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Detroit's
Negative Approach, along with Maumee, OH's Necros, were the undisputed champs of Midwestern hardcore in the early to mid-'80s. Legend has it that vocalist John Brannon recruited drummer OP Moore and the guitar/bass team of Rob and Graham McCulloch at a skate park sometime in 1981. Lead by the bald-headed
Brannon's hoarse wail, the band concocted an extreme sound devoid of frills that alternated between violent and mean. This was first fully documented in 1982 on their self-titled Touch and Go 7". The band released the more metallic-sounding
Tied Down 12" on Touch and Go in 1983, but died out in 1985 as
Brannon incubated
the Birthday Party blues of
Laughing Hyenas. Unfortunately lacking the more widespread post-hardcore fame of peers Ian McKaye and
Henry Rollins,
Brannon's
Negative Approach has not gotten the later-day due often accorded
Minor Threat and
Black Flag.
Negative Approach was certainly as influential as those two bands, touching everyone from
Poison Idea to
Sonic Youth to Los Crudos, as well as entire generations of hardcore fans in Boston and New York. The band was also as original and extreme as any early-'80s punk outfit -- the rhythmic crush created by Moore and the McCulloch brothers continues to be an undeniable steel-toe to the face. Touch and Go compiled the band's discography as
Total Recall in 1992, an essential listen for anyone who wants to understand hardcore. ~ Matthew Kantor