite of hardcore's enduring quest to erase the line between audience and artist, parasocial interactions are inevitable—especially in the internet…

Sep 3, 2024 •

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