I didn’t grow up in a hardcore scene. I was a bit too young to be into much of anything more than Fall Out Boy or Green day in 2005. I’ve grown to appreciate the history of it though, and after browsing through the files Brian Kraus shared on Twitter today, I set off to archive and tag what I could find.
In doing so, I found the Rochester Hardcore History account on Soundcloud, a treasure trove of media from that particular scene. This is a passion project of superior detail that I’ve spent a good amount of time perusing and listening to as I work this afternoon.
From the owner of the page:
This page archives demo tapes, CD-Rs, 7"s and out of print CDs from Rochester, New York hardcore, punk, and metal bands. I made every effort to get permission from at least one band member before uploading these songs. I do not make any money of the streaming of these songs, in fact it costs me money, but it's my way of giving back to the music scene that helped guide my youth into a successful adulthood.
A few albums can be downloaded. Those albums are mostly ones that I played on, and felt that they never got their full mileage.
Please contact me if you want to have your hardcore, punk, or metal band on this page. We're all friends here, and I'll go out of my way to help you out. I have the ability to convert cassette tapes and records to MP3s if you do not have the capability to digitized them yourself.
I love projects like these it takes time, patience, and heart to give forgotten music the attention it deserves. I’m sure others from Rochester and surrounding scenes appreciate this archivist’s efforts.
Bonus: I can’t believe bandtoband.com had not come to my attention previously. This is a vital resource for connecting the dots between bands like those listed on the Rochester Archive.