If I was still writing my monthly hardcore column, the rise of Haywire would've been a big topic. The Boston band plays an extremely hooky and fun form of down-the-middle fastball hardcore. There's nothing revolutionary about their music, but they are out there working harder than any other band, and that work is getting results. Haywire have one album and a couple of EPs to their name, and they tour like fucking demons, playing tiny DIY spaces all over this country. They' recently played both Alaska and Hawaii. Tonight, they'll play at the Apostolic Life Cathedral in Huntington, West Virginia. With that show, they will have played in all 50 states within one calendar year. Social-media clips of Haywire shows have been all over my feed for months -- none more so than when they covered Title Fight in Wilkes-Barre last night.
Haywire have been covering a lot of songs on their endless, ongoing tour. When they played Richmond's United Blood fest earlier this year, they took on beloved local heroes Avail's "Scuffle Town." Last night, they followed the cover we're talking about in this post with another one, Rival Mob's "Boot Party." At other recent shows, they've also done Poison The Well's "Nerdy," Rampage's "Ox Must Plow," Terror's "One With The Underdogs," Colin Of Arabia's "Poser Disposer," and the Cure's "Boys Don't Cry," or maybe Sheer Terror's cover of the Cure's "Boys Don't Cry." They have a great sense of the moment, of which song to play for which crowd. Last night, they dropped the motherfucking Title Fight cover.
A Title Fight cover is almost a cheat code. A Title Fight cover in Wilkes-Barre is the Mario invincibility star. Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania is a small, provincial city -- the unloved little brother of Scranton, if you can imagine that -- but it has had an absolutely outsized impact on DIY music. So many bands have come out of Wilkes-Barre: Cold World, War Humgry, Strength For A Reason, Dead End Path, One Step Closer, Worn. (Some of those are from places around Wilkes-Barre, and then there's stuff like Tigers Jaw and Wicca Phase Springs Eternal from Scranton. I could honestly keep going.) Amidst all those names Title Fight are the big dogs. Title Fight broke up in 2018. They were big when they ended, and they're much bigger now. They're cult heroes with crazy streaming numbers, and kids treat their songs like secret passwords. Stereogum's Danielle Chelosky did a whole zine about Title Fight not that long ago. They are important.
On Tuesday night, Haywire played Wilkes-Barre's Triangle Club, and they busted out a cover of "Shed," the title track of Title Fight's 2011 debut. People went the fuck off. It was beautiful. You should really watch it. Below, you will find a couple of videos of Haywire's "Shed" cover, as well as Title Fight's original.
Haywire covering Wilkes-Barre's legendary Title Fight... In Wilkes-Barre
byu/StopBeingABot inHardcore
UPDATE: On Wednesday Haywire successfully played their 50th show in 50 states. Here's some of the Title Fight cover from that Huntington, WV gig:
Check out our 2015 Cover Story on Title Fight here. Next Tuesday night, Haywire headline a gigantic $10 show in Richmond with Naysayer, Cloakroom, Jivebomb, Paper Trail, Destiny Bond, and Stockpile. I'm not sure if I can go, but I really want to.
