JCHC - The Forgotten Subculture

This isn't meant to be a preachy post, and faith may not even matter to you, but many of these band I've noticed are becoming lost to time. So if you like Punk Rock maybe stick around, you might find some music you've never heard before. 

In the 90s a band called Officer Negative came out with a song called "JCHC", and much like how the song "Straight Edge" created its own subculture, so did JCHC. The song stood for "Jesus Christ Hardcore" and many bands ended up falling under this label. There's some of the earliest stuff from bands like One Bad Pig, and The Crucified, but nothing (as far as I know) really exploded until the 90s. Headnoise was one of the most popular female-fronted bands in the JCHC scene. Unashamed was the first hardcore band that introduced many Christians to heavy "screamo" vocals. While both were a bit rough for my tastes I appreciated how bands like this is what ultimately got us bands like Inhale Exhale and The Chariot. The Chariot is awesome by the way if you haven't heard them. All their albums were recorded live, and on a stage they made it a point to bring the audience into the chaos.

One21, Dogwood and Ghoti Hook are some pretty classic punk bands that would also join the scene. Around the turn of the century we got what introduced me to the genre. Many of these I can't even find online anymore and simply own the CDs :( There's pop punk band Pocket Change, skate punk band The Smiley Kids, and one of my all time favorite bands Calibretto 13. Calibretto 13 was very blatant with their lyrics, and had a very fast acoustic punk style that I haven't heard since. They eventually reformed as Calibretto to write more horror themed music (if you're into that kind of thing); eventually disbanding all together. The lead singer would go on to create a band that revolved around one's "inner demons" called Harley Poe, which I struggle getting into, but the great sound is still there. 

I could write an entirely different article on what I consider "modern Christian bands" (like Reliant K, Children 18:3, Flatfoot 56, Skillet) and how Punk, Hardcore and Metal eventually mash together into Metalcore; then some of my favorite metalcore bands like Oh, Sleeper and Fit For a King. But this post is already getting long enough... Something all these bands usually had in common however is that they would show up at a festival called Cornerstone. If you think how much Warped Tour means to the scene in general, then you have a taste of what Cornerstone meant to Christian Rockers. This wasn't like Disney's old "Night of Joy" this was where you could expect some moshing and an occasional tent collapsing (true story >.<) Sadly the festival came to a close in 2012.

Lastly, before I end this, there is a bit of a resurgence in the underground JCHC scene. There's been some pretty cool bands releasing music on indie labels since the 2010s. One of these bands named Unshackled came out with a song called "Jesus is Punk Rock" which pretty much embodies the spirit of the entire subculture. I would definitely encourage everyone reading this to check that out, along with the bands False Idle, Ambassadors of Shalom, and (if you're into ska) No Lost Cause's newest album "Take 2."

Thanks for listening to this old Christian Punk ramble (I mean I'm only 24, but still) on a site where I'm not quite sure I'm the target market... hope you enjoyed, and feel free to friend me if you liked!