Inspired by the ingenuity of punk bands in both Washington, D.C., and its hometown, Annapolis, Md., The Hated began recording its own blistering music in the mid-1980s. The band felt kinship with the "Revolution Summer" acts from the nation's capital; together, their melodicism, impassioned energy and DIY ethos would constitute a new strain of post-hardcore that marked the beginnings of an enduring and polysemic genre now known as emo.
Along with plans to release archival work with the record label Numero Group — the first offering of which is titled Best Piece of S*** Vol. 4 — The Hated has reunited, and will be making an appearance at the Numero Twenty festival in February. "The Flux," an unreleased track from 1989, was also recently brought to the masses, providing a crucial view of the band at the tail end of its career.
It's one of the band's most satisfying anthems, steadily building with chugging guitars and a winding, elastic bassline as vocals maneuver between talk-singing and bellowed cries. Like other works from The Hated's 1989 recording session at LSP Studios, "The Flux" is even-keeled and better for it — the arrival of tumbling drums and the chorus's yelps are more dramatic because of restraint. Sonically, it strays from the band's hardcore roots and anticipates the sound of emo in the following decade, from Jawbreaker to Sunny Day Real Estate. Still, none of the group's fire is gone. "Is there something they left behind?," goes one line, its ferocious recitation suffused with wistfulness and bitter acceptance. By the time the song concludes with a whispered plea ("Wait for me"), it sounds like The Hated has reflected on its entire career, grateful for this moment in history the band was able to partake in.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
