Dedicated to bringing Los Angeles the most exclusive, and sometimes most dangerous bands in all of hardcore; SOS Booking outdid themselves once again by bringing one of France’s most infamous bands, Kickback, to 1720 Warehouse on February 22, 2026 after their recent headlining performance at Hellfest West.
As is tradition in the genre, an uproar followed but the genre I’m referring to isn’t hardcore.
If you were to ask most people about the origins of punk, they might say The Ramones or the Sex Pistols, but those who know transgressive art is rooted in literature, know that punk’s origins are in France.
Arthur Rimbaud’s literature and cultural persona were the original enfant terrible that inspired the Beats, who went on to inspire the punks and it is certainly present in the mouthpiece of the hardcore band, Kickback, There have been many French enfant terribles from Rimbaud, to Comte de Lautréamont, to modern day torchbearers of the artistic tradition like Gaspar Noé in cinema, Michel Houellebecq in literature, and Kickback’s Stephen Bessac in hardcore.
*The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Janky Smooth”
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The tradition of the enfant terrible does not specify how an artist is supposed to ruffle feathers and transgress. You can experiment with form or disgust or confront fans with inconvenient truths, or you can explore the beauty within ugliness. That seems to be Stephen Bessac’s M.O., traveling far and wide to document grotesque images of death around the world while creating some of the rawest hardcore music in the genre’s history.
Inspired by writers like the Marquis de Sade, Stephen is obsessed with violence and depravity, but he is not a perpetrator of violence and depravity as real perpetrators decry their own acts and pretend to hunt those who are guilty of their own sins. He is not hardcore’s Armie Hammer. Instead, Stephen puts his efforts in documenting insane happenings around the world with his Huntingasiabooks Instagram account where he snaps pics of the most violent sights from the far-East.
Likewise, he is obsessed with far-right figures in history like Yukio Mishima and Julius Evole, much like neo-folk artists like Death in June, while he considers Kickback as a benignly artistic band without a political message. Accusations of holding far-right ideologies against Kickback stem from a few instances–notably playing French National Socialist Black Metal festival Call of Terror, Kickback members collaborating with various neo-nazi bands like Peste Noire and Bessac liking posts from French Neo-Nazi Instagram hubs like Ouest Casual.
If we are going to start making conclusions based on social media activity, there are numerous new artists we could point fingers at, from hardcore veterans to more mainstream darlings. That said, if I consider my own reaction to seeing one of music’s iconic heroes liking an Instagram post about a Jewish politician actually being a devotee of Moloch, I do usually consider them a hater.
I view Bessac differently though.
In Stephen’s own words, he proclaims himself a nihilist, taking a philosophical lens to look at the world instead of a political one. Bessac’s perspectives on everything from culture, to government, to modern day France, and modern day hardcore are nuanced, and much to my dismay, the modern hardcore scene is not.
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Artists like Stephen, modern day tricksters, exist to throw a wrench in the gears of movements with ideological certainty. Stephen aims to troll audiences because he expects us to react dramatically enough to be a constant source of amusement. For instance, there are quotes from Stephen flippantly proclaiming himself both a racist and a pedophile without the subjects even being broached by the interviewer.
We now exist in a world where the punk scene cancels Brew Ha Ha Productions for supporting Donald Trump, but the hardcore scene books a man who has collaborated with Nazi artists and played Nazi festivals. One, if not both, of these things is ridiculous, and Stephen Bessac laughs at us while we try to make sense of our bullshit.
In my research for this article, a few online comments pointed to an old interview with Stephen where he claims his father is Jewish, though that does not necessarily negate the accusations against him.
But let’s say Stephen Bessac is a neo nazi. Let’s say he dislikes Jews. Today’s hardcore scene gels with that sentiment more than it did five years ago. Because if you hate Zionists then you hate a vasty majority of Jews at any level of piety that accept the Old Testament as gospel. That’s also where the slippery slope lay telling the remaining 15 million Jews left on the planet that Israel doesn’t have a right to exist. That’s beyond just being critical of its government.
You have hardcore kids out here calling people Nazis while also saying all Zionists should burn in hell. So when you hear a punk talk about punching a Nazi, you should expect damn near half the pit to duck.
