DEMO ALERT: Big Up South Asians in American Hardcore – NYC’s NO VALUES Drop Demo

Big up to our fellow South Asian diaspora especially out there in the west letting themselves be heard. Today we get to introduce newly formed NYC band called NO VALUES who’ve just dropped their debut demo.

According to the band themselves, they’re inspired by mid to late 80s hardcore ala AF, Bad Brains, Breakdown, Billy Club, Madball, and Outburst. The stompiness in the music makes that clear as day.

In terms of lyrics, here we go:

“The lyrics for No Values are short and simple. I think being concise about things can leave the lyrics up to more interpretation. Hearing the music and letting it play out is my vibe. I wanted to show love to New York City, my home. New York City gave me everything I’ve ever known and have. Every struggle, every traumatic experience, and the course of my life summarized in a few short verses. The second song is about the hardships growing up in the city. I know a lot of my New Yorkers know what it’s like to grow up in the hood and have this insurmountable pressure on your shoulders trying to fucking climb out from the situations you’ve been set in. For me, it’s also a suicide song.

The third song is about transplants in the NYHC scene. No Values is against the erasure of New Yorkers. To me, New Yorkers are the immigrant families that have made a home on these islands called New York through circumstance. A New Yorker is someone who gives to the culture, who assimilates and adapts to the rough environment. Not spoon fed fucks who come here to fulfil their “Dream.” I’ve always viewed New York as the boiling pot and the safe haven for immigrants. This is genuinely how I feel. Too many tough guys yapping about Unity. They belch Unity while spit in my face (figuratively). No one wants to see the ghetto brown New York kids win just as much as they want those transplant kids. People subscribe to disingenuous things. Fuck off. It’s not a brown vs white problem either, it’s just a lot of ya and like two of us. I said what I said, If you don’t like it, or internalized it, maybe you’re the problem. I grew up here, everything that is me is because of NYC. Ya’ll be putting on streetwear to get a one way ticket to NYC and start getting a big head. That shit gotta stop. No more taking from the community; give back, go organize with the community, volunteer in your neighborhood, and help make spaces New Yorker’s should have, since you wanna jack NYHC so much. I wanted to do this band this way because I feel like I couldn’t name not even five newer NYHC bands fronted by native New Yorkers. Big up the brown and black kids that make the culture, that make the lingo you steal, that make the best jokes. I want nothing but the best for my New Yorkers, those that are a part of the culture, and those that make it.

The last song is about friends. I feel like if you from NYC, you know friends can be more than friends. They become your family. I dont give a fuck, no one experiences friendship harder than a New Yorker. This is how our communities start. Neighbors become friends, and then friends become family. Sometimes the people you love hurt you the most and life still continues. If you notice, another topic in these lyrics is about our intrinsic resilience. New York Strong.

Being South Asian in American hardcore is something that I noticed immediately. There’s not too many Desi folk in it. I wish our youth was exposed to shit like this, and I want No Values to be that for them as well. The Asian American Unity Festival (read about it HERE) opened my eyes up to so many bands in many different scenes. The world is not just New York City?! Things like this are the representation that matters and that we need. Shout out to Karin Sa. He helped me create No Values, but even better, he brought the AAU festival to life. This is an example of community in hardcore. Transplants take notes. Shit like AAU is something I wish more people had so I can see more of my own in this scene. I also feel like being desi in America you get put in this stereotype of Non Resistance, Non Reaction, and Non Violence or Weakness. I will tell you the South Asian Americans in hardcore are some of the baddest mother fuckers out there. That’s why if there’s any South Asian American reading this, stand the fuck up. Create a band, say or do something, see how you can create a community in your neighborhood.”

RESPECT.

Go follow the band.

https://www.instagram.com/novaluesnyhc/

Photo Credit: Ray Mock (IG: https://www.instagram.com/parallelofdeath/)