Over the last four decades the city of Boston had a vibrant hardcore and punk scene. You could name Boston as one of the big four focal points for hardcore punk in the United States alongside New York City, Washington DC and the Bay Area. Boston had and still has a lot of cool hardcore bands. It all started with Negative FX, Jerry’s Kids and SS Decontrol and labels like Taang! Records (DYS, Gang Green) or Modern Method Records (This Is Boston, Not LA) and moved on with acts like Blood For Blood, Mental, Ten Yard Fight, American Nightmare or In My Eyes. As of today, Have Heart may be one of the best known acts representing Boston Hardcore.
One of the most influential labels of the Boston scene is without a doubt Bridge Nine Records. Founded in 1995 by Chris Wrenn, the label evolved into a small business over its nearly 30 years of existence, had a bunch of employes and released over 250 records of nearly 100 bands. Alongside Deathwish Inc. and Revelation Records, it’s one of the most famous hardcore punk labels of the recent years.
In its first couple of years, Bridge Nine released records of bands like Tenfold, Right Brigade and American Nightmare. In the early 2000s the label became a staple of the hardcore punk scene in North America with Carry On‘s “A Life Less Plagued”, No Warning‘s “Ill Blood” and Terror’s debut “Lowest Of The Low”. These bands (and records) are considered as classics today and helped the label gain a lot of attention. They built the foundation of what was to come for Wrenn and his comrades.
The most successful years for Bridge Nine started in 2006 with the release of Have Heart‘s outstandig debut full length “The Things We Carry”, followed by Ruiner‘s “Prepare To Let Down” in 2007 and H2O‘s “Nothing To Prove”, Ceremony‘s “Still Nothing Moves You” and Verse‘s “Aggression” in 2008. Already in its 12th pressing with over 10.000 vinyl copies sold, “The Things We Carry” is Bridge Nine’s top selling record of all time. When you listened to hardcore punk in these particular years, you were not getting past Bridge Nine.
The label continued to sign a lot of bands in the following years including Dead Swans, Polar Bear Club, Expire and Soul Control and also re-released Agnostic Front‘s classic “United Blood” EP in 2009 for the first time in 14 years.
In 2010 Bridge Nine released another influential record: “Rohnert Park”, the third (and maybe most important) full length by California’s Ceremony. Already in its 8th pressing and with a special 10 year anniversary edition released in 2020, “Rohnert Park” is the labels second best selling record, closeley followed by Defeater‘s “Empty Days & Sleepless Nights” and Have Heart’s “Songs To Scream At The Sun”. Some other quite good sellers are “Lost In Life”, Backtracks‘s 2014 debut for Bridge Nine, Defeater‘s label debut “Lost Ground”, and Expire‘s “Pretty Low”, all with nearly 4000 vinyl copies sold. Overall Defeater seem to be the labels most successful band in terms of vinyl sales: Their three releases for Bridge Nine (“Lost Ground”, “Empty Days & Sleepless Nights” and “Letters Home”) sold a total of nearly 20.000 vinyl copies.
Besides releasing records, Bridge Nine also run a message board from 2002 to 2017. In times before Myspace and Facebook, the B9 Board was a great way to talk about hardcore punk, learn about new bands and shows. It had a legendary status in the world of hardcore but sadly closed its doors in early 2017 due to less usage because of WhatsApp, Instagram and Co.
In the last three or four years, Bridge Nine more and more disappeared from the scene. The label only released a handful of records from Buried Alive, Death Before Dishonor, War On Women and Spine (not counting re-releases from Ceremony and American Nightmare). The last big releases, Expire‘s “With Regret” and Boysetsfire‘s self titled LP, date back to 2017. Are the big times over? Maybe. Bridge Nine has a little lack on newer bands these days. They have a lot of old heroes in their roster but with Have Heart, Verse, Backtrack and Expire not being bands anymore and with Defeater and Ceremony moved on to other labels, Bridge Nine has not much left. Spine and War On Women are amazing bands but they can not live up to the status other associated bands have.
The only thing Bridge Nine announced this year is the opening of their own record store in Boston. Maybe that’s a resolution to cope with less and less vinyl sells due to the large amount of streaming services on the market and the lack of young band signed to the label. Without a doubt, a bit of fresh air would do well for Bridge Nine. There are many young bands out there who are still searching for a place to release their music. Let’s hope the Boston based label can gain traction again.
Last but not least, here are some of my favorite Bridge Nine releases (besides the already mentioned ones) to relive the great days of the label:
Foundation – When The Smoke Clears (2011), True Love – Heaven’s Too Good For Us (2016), Dead Swans – Sleepwalking (2009), Crime In Stereo – The Troubled Stateside (2006), Miles Away – s/t (2005), Soul Control – Cycles (2009), Polar Bear Club – Chasing Hamburg (2009)
Memory Screen * 