Core4Core presents... Haywire | Dark Thoughts | Gvllow
The sound of today’s hardcore is both evergreen and ever-changing. There are metallic hardcore bands out there who have given us some of the most memorably brutal records of the last decade-plus. I refer to modern classics by living greats like King Nine (“Scared to Death”) and Missing Link (“Watch Me Bleed”), both of whom tend to favor mosh parts, gang vocals, and a sneering air of fuck-around-and-find-out in their respective discographies. Then there are more the more accessible likes of Turnstile and Knocked Loose, who have taken a sound that was birthed in VFW halls and basements and translated it to tremendous crossover success without losing an ounce of their integrity in the process.
One could argue that what’s been missing in the scene is the old-school punk brio that H.C. pioneers like Black Flag and Agnostic Front once brought to their famously anything-goes live shows. Enter Boston’s Haywire 617, a fun-loving band of troublemakers who seem doggedly determined to put the punk back into what was originally called hardcore punk. To say they’re doing it with style would be an understatement.
Haywire have collaborated with everyone from the Dropkick Murphys to more contemporary acts like No Guard, with whom they released the 2025 split “SHIRTS VS. SKINS.” Still, it feels safe to say that it was “CONDITIONED FOR DEMOLITION,” the band’s superb breakthrough LP, that caught the attention of those in the know. Haywire are renowned for their spectacularly rowdy sets: the group has lit up stages far and wide, from Warped Tour to the recently relocated Midnight Hour record store in Los Angeles, the latter a kind of haven for SoCal hardcore kids. The songs on “CONDITIONED FOR DEMOLITION” moved at the speed of a locomotive train; the result was total immersion in Haywire’s unruly world, where fists tend to fly freely and attitude reigns supreme.
Haywire have been one of the most exciting bands in hardcore for a minute now. On their latest, the simultaneously raucous and introspective “I DON’T WANNA SAY GOODBYE,” the band demonstrates an admirable willingness to branch out into a more melodic direction without abandoning the boisterous hooligan charm that their fans know and love them for.