Recently dropped from the Revolution Calling lineup, Kickback has been the center of controversy among keyboard warriors of the far left and far right, who see a new crusade to wage against any of Bessac’s collaborators. Revolution Calling’s organizers made the announcement with this message:
“Hereby we inform you that Kickback will not play Revolution Calling.
We’re a small D.I.Y. team, all people from our scene. Working hard each year to make the best weekend of the year happen. A weekend where we all celebrate hardcore punk. No big business, no sponsors, no government support. Just me who started a band in 1997 after falling in love with hardcore punk dreaming about doing a festival.
While doing due research concerning controversy about Kickback playing Revolution Calling started by an article in the French media, we have been falsely accused, framed, doxxed and threatened by people from the left and right. Following others like sheep. Acting like the fascists both sides are claiming to fight.
We are choosing to stay out of any discussion without further comment. Not on our socials, not in the media. The way I move in the hardcore scene and the message I bring since 1997 speaks for itself.
Anyone who wants to get their money back, send us an email at [email protected]. You have until the 4th of March, no questions asked.
Any comment with negative energy will be removed and the user blocked. For all other people who sent us respectful messages and who supported us until now thank you very much. Can’t wait to blow the roof off in November with all of you”
Meanwhile, Detroit’s Tied Down festival announced their lineup days later with Kickback featured on the long bill of bands. Whereas cancellations used to domino and build off each other, I expect Revolution Calling will be an outlier in giving Kickback the boot. It’s somewhat expected with the concerted effort to properly brand skinheads over the last couple decades and Cock Sparrer’s last hurrah
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The American hardcore scene, though hosting more of the far left Bessac has attacked in the past, is seemingly desirous of seeing rarities of the form in-concert, so it’s looking like they would prefer seeing Kickback and telling the tale prefaced with a warning than not seeing Kickback isn’t worth the reward of reiterating obvious beliefs, to most.
People flock to Kickback shows in the hopes of seeing something insane (in true spirit of the tradition). They want to see audiences deserving of the mental asylum come together and scream like hideous freaks. Because hardcore fans buy tickets to a large degree because they predict they will see unpredictable violence or insanity.
In Bessac, they see a depraved soul getting the stage he deserves to express a perspective that is often underrepresented in hardcore today. We hear a steady and curated message in hardcore today that when a freak like Bessac is able to articulate taboo ideas in fresh ways, fans come out of the woodwork just because it is something different from the rest of the genre.
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After Hellfest invaded Orange County earlier in the weekend, 1720 Warehouse was blessed by SOS Booking And Productions with a night of hardcore that culminated in Kickback’s first LA show in many years. Unlike Sound and Fury, Hellfest waves the flag of a more brutal and metallic stripe of hardcore. The East Coast rooted scene was brought up on the violence and realness that created hardcore. Odes to heavier genres are not ironic at Hellfest, they are baked into the cake. Supporting bands of the evening like Shattered Realm, Recon, and Missing Link did not just get the fists and feet swinging in the pit, they leveled up LAHC to be harder, tougher, and more street smart.
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Kickback’s style of hardcore is a bit of a relic. With their peak only a decade ago, it is amazing how much the sound of the genre has become formulaic with more obvious songwriting, where pitting surpasses message in importance, and storytelling is usually a practice in plagiarism. Kickback songs are longer and structured more like metal, but once you hit play, you are transported to a dirty basement sound that can only be described as hardcore.
Kickback’s set was absolutely ravenous, with Stephen’s vocals ripping through brutal French HC. Their reintroduction into the scene was met with such a large splash that it represented the swinging back of a pendulum to me. The softer days of hardcore are over. Mirroring the world itself, the kids who were once fashionistas will crave a realer sound and image that must be inspired by veterans like Kickback to push the genre forward- even if in opposition.
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So what is the character of the new hardcore? The pendulum’s backswing suggests a reversal of its current trends. More lyrical, more storytelling, and nihilistic.
Kickback is not the disease, it is a symptom of the disease. And the disease is much needed because at some point hardcore got so clean it became a bore.
Given the choice between Kickback’s shady obsessions and partnerships and Turnstile’s kid-friendly Crayola branding, the choice for me, is clear.
Words by Robert Shepyer
Photos by Evan Moses
