Pearl Jam's Punk Influence (Hardcore and Post-Punk)

mschostok

Hey guys, I know this has been discussed before but I've been on a huge Fugazi, Drive Like Jehu and Turnstile kick (and many other hardcore and post-punk bands). Obviously PJ is punk influenced and I've have been going through their discography trying to pick a part the post-punk and hardcore pieces. 

Obviously, Spin the Black Circle is pretty hardcore punk (fast, aggressive chords with screaming/shouting vocals). 
Mind Your Manners (the bones of the song are pretty hardcore)
Brain of J. (has some good hardcore elements to it)
Satan's Bed (particularly the chorus gang vocals which are prevalent in hardcore punk)
Not for You (the dissonant chords of the song resemble Fugazi, so do the dynamics. A lot of tension in the song (mainly due to the dissonance) which is a classic hallmark of Fugazi)
Whipping (the opening chords are dissonant and the verses are straight forward punk rock chord progressions) 
Do the Evolution (the clashing, dissonant chord progressions really reminds me of Fugazi yet the song itself is probably more hardcore but not really post-punk as it pretty much keeps the same rhythm and tempo throughout)
Lukin (hardcore to the bone)
Habit (this one's pretty obvious)
RVM (especially the chorus and the ending jam)
MFC (chorus is pretty punk)


I love tracing the family tree of influences with some of my favorite bands. Ed has always said that Fugazi is one of his biggest influences both sonically and the ethics and DIY approach (see 94-96 tours against TM). what else do you guys think? 

1ThoughtKnown

mschostok said:

Hey guys, I know this has been discussed before but I've been on a huge Fugazi, Drive Like Jehu and Turnstile kick (and many other hardcore and post-punk bands). Obviously PJ is punk influenced and I've have been going through their discography trying to pick a part the post-punk and hardcore pieces. 

Obviously, Spin the Black Circle is pretty hardcore punk (fast, aggressive chords with screaming/shouting vocals). 
Mind Your Manners (the bones of the song are pretty hardcore)
Brain of J. (has some good hardcore elements to it)
Satan's Bed (particularly the chorus gang vocals which are prevalent in hardcore punk)
Do the Evolution (the clashing, dissonant chord progressions really reminds me of Fugazi yet the song itself is probably more hardcore but not really post-punk as it pretty much keeps the same rhythm and tempo throughout)
Habit (this one's pretty obvious)
RVM (especially the chorus)
MFC (chorus is pretty punk)


I love tracing the family tree of influences with some of my favorite bands. Ed has always said that Fugazi is one of his biggest influences but outside of the ethics and DIY approach, I'm not sure the Fugazi influence is there sonically - what else do you guys think? 

I remember MM saying that in MYM he was channeling the Dead Kennedys. 

Down was written after he saw a Social Distortion show - little cowpunk influence easily heard. 

pjpjpaul

The Stooges, Ramones, The Clash, The Buzzcocks, Dead Kennedys, Social Distortion, Minor Threat, Bad Religion, X, Bad Brains, Sonic Youth, Devo, Mudhoney, Fugazi, Public Image Ltd., Gang of Four, and Dead Boys have all either been stated as influences and or PJ has shared a bill with them so their punk roots run pretty deep. 

kotton_crown

Husker Du as well, Spin the Black Circle sounds a lot like their Beyond the Threshold.  Also Insignificance sounds similar to Fugazi’s Public Witness Program to me but that might just be me.

mschostok

kotton_crown said:

Husker Du as well, Spin the Black Circle sounds a lot like their Beyond the Threshold.  Also Insignificance sounds similar to Fugazi’s Public Witness Program to me but that might just be me.

Good call on the Insignificance/Fugazi crossover, never really heard until you pointed it out. Post-hardcore is a really cool genre, would have loved to have seen PJ explore that more in their heyday.

mschostok

kotton_crown said:

Husker Du as well, Spin the Black Circle sounds a lot like their Beyond the Threshold.  Also Insignificance sounds similar to Fugazi’s Public Witness Program to me but that might just be me.

For whatever reason, I just realized that Not for You has some clear Fugazi influence. The dissonant chords and the dynamics of that song are pretty clear hallmarks of Fugazi. Fugazi songs are notorious for tension - Not for You is so tense. Same with Tremor Christ. 

foriginalsin

Um what about Lukin? Its the most hardcore punk song they have i think?  Its one minute long and has ed screaming and shredding his voice like a hardcore song. 

mschostok

foriginalsin said:

Um what about Lukin? Its the most hardcore punk song they have i think?  Its one minute long and has ed screaming and shredding his voice like a hardcore song. 

Lol how could I forgot? Good call, so obvious I forgot about it. 

tempo_n_groove

Lukin, MYM and STBC are the only songs I could consider even remotely hardcore sounding.

Habit I could see as a Talking Heads type punk or even Bikini Kills Daddy's Little Girl.

I'm interested to see what others think.

jdasilvaf

Other than the obvious Fugazi influence (improvising parts of "Suggestion" frequently in early sets) I recall reading a few interviews with EV during the 90's where he frequently referenced a lot of DC hc and hc-adjacent bands like Faith, Ignition, Embrace, Lungfish, The Warmers, etc. With the exception of Better Man almost the entirety of Vitalogy sounds like a post-hardcore record to my ears. Ironically, PJ was my gateway to hardcore punk in 93-95, and I kind of abandoned PJ until re-discovering them circa the release of PJ 20. 

eeriepadave

Leash or Blood?

mschostok

jdasilvaf said:

Other than the obvious Fugazi influence (improvising parts of "Suggestion" frequently in early sets) I recall reading a few interviews with EV during the 90's where he frequently referenced a lot of DC hc and hc-adjacent bands like Faith, Ignition, Embrace, Lungfish, The Warmers, etc. With the exception of Better Man almost the entirety of Vitalogy sounds like a post-hardcore record to my ears. Ironically, PJ was my gateway to hardcore punk in 93-95, and I kind of abandoned PJ until re-discovering them circa the release of PJ 20. 

Vitalogy definitely has a post-hardcore feel to it - mainly because of the dissonant chords used throughout which create the tension, anxiety and somewhat claustrophobic feel of the record.