Big Boys

Emerging from Austin, Texas’s underappreciated early-’80s punk community, the Big Boys fused blistering high-velocity guitars with hefty, danceable grooves into a single volatile sound. Although their later releases proved uneven and ultimately fell short of the intensity they first displayed, their initial efforts during hardcore’s rise remain noteworthy for attempting to retain the visceral pull of a locked-in rhythm section amid the era’s unrelenting speed and blunt force. Their standout EP Fun, Fun, Fun featured a ferocious reworking of Kool & the Gang’s “Hollywood’s Swinging” that felt entirely instinctive, and few tracks captured the shift from breakneck hardcore tirades to swinging funk-infused rock with comparable clarity. By 1984 the group, still confined to a devoted but modest following, disbanded; its members subsequently supplied personnel to a string of nascent alternative acts including Rapeman, Scratch Acid, and Poison 13. Chris Gates later joined forces with former Minor Threat and Dag Nasty guitarist Brian Baker in Junkyard, an endeavor that underscored how even committed hardcore adherents could mount a blatant bid for mainstream acceptance.