Revolution Summer (music)

Revolution Summer was a phrase coined by an employee of Dischord Records in an effort to revive and innovate the hardcore punk scene of Washington, D.C. during the summer of 1985. The bands associated with the effort are retrospectively credited with the development of the punk subgenres post-hardcore and emo.

Quotes about Revolution Summer

• Something was in the air in Washington DC in 1985 – a revolution that tried to rid punk of its machismo.
  • Louis Pattison of The Guardian (November 27, 2012) [1]

• Ian MacKaye talks about how he watched the Woodstock documentary over and over and over when he was a little kid—actual 1969 Jimi Hendrix Woodstock, not Limp Bizkit–ass, rock-bottom-for-society Woodstock ’99—and Ian carried that original Woodstock ideal with him, the dream that a rock band could foment a revolution or at least inspire a community, millions of people strong, who’d go out and smile on their brothers and everybody get together and try to love one another right now and eventually build a better world. Now, knowing what you know, or think you know, about punk rock as the antithesis of hippie-fueled classic rock, you might be tempted to think that perhaps Ian’s being sarcastic here, with this “inspired by Woodstock” business, but something to know about Ian MacKaye immediately is he’s usually not being sarcastic at all. And when he is being sarcastic, you’ll know that, too.
  • Rob Harvilla of The Ringer (August 9, 2023) [2]