It’s always awkward when pop starlets have their “I R SRS ARTIST NAO” phase and put out an album of horrible, boring songs that flops really bad and is most notable for the SNL sketches mocking it (eg Christina Augilera “Dirty”). As hard as it is to watch them try to be taken seriously, I guess it’s to be expected when you are a hot, rich famous girl who is barely old enough to drink and have already conquered the world. What makes a lot less sense to me is when hardcore bands do the same thing, a phenomenon that I like to call SRSCORE.
Perhaps the poster children for srscore are The Ghost Inside/Hundredth. I’ll just lump them into one band because lettuce be cereal, they might as well. Black and white period-piece videos, black t-shirts, and lyrics about “we gave it our all”? SO SRS.
Essentially, srscore is what happens when scenebros turn 24, grow out of crabcore/easycore, and want to be tr00 hxc, only they don’t actually know anything about hardcore. Ever do a double take because you see some kid who had scene hair and a neon Blessthefall last time you saw him, only now he has short hair and a Terror hoodie and you’re like “Wat? Since when did THAT dude like actual hardcore?!” That’s srscore!
Counterparts straddle the fine line between sweet hardcore and srscore. Like the beginning of the song is pure mosh, but then after about :55 it gets all melodic and he starts crying about “I will be remembered!!”
The other important detail is that srscore bands still get sweated by Tumblrsluts/Is Anyone Up hos, because they aren’t quite ready to leave their scene phase behind them. Srscore is all about having your hxc cake and eating it too: people will think you are deep and inspirational like a true hxc band, only you don’t have to be an actual hardcore kid, because that usually entails being a loser/scumbag/fuckup with a drug habit and/or criminal record.
For The Fallen Dreams used to be a generic but pretty sweet ADTR ripoff, but now they are srscore. No idea what this song/video are about other than the bro walking around and looking like he “has a lot on his mind.” Also dat OTW = wood smash.
We have already covered that Liferuiner are a srscore band now and what a bummer that is, so I won’t go into more detail here, but it’s hard to think of a band who did such a sudden and abrupt 180 like this. Feelsbadman…
Stick To Your Guns aren’t exactly 100% srscore, but compared to their old shit which was way more scene/Atreyu you can definitely see how they’ve moved in that direction (U MIRIN MY BITTER END SHIRT?? AM I DOING IT RITE????)
How to be SRSCORE:
- Wear all black/grey. All band shirts must white prints on a black tee and plaids should be black, white and grey.
- Throw away your Dunks and Air Max 90s; get some Toms
- Stick to oldfag guitars like Les Pauls and Telecasters– NO SCHECTERS.
- Disregard career, acquire lots of corny Sailor Jerry tattoos on your hands/neck– this will make you ‘look like you’ve been through a lot’
- Write vague lyrics that don’t really make any sense, but sound like they are about making tough decisions
- Keep banging hot scene girls, because srscore is the Next Big Thing for tumblrsluts
Please not that I actually like a lot of srscore, because even though it has a lot of fggty qualities in common with tr00 pop-punk and ikeacore, a lot of these bands actually bring some mosh and are most likely cool guys.
What do you think about SRSCORE?? Is this the natural reaction to BMTH and Attack Attack, or just a bunch of buttholes who wish their lives were harder than they really are? Does it make you think less of me that I mostly like srscore??
I remember going to the show several years back and some local hardcore band was playing and before every song the vocalist gave a two minute explanation about the song’s meaning and it was always something about how corrupt our society is and how we should impeach Bush and you could tell how serious he took shouting into a microphone over breakdowns.
IS THAT SRSCORE?!?
Uplifting melodies over breakdowns = YOU’RE MOSHING!!
I’m getting back into this shit after a brief departure into some ikeacore/tr00 pop punk (still jocking Title Fight/Balance and Composue though, no fux). I kind of like the new Liferuiner; still prefer TGI’s Faith & Forgiveness.
“Uplifting melodies over breakdowns = YOU’RE MOSHING!!”
or passionately singing along with all your bros while some tumblrslut takes a picture that I will draw MS Paint cocks on
BRB, going to memorize the lyrics to the entire TGI discography so I can look passionate in front of these girlz at the show.
