Song: Get Wet
Album: Love Is A Battlefield Of Wounded Hearts
Year: 1989
Genre: Punk
Since I recently spent too much money on an original, Australian pressing of their first full-length record, it's probably time to talk about The Hard Ons. Now, when speaking of this band, I need to be careful of my verb and adjective choices. I could end up typing, "The Hard Ons have been banging it out for a long time." Nobody but my ultra-juvenile sense of humor wants that. Seriously, though, The Hard-Ons have been around forever. Formed in 1982, they are the most successful and longest standing punk band the home of AC/DC has to offer. Starting out as a sloppier, dirtier, almost punkier (that word is so not real and it sucks) Ramones / Descendents hybrid, they creatively introduced elements of noise, thrash, psychedelic and metal into their repertoire after their first couple of releases. The band's true strength is their ability to pen an aggressively hyper, overly melodic song. They sing the right hooks and back them up with the right chords. Keish de Silva has one of the coolest vocal tones around. Plus he's a singing drummer! I always wanted to be in a band that sounded like The Hard-Ons, but no matter how hard I tried, it just ended up being a really subpar, blatant rip off. It’s like trying to write a Ramones song; you can’t do it because you’re not them. Although two out of the three main members are still kicking it live and putting out records, a lot of my interest left when de Silva quit. It’s just not the same without those great vocals.
Listen to "Get Wet" here.
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