Miami, FL · ska-punk · hardcore punk

Against All Authority

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Miami's ska-punk agitators, welding horns to hardcore and unapologetically political lyrics. Loud, fast, and made for a downtown block that won't stay still.

Against All Authority formed in Cutler Ridge, near Miami, in 1992, with a stated aim of questioning economic differences and promoting human similarities through their lyrics. That mission has stayed constant across the band's catalogue, giving the horns-and-hardcore sound a consistent political spine rather than scattered slogans.

Musically the band welded ska horn lines to fast, abrasive hardcore guitar and shouted vocals, landing closer to the hardcore end of the 1990s ska revival than to its poppier contemporaries. Songs move quickly, built for pits rather than dancefloors, with the horn section pushing the aggression rather than softening it.

Their DIY ethic, shaped by the example of the Dead Kennedys and Subhumans, showed early: the band booked its own shows, made its own recordings and printed its own T-shirts before any label was involved. That approach carried through even after they began working with Hopeless Records and the wider DIY punk network.

The band's lineup has included Danny Lore on bass and vocals, Joe Koontz on guitar and vocals, Fin Leavell on bass trombone and baritone saxophone, Marshall Wildey on trumpet and Chris Goldbach on drums, the horn and rhythm sections built to carry lyrics consistently focused on class, policing and state authority.

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ska-punkhardcore punk