If any ambassador of hardcore deserves to still be kicking after 20 years, it's Sick of It All, a band with the depth, dimension and heart to fuel such longevity. Though singer Lou Koller looks like a leaner, meaner version of Bobby De Niro circa 1973 and the band members never let you forget they're from New York, they are hardly street toughs. The music, though, is tough. Fast and furious, like a premature ejaculation with all the intensity and none of the embarrassment. The band also looks tough. But there's actually little macho posturing, and the lyrical sophistication is untouchable. What other hardcore band would write an anti-gay-bashing song (in 1992!) and do it with poetic flair? Biohazard? Nice try. It takes real guts to be as inclusive as hardcore is supposed to be. And these guys have guts to spare.
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