BRB, making gay MS Paint pics to win Sarge’s approval.
great photo, I still send that one around to all my srs hxc friends. They get hurt in and around the butt.
I think the worst part is that for all the seriousness, they’re not saying anything meaningful at all. Whats the point? I mean even for stuff like slayer or cannibal corpse, as stupid as the lyrics can get, its either metaphors for fucked up stuff that you can mull over when you’re high or just silly stories. It’s like srscore bands are wasting all those tasty jams that could be used to trick kids into worshiping satan or learning about WWII.
Defeater is all about educating the youth about the gritty reality of life in New Jersey circa 1945 (no really, they are)
“Wear all black/grey. All band shirts must white prints on a black tee and plaids should be black, white and grey.”
I’m unintentionally dressing like this. Srs, am I srscore? Or do I have to be in an actual band?
…i wouldn’t mind though TGI is one of my favorite bands.
Please Respond
Is it bad that I’m nerding out over the Doctor Who picture you used for this article? For those who don’t know, the phrase “Sad is happy for deep people” was a line from the Doctor Who episode “Blink”.
I <3 Sally Sparrow
Another reason why I never really look into or try to comprehend lyrics, just makes most bands worse.
This. Lyrical content is irrelevant. Is it heavy? Do they bring the mosh? End of discussion.
I’LL SEE YOU WHEN THE SUN SETS
*moshing*
I think SRSCORE is more like LULZCORE, and should not be taken srs, but goddamn I love some of it! TGI = backed hard as fuck.
this is exactly how i feel. the earnestness and forced sincerity are embarrassing, but no care– i love TGI
Love SRScore but the fanbase is pretty self righteous tho. I can’t wait for their butthurt reactions when they find out that TGI are touring with Attack Attack! and STYG touring with I see Stars. I personally was about to Jizz in my pants when those tours were announced but my boner was soon killed when they weren’t coming to the bay area :/ instead were getting Touche Amore…LAME!!!! It’s also really funny when srs-core fans get mad at me for liking crab-core. They’re always like “WTF ZOMG P00SER U CAN”T LIKE ATTACK ATTACK! AND COUNTERPARTS GTFO NOW!!!”
yeah, I think its funny. I see a lot of scene kids throwing away their Blessthefall shirts and jocking The Ghost Inside because they think that will make them look intimidating or something.
whatevs, The Ghost Inside is one of my favorite bands, and even though Attack Attack! isn’t really my thing, I’ll still go to that tour
Man seriously, no scenecore shows ever come to the fucking bay area :<
^TRUTH
Jumping Ship is a pretty sweet choon though. The poppy riffing and drumming at the end to the song with the srscore shoutout lyrics is cool.
yeah dude, that song = i’m moshing, i just try to block out the fggty part in the middle. like i said, i like pretty much all this stuff despite the meaningfulness of it all.
So is this thematically equivalent to Ikeacore but musically equivalent to tr00 hardcore?
How do you feel about Close Your Eyes? Even though Victory tried to sell them as an ADTR rip-off, I always felt like they were more Srscore then anything else.
la dispute> urrrveything srs
BEST USERNAME EVER (surpassing my previous favorite, inb4thefallendreams)
RIP Liferuiner :(
I think the faggy earnest melodic parts in Jumping Ships are way more interesting than the beginning part. It doesn’t go hard enough for me to really care about it.
So what’s your take on Misery Signals? Are they proto-srscore? Because all of these bands sound like the want to be Misery Signals.
Couterparts sounds more like they’re trying to be Shai Hulud in 2001
Huh, I never listened to Shai Hulud. Will mediafire.
For The Fallen Dreams are a straight up I Killed the Prom Queen ripoff band. Pretty much exactly, right down to the anorexic singer with the regretcore neck tats.
Crafter used to do vox for IKTPQ… for like 4-5 years or something. He is not anorexic.
what does crafter have to do with anything? unless you’re mistaking him for dylan richter. FUN FACT: it took 6 months to record the vocals to relentless because richter was such a noob. chad ruhlig was smart to get out when he did. same goes for Andrew Tkaczyk.
