Bad Brains

Essential Albums

  • Bad Brains (Bonus Track Version)
    Bad Brains (Bonus Track Version)
    Bad Brains (Bonus Track Version)

    One of the things that stands out about Bad Brains’ 1982 self-titled debut is its emotional blankness. It’s blindingly fast, but rarely feels angry; relentlessly powerful, but never really uplifting or destructive. Bad Brains doesn’t have an obvious social component, nor does it have the sense of humor that made the messaging of early punk and hardcore both accessible and fun. The skeletal reggae tracks that punctuate its incredible feats of speed (“Jah Calling,” “Leaving Babylon,” “I Luv I Jah”) not only provide a breather, they point to a sense of purpose that transcends earthly concern. For Bad Brains, feelings—whether the moral righteousness of a band like Minor Threat, or the passionate negativity of Black Flag—were beside the point. Listen to the way H.R.’s vocals for “Pay to Cum” glide over the band like a stone skipping over water, or a running back threading an impossible line of defense: Bad Brains is pure, cleansing energy. The group had originally formed as a jazz-fusion band called Mind Power before encountering punk, eventually finding the Ramones song that inspired the group’s name. Culturally, the Ramones and Bad Brains couldn’t have been more different: One was minimal, essentializing, and democratic; the other played the kind of music that felt like it needed special training to listen to, let alone play. The connection was in precision and intensity. While the Ramones sounded like a garage band, Bad Brains—and the hardcore they inspired—was almost athletically rigorous. And Bad Brains features songs so concise, every second of music needed to be perfectly calibrated (three of the album’s fastest songs—“Pay to Cum,” “Don’t Need It,” “Attitude”—clock under two minutes). That Bad Brains was the first notable all-Black band in a largely white scene—with members about five years older than a lot of their peers—only accentuated the sense that Bad Brains’ music wasn’t just a social pursuit, but a spiritual one. Not only did the band nurture the hardcore bands in its immediate wake, Bad Brains influenced a whole wave of music that was both aggressive and deeply exploratory, from Fugazi to Faith No More to Refused to Rage Against the Machine. The lightning bolt on the cover was a clue: Bad Brains was sudden and intense—and came from somewhere out of the blue.

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About Bad Brains

Bad Brains were one of the most innovative and influential bands to emerge from the Washington, DC, hardcore scene, distinguished in part by being one of the era’s few Black punk bands. Guitarists Dr. Know and Paul “H.R.” Hudson, bassist Darryl Jenifer, and drummer Earl Hudson started out in 1976 as jazz-rockers Mind Power. The next year, through the influence of Sid McCray, who temporarily became their singer, they transformed into a punk band—albeit one whose jazz chops made them the fastest, craziest punks in town. After becoming such a hot name in DC that they were banned by local clubs for fan violence, they moved to New York in 1980 and became underground heroes there. Their furious 1980 debut single, “Pay to Cum,” became a hardcore milestone, inspiring Minor Threat, Beastie Boys, and others. But over the course of their self-titled 1982 album, 1983’s Ric Ocasek-produced Rock for Light, and 1986’s I Against I, Bad Brains added reggae and metal elements to the mix, paving the way for genre-fluid alt-rockers like Jane’s Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Lineup changes and some fallow periods followed, but Bad Brains raged on well into the 21st century.

FROM
Washington, D.C.
FORMED
1977
GENRE
Alternative

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