Sick Of It All

Legendary for their raging mosh pits, Sick Of It All are the most successful band from the late ’80s New York hardcore scene. Their roots date back to 1986, when singer Lou Koller and his brother, guitarist Pete Koller, started jamming while still in high school. The Queens group developed a style of NYHC (eventually labeled beatdown hardcore or heavy hardcore), wedding piledriver breakdowns, gang chants, and working-class alienation to burly metal riffs. But while Sick Of It All are ferocious, they’re also catchy. Right from the get-go, they displayed a brilliance for writing anthems like 1989’s “The Blood & the Sweat,” 1994’s “Step Down,” and 1999’s “Call to Arms” that turn punk virtues like solidarity and integrity into universal youth messages. This has enabled them to win over fans far outside the hardcore scene while also racking up tours with outfits as diverse as Napalm Death and AFI. On top of all that, Sick of It All are frighteningly ageless. More than three decades into their career, they have continued to drop records like 2018’s Wake the Sleeping Dragon! that are as bruising and blown-out as anything they put out back in the day.