I’m pretty sure he means Ed Butcher era I Killed The Prom queen.
on a side not, remember when IKTPQ couldn’t make their minds up about wether they wanted to be tough guy mosh or emo?
totally didn’t realize he was comparing. my bad.
all the bands you posted are like some of my favorite bands ever, so i guess im into srscore..
no shame ever, melodic mosh is the best thing to happen to this world since the internet
also, I think new Liferuiner = best Liferuiner. COME AT ME BRO
Sad for Liferuiner too. Taking Back the Nightlifebis an awesome for the lulz record. They were better when they were yelling SUCK MY DICK and not even srs.
I can’t wait for BMTH to turn srscore. Oli Sykes acoustic album. It will happen one day bro. Prepare your body.
my anus is ready
hey, i think you guys should do an article on how whack it is when people get neck sleeves and hand tattoos, but dont have many other tattoos. i found this to be quite prevalent after trolling isanyoneup.com (wow whata a bunch of dumb motherfuckers). JMO but your hands and neck should be the last things you get tatted, the finishing touches to a full body suit.
I have non-ironically listened to The Carrier, so I won’t pass judgement on any of this stuff.
I’ll just say that when more than 2 bands sound the same I pick 1 or 2 to like and tell everyone the rest suck dick.
SRSCORE. It’s like Linkin Park lyrics. For The Fallen Dreams sort of clicked to my inner 15-year-old. Same shit
no comment on srscore. i do however like to express my love for the term “lettuce be cereal”, which i first learned on this here fine site. the more recently “please respond” and countless others are great too but “lettuce..” has proven to become a classic already. so ignorant towards proper grammar, never not funny, love it.
I stole it from the bodybuilding.com Misc forum but glad you like it!
You’ve barley scratched the surface of awesome SYWH grammar memes.
Oh boy, Counterparts vocalist explains the meaning behind a song!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2TO5PM5D10
DAT CONDESCENDING NATURE AND PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE TONE!
Basically he’s proud he’s never been to a club or done coke.
Counterparts are incredible – basically like an awesome Shai Hulud / Misery Signals. A bit earnest sure, but THOSE RIFFS
the fans though… my god the fans… they almost made me hate the band
I think it’s funny when supposed adults make huge changes in their tastes. My nephew this year has gone from emo to scene to dressing like a basketball jock and listening to Mastodon. But he is 13 and that is to be expected. If I had started a band when I was 18 I would have been srscore. If I started one now, it would entombed partycore.
“entombed partycore”
I love Entombed and can dig some partycore. Entombed partycore is a thing? Examples? Please respond.
I have no idea I made it up right now. Well not right now, but when I posted it earlier.
Oh… My dissapointment is understandable :(
yet somehow, I knew exactly what you were referring to!
Dear internet,
Please do not steal this idea. i am going upstairs to work on riffage. My Entombed PartyCore band will see you in 2012.
To Ride Shoot Straight and Speak The Truth is a fucking drunken hoe-down.
I don’t get it this post wasn’t about serious core it was about my like top 10 favorite bands evar! I’m confused. :S
TGI and counterparts are fucking sweet! i totally owned that boys night out shirt the singer’s wearing too about 8 years ago.
once again, a post that involves sarge ripping some bands to shreds has an inverse effect and introduces me to a new band to like. thanks d!
My pleasure! And like i said, i like all these bands too
I rarely (ever?) dig the lyrics to music: Mostly they’re inane statements of something trivial or ridiculously thought out deep srscore shit. In neither case, the mosh loses, so I mostly block it out, and only bring my moshpants, not my thick-rimmed glasses, to shows. (obviously there are exceptions, but I’ve rarely been ‘enlightened’ by any lyrics).
Everything in this post is going straight into the ‘upbeat work’ playlist, btw.
i like some srscore bands, but i hide it like i hide all my feelings
STYG’s first album was the best by far. It had almost no groce singing and was pretty moshable.
