Gorilla Biscuits

Gorilla Biscuits are a New York City hardcore punk band whose brief original run left a permanent mark on youth crew hardcore and melodic punk. Formed in 1986 with Anthony "Civ" Civarelli, Walter Schreifels, Arthur Smilios, and collaborators from the New York hardcore scene, the band released a self-titled 7-inch and the landmark Start Today before splintering into other influential projects. Gorilla Biscuits fit punk scope directly through hardcore punk, straight-edge-associated youth crew culture, and Revelation Records history. Their music is fast, optimistic, and tightly written, using short songs, bouncing rhythms, and shouted choruses to carry messages about friendship, self-respect, scene unity, and personal direction. They were less metallic than some New York hardcore peers, but their influence on melodic hardcore and later punk is enormous. Start Today in particular showed that hardcore could be urgent and positive without losing bite, and Walter Schreifels' songwriting became a bridge toward Quicksand, CIV, Rival Schools, and broader post-hardcore developments. Gorilla Biscuits endure because their catalog is concise, energetic, and unusually generous in spirit while still sounding unmistakably like New York hardcore.