Hardcore Punk
Hardcore punk is a faster, harder and more aggressive form of punk rock that emerged in the United States in the late 1970s.
Songs are very short and very quick, with shouted vocals, heavily distorted guitar and little melody. Early scenes formed in Southern California, Washington, D.C. and other North American cities, built on self-run labels and all-ages shows. It strips punk down further and takes out the pop elements, and it led to styles such as post-hardcore, emo and metalcore.
Artists it is known for: Black Flag, Minor Threat, Bad Brains, Dead Kennedys.
- Family
- Punk & Emo
- On Spotify
- A current genre
- What it is
- A genre
- From
- United States, late 1970s
- Also called
- hardcore
- Trackify listeners who play it
- 3%
About 2,700 of 83,000 Trackify listeners with public profiles have hardcore punk among their top artists of the last four weeks. Rounded; updated 13 November 2026.
Hardcore Punk artists
Turnstile
Misfits
Rise Against
Knocked Loose
Descendents
Fugazi
Dead Kennedys
SAMURAI
Minor Threat
Suicidal Tendencies
The hardcore punk artists most Trackify listeners have in their top fifty. Each opens on Spotify.
Sources
The definition is written for this site from open sources, and was checked against them on 13 November 2026.