Tag: Hardcore Punk

Bad Brains Partners With Trust Records to Preserve Punk’s Most Powerful Legacy

Bad Brains 1981 backstage at CBGB New York City. Photo: Glen E. Friedman, used with permission.

Bad Brains Partners With Trust Records to Preserve Punk Legacy

NEW YORK, NY —  The iconic and highly influential punk rock band Bad Brains announced last month that they have partnered with Trust Records, the company formed to ensure that classic punk and hardcore music continues to endure. (another side, 2025)

A New Chapter With Trust Records

Under the new deal, Trust Records will ensure that Bad Brains’ music remains available for generations to come. In addition, Trust Records has established an Artist Advisory Board, on which Bad Brains bassist Darryl Jenifer will serve. The board will help guide the future creative vision of Trust Records.

The partnership will govern and administer the entirety of Bad Brains’ owned and controlled intellectual property, including:

  • Music publishing
  • Recorded music
  • Name and likeness
  • Trademarks
  • Visual intellectual property

This includes the band’s self-titled debut album as well as seminal releases Rock for Light, I Against I, and Quickness.

Darryl Jenifer on the Partnership

“After 40 plus years of forging the spirit PMA through our brand of progressive punk rock aka Hardcore, I’m happy that Bad Brains will be sharing the wheel with TRUST in our ongoing quest to keep Bad Brains alive in the hearts and minds of our supporters as we step into the future. TRUST’s love and knowledge of Bad Brains and the PMA ethos makes them a perfect match to partner with as we keep Bad Brains ‘Sailin’ On’. Stay tuned for what’s next to come. One love and a hefty dose of PMA.”
— Darryl Jenifer, Bad Brains bassist

The Legacy of Bad Brains

Formed in 1978 in Washington, DC, Bad Brains is one of the most influential American recording artists to emerge from the punk and hardcore scene. The band’s pioneering artistry, strong ethics, and virtuosic musicianship have had a profound effect on global culture.

Bad Brains are cited as an influence by countless artists, including Rage Against the Machine, Beastie Boys, Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, No Doubt, Sublime, Green Day, Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, and Deftones.

The original lineup consisted of H.R. (vocals), Dr. Know (guitar), Darryl Jenifer (bass), and Earl Hudson (drums).

Trust Records on the Partnership

“We started Trust Records to promote, preserve, and protect punk and hardcore music and the culture that surrounds it. Bad Brains is the absolute top of the mountain in punk and hardcore. They taught the rest of us how to do it. It is the highest honor to partner with Darryl and Bad Brains in the stewardship of their iconic work.”
— Matt Pincus, Founder, Trust Records

“Bad Brains are an iconic and legendary band whose impact on global culture cannot be overstated. We are thrilled that they’ve chosen Trust Records as their home and we look forward to working with them to continue to build their fan base around the world.”
— Joe Nelson, Co-founder, Trust Records

About Trust Records

Founded in 2020, Trust Records was created to give classic punk and hardcore records the home they deserve. Born from DIY roots, the genre’s most influential releases shaped generations of disaffected youth around the world. As the industry moves further into the streaming age, preserving both the spirit and legacy of this music is more important than ever.

Trust Records focuses on ensuring this music remains accessible to future generations while maintaining historical accuracy and high-quality releases.

Their catalog includes 40th Anniversary Deluxe editions of Circle Jerks’ Group Sex and Wild in the Streets, 7Seconds’ landmark 1984 album The Crew, and reissues of Youth Brigade’s Sound and Fury, DFL’s My Crazy Life, SSD’s The Kids Will Have Their Say, Ink & Dagger’s The Complete Works, and more.

Ink & Dagger’s Complete Works Rise Again

Pivotal 90s hardcore/punks Ink & Dagger announces catalog reissue. Photo: Chris P., used with permission.

Ink & Dagger: The Complete Works — The Vampiric Legends of Philadelphia Rise Again

Philadelphia, PA — From 1996 to 1999, Philadelphia’s Ink & Dagger burned like a Roman candle, blurring the lines between punk, hardcore, and psychedelia. They were an enigma wrapped in rumors, vampire lore, and blood-spattered theatrics. Equal parts chaos and prank, their ever-shifting lineup fed on energy and spat it back as something entirely their own. (another side, 2025)

Controversial, influential, and long out of print, the band’s complete legacy has finally risen from the grave. Trust Records has announced a full reissue of Ink & Dagger’s discography across three standalone LPs:

  • Drive This Seven Inch Wooden Stake Through My Philadelphia Heart
  • The Fine Art of Original Sin
  • Ink & Dagger

All audio has been remastered by David Cooley (M83, Tame Impala, Jimmy Eat World). Each album will be available in stores and on digital platforms for the first time ever on October 31.

The Deluxe Box Set: Ink & Dagger — The Complete Works

A deluxe edition box set, Ink & Dagger: The Complete Works, has also been announced. This limited release (only 500 copies) includes:

  • All three remastered LPs
  • A fourth LP titled Experiments in Nocturnal Sound and Energy: Singles 96–99
  • A book/insert titled “The Almighty” by writer Erik Bader
  • Box design by visual artist Jeremy Dean

Ink & Dagger: The Complete Works ships March 2026.

The Albums

LP 1 — Drive This Seven Inch Wooden Stake Through My Philadelphia Heart

Includes the band’s first two EPs and a bonus track. This marks the first time the collection is available on vinyl, it was originally CD-only in the ’90s.
Featuring blistering early cuts like:

  • “The Changeling”
  • “Frigid Shortcomings”
  • “The Road to Hell”
  • “Full Circle”

LP 2 — The Fine Art of Original Sin

Originally released in 1998, this was Ink & Dagger’s first full-length album, an unholy collision of punk, hardcore, electronica, and rock & roll. Fine Art captured the band at their creative and chaotic peak.

LP 3 — Ink & Dagger

Released posthumously in 2000 by Buddyhead, this album was the band’s final statement, a swirling, psychedelic soundscape that defied category. It offered a haunting glimpse of a future that never came.

LP 4 — Experiments in Nocturnal Sound and Energy: Singles 96–99

Exclusive to the box set, this LP compiles B-sides, singles, and split releases, a sinister showcase of the band’s boundary-pushing sound experiments.

The Legacy

In 1996, Philadelphia hardcore veterans Sean McCabe (Crud Is a Cult, Mandela Strike Force) and Don Devore (Frail, The Icarus Line, The Lilys) set out to create a new kind of band, a century-ending statement that would explode underground music’s boundaries.

Their vision fused punk aggression with occult mystique and a heavy dose of theatrical mischief. They presented rock & roll as a psychic vampire, feeding on energy to achieve immortality.

Tragically, during what was meant to be a short hiatus, frontman Sean McCabe died in 2000 at the age of 27. His death, like much of Ink & Dagger’s story, remains wrapped in mystery, leaving behind a blazing but brief legacy that refused to die.

For decades, their long out-of-print recordings circulated only among collectors and diehards. Stories of blood-soaked performances and chaotic tours became modern myth.

The Resurrection

Now, decades later, Ink & Dagger’s shock and awe return in full force.
A caustic keystone of hardcore history, these reissues don’t just preserve the past, they resurrect it, fangs bared, to inspire a new generation of the wild and the fearless.

Ink & Dagger: The Complete Works
Available October 31 (LPs)
Deluxe Box Set Ships March 2026

Pre-order/Pre-save here.