Life’s Question are injecting flair and technicality into hardcore

Life’s Question appear in our Spring 2024 Issue with cover stars Liam Gallagher/John Squire, Kevin Abstract, the Marías, and Palaye Royale. Head to the AP Shop to grab a copy. 

Hardcore is a lot less dogmatic than it can initially appear. For all its posturing, it’s a genre and culture that thrives on shaking things up from within. The wave of popularity that hardcore is riding today is notable for its willingness to break the genre’s own rules, frequently in favor of fun, progressive experimentation.

Life’s Question are among the most unique acts on the scene right now, primarily because the five-piece can play. Their sound is defined by killer solos, intricate riffs, and deceptively complex structures, along with frontman Josh Haynes’ commanding bark and guitarist Abby Rhine’s powerful clean vocals.

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On the line to AP midway through a long drive from Chicago and Philadelphia, Haynes is reflecting on the reception that his band’s singular 2022 debut album, World Full Of…, received upon release. “I think it might have been hard to digest for younger listeners, or those less aware of the style we’re playing,” he explains.

There’s nuance to Haynes’ observation. “All of us are very proud of it,” he clarifies. However, he’s also aware that the “technical and longer songs” meant that a certain portion of their audience might not have initially grasped the band’s intentions. 

This sense of ambition defines why Life’s Question stand out amid a strong crowd. World Full Of… is a proper album, in the traditional sense of the format. It has a shape, flow, and heft. It takes time to digest, which makes it all the more satisfying.

Simply put, the band have songwriting flair to spare. Haynes outlines their process as thus: “Ridge [Rhine, guitars] will demo out ideas. Then the rest of us will start to piece them together. From my perspective, I don’t write along with the songs. I write sort-of poems, which Ridge and I then put together.”

Haynes explains, “Sometimes I’ll write a melody. I write these poems, and I’ll know how the beginning and end of the song should come across, but the rest of it can be flipped around.”

It all adds up to an exhilarating synthesis. Haynes cites Biohazard and Crown of Thornz as influences from within hardcore, as well as a broader appreciation for Van Halen, Faith No More, and “skateboard/motorcycle music.” This fusion of metallic hardcore and classic rock is perhaps the most distilled definition of Life’s Question’s sonic parameters.

Their new self-titled EP (and first on Flatspot Records) is a further honing of their distinct approach. The six tracks utilize every trick the band have in their arsenal, resulting in a heavier, more melodic, and more focused beast while also drawing plenty of new weaponry.

“We wanted to create a more digestible sound, without taking away the interesting elements that define Life’s Question,” Haynes says. “It’s catchier, a little more simply structured, and some of the concepts that I’m talking about are more relatable, rather than just being about me.”

When asked to elaborate, Haynes is frank about his headspace on the previous album. “I was a lot more depressed and was going through a lot,” he says. “For this one, I wrote it from a more stable place. I created stories and asked different questions.”

This creative step forward sums up Life’s Question. Haynes’ creative choices are subtly complex and multi-layered, full of conceptual rigor. “10 Years” imagines a person stuck in a stupor being woken up by a vision of their possible life in 10 years’ time, while the pummeling “When I Meet God” saw Haynes try out something different with his writing style.

“For the first time ever, I sat in on a conversation,” he explains. “I had all the other tracks written, except that one, so I sat and listened to our bassist and drummer talk about life and how hard it can be when you’re facing mental instability.”

This playful approach speaks highly of Life’s Question’s confidence in their own abilities. They feel like a more experienced band than they are, one that are assured enough to take risks and evolve like the best bands invariably do.

Haynes feels that Life’s Question exceeded even their own expectations. He speaks especially highly of the recording process, going as far as calling it “magical.” He continues: “We were all together, on a farm, our brains bouncing off one another. We also went in completely prepared, which helped a lot.”

This is further evidence that Life’s Question are now a formidable unit, in spite of the five-piece moving away from their Chicago origins and scattering across the country. Haynes, as well as Abby and Ridge (who are married), live in the Philadelphia area, bassist AJ Hoenings, who’s also a member of No Pressure, is based in New Jersey, and drummer Nick Barker resides in Ohio.

The band’s metallic hardcore is unquestionably one that’s been born in an urban environment. The hard-edged but gleaming texture of Abby, Ridge, and Hoenings’ instruments resemble the steel skyscrapers that define the skyline of Chicago, while Haynes’ unsentimental lyrics strike with the force of the city’s famous icy winds.

Questioned as to whether Chicago had an influence on Life’s Question and their identity, Haynes says his “young adult life in that setting definitely had an effect on me. When you’re in the city, you want to listen to music from the city. I loved walking down the street listening to hardcore bands.”

Recent excursions have taken the band even further. They’ve toured Europe and the U.K., as well as played in multiple cities across Colombia. 

“It was a humbling experience,” Haynes explains about their tour and festival appearance in South America. “The conversion rate there is crazy, so the kids there had to work so hard to earn enough just to get into the show. We were there for the experience and energy, instead of just trying to profit from it.”

Haynes’ experience is solid proof of the global hardcore scene’s health. As other bands have testified to AP, the culture seems to be enjoying a significant moment in the sun.

“The topic has been brought up a lot in my inner circles,” Haynes remarks. “The internet has made it more accessible, but I think it goes deeper than that. A lot of young kids now are going to these shows because they want aggression and energy, when the rest of the world is completely fabricated and digital. People want to step outside of their houses.”

A quick glance around the world makes it hard to come to any other conclusion. Most humans seek connection, yet our world today is failing to provide it. A thriving subculture that involves smashing into and jumping on top of other people provides one of the most extreme and constructive examples of it out there for kids who have grown up in an isolated world of screens and algorithms. 

“Right now, especially here in Philly, it’s all kids,” Haynes explains. “Loads of kids whose first show was like two years ago. It’s awesome, and I see it in every city I go to.” 

One highlight of hardcore right now is the proliferation of festivals in both America and across the globe. Haynes takes delight in reeling off some of his favorites: “FYA is cool because it’s nice to get out of Philly in January. This Is Hardcore is great, partly because it’s so close to my house. The one in Bogotá was also really great. We got to play that two years in a row.”

Life’s Question are reaching the point that few hardcore bands reach — that of festival regulars and possessing an international reputation. Their latest EP is concrete evidence of their growing status; a swaggering, assured rager that’s as smart as it is thrilling.

So what ambitions do the band have left? “We just want more people to experience Life’s Question,” Haynes says. “This new release will feel relatable to more audiences, because we’re doing lots of different things.”

Haynes has one final aspiration that neatly sums up his band’s whole vibe. “Ridge and I grew up as skateboarders, so we’d love a skater to use one of our tracks in their video. That would touch my heart.”

To any skaters reading this: You heard the man.