Harley Flanagan thinks you’re a moron. That’s all well and good, but he thinks you’re an idiot for caring about the music that he worked up between his teenage years and about his mid twenties or so. Again, that’s fine. And while the perspective on his fans might be skewed, it’s for good reason seeing as not too long after the dissolution of his earliest ensemble, the Stimulators.
Flanagan is obviously an important part of punk history at this late date. And even if he figures the mid ‘80s work he did to be a joke there are those that disagree. Some, though, hold roughly the same beliefs as him.
And speaking of beliefs, by the time that Cro-Mags’ 1986 Age of Quarrel rolled out, the hardcore scene had, for the most part, devolved into a handful of nonsensical, overly politicized enclaves that for some reason weren’t able to get along despite desiring the same things. Tough guy stances are today part and parcel with the genre – just like too many tattoos, skanky girlfriends and unerring love of the Japanese scene. There’s a reason for all of it. And along with Henry Rollins, folks should probably blame Flanagan for a bit of that.
Coming under the sway of the Hare Krishna belief system, Flanagan and scores from the New Yawk scene begin inserting religious undertones (sometimes actually, it was just overt) into its lyrics. Admittedly, that’s better than hearing another song about school sucking, but not by much.
Whatever the case, Cro-Mags served up some break neck pacing on its debut long player that along side all of that earth saving, living right stuff remains a pillar of the genre. By 1986, though, in part because of that tough guy thing, hardcore had absorbed more than just a few metallic musical ideas. And really during songs like “Street Justice” it gets difficult to differentiate between what’s going on here and what Metallica was doing a few years earlier. Beyond the fact that the song’s lyrics detail squaring things, the guitar’s tone has very little to do with punk. Yeah, it’s a feat for a band to hold down the tempo for a prolonged period of time, but really, at this point, you might as well reach for some Biohazard or whatever other crossover act was kicking around at the time.
Despite the bellyaching, Age of Quarrel isn’t totally void of enticing music even if “Seekers Of The Truth” might be one of the more offensive tracks recorded during the ‘80s – and that includes the entirety of Culture Club’s catalog. “By Myslef,” even if it doesn’t sound as if the formula’s changed arrives sounding a bit punkier than other tracks offered up here – please disregard that obnoxious guitar solo. It’s pretty slim pickings, though. And with this disc being the first of the group’s releases, it’s pretty much all down hill from here.
The disc’s purpose could be debated – art as politics or something. But with hardcore’s extensive back catalog, ignoring the tough guy New Yawkers shouldn’t really be too much of a trial.