Everything after that I kinda stay away from
TGI is pretty sick for srscore.. They use bass drops, need I say more?
It’s good to see that they’re getting more popular too.
*puts on hipster glasses* I saw TGI back when they were A Dying Dream and they played a show in soccer gear with eye black on. Backed hard since then.
I dig TGI and totally worship Counterparts, no shame. Awesome jams, cool dudes, sick live show, what’s not to love? I will say that their first album had more heaviness and breakdowns then their new album (where the above video came from) and I’d recommend it to anyone
I LOVE TGI and Counterparts, STYG is definitely up there too. FTFD have been dead to me since Back Burner came out…I still don’t know if I like Liferuiner anymore or not and it saddens me =( old Liferuiner = ignorant awesomeness, new Liferuiner = better music, imo. I can’t pick!
I’m pretty sure FFTD have always been srscore! But the first album was the FINEST srscore around, now they are kinda alright srscore.
And of course the FTFD video was in a grassy field.
They couldnt find an abandoned fortress like As Heavens Collide
no misery signals on this list?
They aren’t that srs anymore, since they found those pictures of Jordo they were looking for.
No Schecters? Do not want.
What about Doomriders, a bunch of yuppie beardo vegan straightedge artschool guys pretending to be rockers? Anyone else find this totally unconvincing?
The fall into the category of “bands playing metal/heavy rock that the real underground metal bands want nothing to do with so they have to play with non-metal bands. See Valient Thorr.
doomriders are a “super group” featuring members of Converge, Cast Iron Hike and there were wires. I don’t think they have an art school background, besides nate from converge knowing Jacob Bannon who makes art school art. They tour with hardcore bands because they are friends with hardcore bands. They also toured with Danzig.
“featuring members of Converge, Cast Iron Hike…”
That was my initial tip that the whole “RAWK BRAH!” thing would be tame bullshit when that first full-length came out. Totally safe and contrived scenester “Death and Roll” with better t-shirts than music.
Korn, Marilyn Manson and Devil Driver opened for Danzig too.
oh, I know. I was just arguing they weren’t real art school. it’s very tame. I also often live under the impression that Danzig hasn’t become what he has become. denialcore.
Reading this while jamming a Doomriders album = Massive butthurt
sarge, as a srscore dude, i love this post. hit the nail on the head. also, i just want to let you know that you are the adam demamp of hardcore. that is a total compliment.
Haha thanks! Next time there is a srscore show at the Basement, holler at me!
sarge if you are ever in columbus shoot me an email or something and we can chill. ill let you know about shows, but theres always time to bumb all time low and cephalotripsy if you’re down here!
wtf i havent listened to ftfd or styg in a few years they have singing choruses now?
lol @ that styg song
HERRRR NAME IS AMBERRRRRRR
i cringed in vicarious embarrassment
how come when i write “please respond” nobody responds?…
please respond
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I know Casey who was(?) in STYG, def a chill bro. We kinda joked about starting a mosh4christ band with a mutual friend of ours who is legit srs into TDWP. Maybe we shoulda made it real…
Kinda funny, I’ll be the only dude in the band who’s not moshing4christ
i only listen to Joy Division.
Crabcore > Srscore
Trollolol
Lol Liferuiner. I see the lead singer at a bar i always go to in downtown Toronto. Frequently use to text a girl i grew up with afew years back,trying to get her to ‘hang out’. All fine and good aside from the fact that she was 15 and he was well over his 20s.
i dig modern life is war- is that srscore- although i have to be in the right mindset for it
The lead singer in the Liferuiner video maybe the funniest thing I’ve seen all week. MIRIN YOUR FAT DUDE GAUGES BRO
Apparently you can’t be hardcore without “being a loser/scumbag/fuckup with a drug habit and/or criminal record”. Sweet. Apparently you haven’t heard of sXe at all? Hah. People here are talking about Misery Signals, even though I doubt any of you have heard of 7a7p. *Pause, while everyone googles those terms*. PS. TGI has made their music like that since their demos, so don’t bash on them.
My friend released the 7a7p album. Jelly?