Bent edge

Bent edge or curved edge was an offshoot of hardcore punk that was formed to be a counter-movement to straight edge at the time straight edge was starting to gain traction and support. Bent edge was also part of a rising anti-Dischord sentiment among many people in the punk scene.[1]

It was started by members of Washington, DC hardcore scene who were fed up with the rigidness and intolerance in the nascent straight edge scene.[1] To combat straight edge, they started throwing beer and drug-fuelled punk shows.[2] The point of these shows was to be the complete antithesis of straight edge. Many adherents to this lifestyle became known for their heavy drug and alcohol use.[3]

Quickly, this idea spread throughout the US. As early as 1982, only a year after Straight Edge was released, kids were approaching Minor Threat while they were on tour telling them that they were bent or curved edge.[4] To Ian Mackaye, "the anti-movement started before the movement began. People were rebelling against straight edge before there was even a movement to rebel against".[4]

At the time that bent edge started, there were several people living in the Dischord Records House that were not straight edge.[1] Straight edge and non-straight edge people mixed freely, but as time went on, the tolerance in the straight edge scene faded, adding momentum to the bent edge ideals.[1]