The Suspects

(Torque)
by Jon Sarre

This band’s name lends itself to wordplay easily, so I’ll indulge. How ’bout, round up the usual suspects: Minor Threat, The Adolescents, The Circle Jerks, then learn some chords, borrow some themes like how corporations, the government, and the military fuck you over, or how lack of opportunities and emotional release make you feel like you’re goin’ insane, or how people who lie are bad and terrible. Then you start a band, which I suspect has not moved a guitar solo past every other fucking hardcore group that’s been around since Black Flag’s 1981-82 U.S. tour. Not like The Suspects fail to pull it off, which is more than I can say for a lot of bands past and present, it’s just as far as new ideas go, hardcore, as a genre, is well… suspect. It really is OK to add new elements, even play other riffs, or at least learn a couple changes. Even Ian doesn’t sound like he’s in Minor Threat still. I suspect that should tell you something.