You may like early Sonic Youth. They’re not hardcore and only slightly punk, though they have some very punk moments. Their more recent efforts aren’t really punk at all, though still worth their weight in gold, imo.
For more straightforward hardoce/punk, try The Misfits, Samhain and Corrosion Of Conformity.
hey banger name a few hardcore bands for the me, i’m interested in what you know…also he said hc punk so i mixed it up a bit…
After hearing some of this stuff from vl_mungo’s link I stand corrected- I think I only heard the later stuff which I’m guessing had more of a Paul Westerberg pop-y influence.
And I’ll add the Misfits to the list, although they’re really just surf guitar with really dark lyrics.
You want really hardcore? Give a listen to The Dillinger Escape Plan. More of a fusion of punk and hardcore metal really.
Borderline unlistenable at first, but they kind of grow on you in a weird way.
Otherwise, you really can’t go wrong with most of the bands listed in this thread.
A Chicago punk band that put on fantastic live shows.
I recommend the NJ band Tear it Up.
Someone recently posted something rather entertaining here (even if I think Metallica’s black album is a sellout piece of shit–a completely separate topic).
Since we’ve got some good eyes on this subject, I’ve got a couple of questions…
Has anyone seen or heard of a Dr. No reissue? I miss their stuff badly.
Is anyone familiar with a west coast band called Fuel? I’m pretty sure it’s not these dorks. The guys I’m thinking about compared very favorably to Minor Threat, and I think they were in their prime in the mid 1980s. Never saw 'em, but I had a (stolen) tape and loved it almost as much as my Slam Whitman demo.
I’d like to add The Hanson Brothers to that list.
(No, not those little long hair kids, the NoMeansNo guys.)
Puck Rock, baby!
AFI is awesome. They aren’t really hardcore anymore (if they ever really were) but they still kick ass. And their new album is out on March 11th, so go buy it.
I’ve heard of the Murderdolls, but haven’t listened to them–sorry. Some names I associate with that type of thing–a lot of people rave about the Blood Brothers. I’m not into the new style really hard hardcore type stuff though, so I can’t vouch for it myself. Another name is Himsa. I don’t really listen to these bands so don’t yell at me if you feel they are nothing alike, please.
Also, Thrice is one of my favorite bands. An excellent “melodic hardcore” sound, with intelligent lyrics. Hm. You might want to try Thought Riot. Specifically, the song “All For God, And A Gun For All.” Vaguely political hardcore.
Some of the bands already mentioned that I consider to be hardcore are Sick of It All, Minor Threat, Agnostic Front, and to a lesser extent Husker Du’s early stuff and Bad Brains’ early stuff.
Of course, it’s a sub-genre of punk, and the line between hardcore/non-hardcore is obviously not clear, but certain punk bands just don’t seem hardcore to me, e.g., Social Distortion (even the early stuff, as the later stuff has rockabilly elements), Dead Kennedys (seems more like the Sex Pistols than typical hardcore bands like the DC scene’s Minor Threat and the NYC scene’s Gorilla Biscuits), and the Descendents (more of a fast precursor to pop-punk and emo).
Bear in mind that my opinion is influenced by my first experiences in punk rock and hardcore in the 1980s, when I viewed Minor Threat as one of the first hardcore bands and the NYC hardcore scene was developing. Typical of these bands’ sounds was very fast punk with shouted out lyrics with occasional “breakdowns” into slower “moshbeats” (best attempt at explanation). For that reason, I usually think of Husker Du and Bad Brains early stuff, not featuring this, to just be fast punk but having a hardcore element. Later Husker Du (New Day Rising and after) resembles grunge, and later Bad Brains (I Against I and after) sounded like new wave heavy metal. Both bands’ later stuff (all of Husker Du’s later stuff but in the case of Bad Brains, nothing after The Quickness) rank among some of the best music I have ever heard, by the way.
According to www.allmusic.com, bands such as the Dead Kennedys are hardcore, which is not something that I would label such bands. Then again, that site also lists Screeching Weasel as a hardcore band, although I view them more as a midwest version of the Ramones.
If I were to suggest a band not already mentioned that has a “hardcore” element (insofar as they have some very fast punk songs), I would recommend Snuff, especially their album Demmamussabebonk. They combine poppy punk with fast and hard punk, and are one of my favorite punk bands.
Look, seriously, if you’re interested in the punk era you must get the spoken word album **Get In The Van **by Henry Rollins.
It’s mainly a road diary from when he was the lead singer in Black Flag. A lot of other bands are mentioned since they interacted with them on their tours. I can’t recommend it enough.
What? No Refused(who are unfortunately disbanded now)?.
Suicidal Tendencies, the Exploited, and Minor Threat are definitely must-listens. As are the Misfits.
For Suicidal Tendencies, though, you want to stick to their first 2 albums for the hardcore skater-punk sound (Suicidal Tendencies and Join the Army). After that they went mainstream metal and then Funk-ish metal.
Also give a listen to the Meatmen, 7 Seconds, D.R.I. (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles) and D.I. (NOT the same band), and (Believe it or not) the Beastie Boys, pre-License To Ill. They were a good H/C band before they changed rap. I don’t know if you’ll consider them punk, but the Murder Junkies might be worth a try too.
Oh, and I guess somebody has to mention John Lydon’s first band. The Sex somethings…Guns? Something like that. 
oh and Blood for Blood, has anyone heard of them?
Good stuff if you get a chance to listen.
What? Nobody mentions Corrosion of Conformity? Pick up a copy of “Animosity,” their second record. It won’t disappoint. Sort of in the early Suicidal Vein, but more political/without the humor (which makes it weaker overall, but still good).
Did you mean Dr. Know? I beileve the reformed about 2 years ago, but only had 2 original members. (If I remember correctly neither of them were Brandon Cruz).
Anyway they may have done a few dates back around 2001/early 2002. But as far as i know no reissues are planned. I wish they were though, I’m forced to listen to bad dupes made from old vinyl.
On a side note MDC have been touring a lot lately… GBH too.
Though I wouldn’t condsider them “hardcore punk,” I think Operation Ivy deserves mention in this thread.
banger, fair enough…i mixed the bands i named simply to give range for lucki to hear, rather than just stick to hc,. i know the thread asked for a certain classifacation, but i chose to mix and match. again thanks for your input.
I was going to say Corrosion of Conformity, but I thought they were a little heavy for hardcore punk.
And MDC and GBH still exist? Wow.
That was a priceless article, SK. Thanks for lightening my day. 
For anyone interested in listening to good punk radio, a local station here in Toronto (well, not where I am right now, but where I live) has a Wednesday night (North American Eastern time) show called Punk-o-rama. The host, George Stroumboulopoulos, really knows punk, and plays a lot of good stuff, including obscure bands, rare recordings, etc. You can listen to the station online.