Америкалық хардкор панк тобы «Man Is the Bastard» туралы

American band

Man Is the Bastard was an American hardcore punk band based in Claremont, California. The band existed from 1990 to 1997, releasing mostly vinyl splits, extended plays, and albums on obscure labels from around the world. By 1997, the group ended and members all went on to do other projects, such as the noise group Bastard Noise, which originally started out as a Man Is the Bastard side project. They are typically seen as part of the 1990s powerviolence movement. Man Is the Bastard has dissolved but its members are involved with a number of other projects. Wood occasionally performs in the Los Angeles area as Bastard Noise. Kenyon and Connel continue to perform in progressive rock acts such as Frank Booth Youth, Bastard Lounge, ControllingHand, Lux Nova Umbra Est, and Umbra Vita. Andy Beattie continues doing vocals. Staying within his hardcore/powerviolence roots, he has performed/screamed in such bands as Controlling Hand, Low Threat Profile, Infest, Dead Language, featuring members from Iron Lung, and Cave State. His current band, Dead Mans Life (2018) performs the Los Angeles area. His "solo" band, Institute of Infinite Sorrow, is active.

Man Is the Bastard (aka Charred Remains) has been described as powerviolence (a term that was created by Matt Domino, a member of Eric Wood's previous band Neanderthal), hardcore punk, noise rock, Man Is the Bastard's recordings are characterized by their thin, raw low fidelity production values.

The band's lyrics are often political and dark, with common themes being animal rights, violence, misanthropy, torture, police brutality, starvation, and depression. Man Is the Bastard's lyrical violence was balanced by their adamant advocacy of progressive ideals. This record of political activism resulted in their most widely available album, 1997’s split LP with death row prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal.

Artistically most of their releases had a similar design, with their trademark skull on both sides of the words Man Is The Bastard with the release title underneath in quotations. The band's "skull logo" was originally taken from a medical book that Eric Wood was reading. Most of their recordings included simplistic liner notes that briefly explained each track's meanings. When artwork was used, it was typically stark, standing out against a basic layout. In 2012 the band Akron/Family used the skull logo for a t shirt design, to which Eric Wood accused of plagiarism.

The band is now seen as a critical part of the California powerviolence movement. The folk punk band AJJ reference the group on the track "Do Re and Me" on their 2014 album Christmas Island.