B-Sides: Hysterics Go on Tour!

The Hysteric’s sole blog post has a neat hook. They’ve backdated it to October 30, 1989, suggesting two things: All Hallows’ Eve, and old-school punk rock. The date implies both the sugary rush of Halloween menace (“this song is about the true promise of Halloween, extorting candy by threat, from parents”) and the post-Reagan years when punk realized there was still an establishment to rally against.

Part of Hysterics allure is their reclamation of a hardcore sound associated with violent machismo. Although they don’t have an official release to their name (edit: they have a 7 inch single on Portland’s M’Lady’s Records here), some online videos reveal shows that look like sheer pandemonium: bar-chords bouncing off grinding drums bouncing off the singer (who’s bouncing off someone’s face in the crowd). This violent sound is very much a conscious effort to demonstrate that bands can still thrash and have a safe space. In a recent interview with She Shreds magazine (disclosure: I edited this article for the web, but I didn’t conduct the interview) an unnamed member remarked, “We feel safe to stand up and make sure that everyone knows that my voice can be just as loud as yours—I can raise my arms and be just as big as you and also that everyone at the show—women, trans people, queers—people who are usually marginalized, at least historically, in this kind of scene [are safe]… It’s our job to take control of [the space] and make sure that we feel comfortable.” Acting big and rowdy and loud at shows can be a great thing, if you act responsibly and look out for everyone.

Also: Hysterics are hilarious. They wrote an open letter to Green Day after noticing a similarity in their t-shirts. The design in question? A takeoff on the iconic Black Flag logo with the four bars replaced with bloody tampons. Sure, Hysterics were concerned with the pretty obvious similarity between the shirts, but they also thought Green Day’s brand choice might be a bit off, given the thoroughly-soaked nature of their tampons.

Green Day may want to try a more absorbent brand of tampons. And can someone buy me that Hysterics shirt?

An open letter from Hysterics reads:

My concern grows regarding the absorbency of the tampons depicted on some of your t-shirts. Our tampons are well-used, sure, but the “Green Day tampons” are fully soaked in blood, which indicates to me that you may need to upgrade to higher-absorbency tampons in order to accommodate your heavy flow.

Not that Green Day should be embarassed over their heavy flow—Hysterics are just trying to be helpful, you know?

Do yourself a favor and jump in the pit with Hysterics when they come through town on their cross-country tour, and check the schedule to see if you could help them with the few holes they have in their schedule! You could have your very own in-house feminist punk band, if only for a night.