Nausea: A Hardcore Anarchist Rock Band Born In America

Logo for Nausea BandWikimedia

There is a hardcore punk band that most of you probably have not heard of that are an important part of the history of anarchism in the United States. This particular band came from the mean streets of New York City - the largest metropolis in the United States and was notable for being part of the first wave of a new form of music called crust punk. It was known as Nausea and this particular group had a lot to say with their music about the turbulent times they were living in while influencing a new style of punk mentality...

Nausea was started in the mid-1980s by a self-taught musician and surreal artist named John John Jesse. They were part of the crust punk genre of music - which was a derivative form of anarcho-punk music combined with heavy metal riffs. Like the anarcho-punk musical genre, crust punk would promote rebellion against the powers that be and anarchism: the political theory that all forms of governmental authority are undesirable & that society should be based on voluntary cooperation between individuals and groups. The band would have songs with lyrics focused on topics such as feminism, anti-racism, and opposition against war. They would also make art related to the then-relevant Cold War happening between the United States & the Soviet Union as well as the nuclear threat of said war 'going hot'. While they were making music since the 1980s, their first studio album dropped into the year 1990 called Extinction. The whole thing was about forty minutes long and was given very good reviews with Punknews giving it five stars out of five and Allmusic giving it a rating of four out of five stars.

Cover of the Album ExtinctionWikimedia

The band would break up in 1992, but the band's influence would still live on. In 2004, a compilation album of Nausea's work would be released called The Punk Terrorist Anthology that was favorably revied with four and a half stars out of five from Punknews . On top of that, the former singer of the band Neil Robinson would go on to start a punk record label called Tribal War Records that catered to notable anarchist and punk bands. Nausea helped to pave the way for other crust punk and anarcho-punk bands to take the stage such as Capitalist Casualties and the modern iteration of Reagan Youth, so it is important to not forget this anarcho-punk group from New Yok who hoped to use their vocals to make a difference...