H.R., formerly of the pioneering hardcore band Bad Brains and currently the leader of a tight and committed reggae band, took the Lefty’s Live Music stage in late February, at a moment of high political tension in Iowa. During his time on stage, H.R. rolled through a set of expertly played grooves with lyrics heavily inspired by Rastafarianism. The band’s message of unconditional love and unity provided a cathartic outlet for some in the audience, while others noted seeming contradictions in the band’s message and the frontman’s history.
H.R., born Paul Hudson, first made waves as the frontman of the all-Black Washington, D.C., hardcore punk band Bad Brains. The band's 1982 self-titled full-length album cemented the group as a lightning-fast hardcore standard-bearer, and they pushed genre boundaries through ahead-of-their-time experimentation with reggae, jazz and metal.
H.R., which stands for Human Rights, carefully made his way to the front of the stage with the help of a friend and performed nearly his entire set while seated. Resplendent in a brilliant blue robe, rastacap, Adidas sneakers and gray beard, he directed his bandmates with graceful hand gestures and his warm voice, conducting the musicians through song transitions and swells and lulls in volume.
“I can’t see. Come a little closer,” H.R. said at the start of the set, beckoning the audience to press nearer to the stage. It was an invitation the crowd happily accepted.
H.R.’s band — composed of a guitarist, bassist and drummer, all with graying beards — wove seamlessly through song after song, creating a dense soundscape of danceable reggae beats interspersed with occasional hard rock riffs. The stage lights bathed the musicians in a Rastafarian glow of green, gold and red.
The performance rarely strayed far from reggae, with only glimpses of the blistering hardcore sounds of early Bad Brains, though the setlist did include a reggae arrangement of Bad Brains’ anthem “Attitude.” The song contains the lyrics, “Don’t care what they may do/We got that attitude/Hey, we got that P.M.A.”
P.M.A. is an abbreviation for “positive mental attitude,” a philosophy of personal growth H.R. adopted early in his musical career that has influenced generations of punks.
As the band launched into an intense instrumental section, H.R. proclaimed “Human rights!” The simple pronouncement elicited a cheer from the audience.
The specter of politics
H.R.'s performance coincided with action right across town, where earlier in the day the Iowa Legislature voted to remove gender identity as a protected class in the Iowa Civil Rights Act, a divisive political debate that drew raucous demonstrations at the Statehouse throughout the week.
Accusations of homophobia have followed H.R. and Bad Brains since the 1980s, and Rastafarian views typically condemn homosexuality. Critics point to the lyrics of the Bad Brains song “Don’t Blow Bubbles” as anti-gay. Band members have distanced themselves from the track in the decades since it was released in 1989, and a 2022 reissue of the album removed the vocals and included the song as an instrumental.
Greg Wheeler and the Poly Mall Cops, a Des Moines-based punk band that opened the Lefty’s show, invited friend Kyler Vande Kieft to read a statement in support of trans rights before their set.
“In our current political climate, and in light of today’s events at the Capitol, with transgender Iowans under attack, I want to stress the importance that there is no room for transphobia, homophobia or any other type of bigoted hatred in our state, our community and especially in punk rock,” Vande Kieft said.
Vande Kieft led an effort to raise funds for One Iowa, an LGBTQ advocacy group, during the show. He set up a QR code at Greg Wheeler and the Poly Mall Cops’ merch table that facilitated donations, and Wheeler and his bandmates donated their payment from the performance as well. Vande Kieft reported the effort raised nearly $500.
Wheeler said the fundraiser was inspired both by the debate at the Iowa Capitol and by an uneasiness with H.R.’s past with LGBTQ issues. He called Bad Brains a “beloved band,” whose debut album was a major source of personal inspiration and a landmark of punk rock rebellion.
“We all love Bad Brains, but this was a good place to do something good for the community,” Wheeler said during an interview after the show.
For their part, Greg Wheeler and the Poly Mall Cops delivered a high-energy punk set with scuzzed-out guitar tones, horror-movie lyrics and shouted vocals. The band’s songs detonate with concussive fury, typically lasting only a couple minutes. The band also previewed a few selections from a forthcoming album Wheeler plans to release by the end of summer. This will be the band’s second full-length album, following 2023’s Manic Fever. The new album is likely to be released on High Dive Records, a Kansas City independent record label, Wheeler said. He declined to disclose the title of the new record, but teased that it will include 10 songs with a run time of roughly 24 minutes.
A spiritual message
After the performance, H.R. curled up on a sofa in a Lefty’s back room and rested. Asked about what he wanted the audience to take away from his performance, he said, “The message is to spread peace and love wherever we go. Love the world.”
He then began explaining the origins of Rastafarianism, speaking in such gentle tones that his words were difficult to make out over the sounds of the club. He said he still writes “constantly,” mostly on spiritual topics and unity.
H.R. added that he’s looking forward to an upcoming string of dates with fellow punk legends the Dead Kennedys, and expressed sadness over the 2022 death of Kennedys drummer D.H. Peligro, who was also a prominent early Black voice of the punk scene.
Both the Poly Mall Cops and H.R. gave inspired performances that ran the emotional gamut from rage to elation. There were moments of tension and catharsis, often within the span of a single song. Solidarity and acceptance stood alongside uncomfortable contradictions, as musicians and fans alike wrestled with the weight of history and the current cultural moment.
In a word, the evening was about as punk as they come.