The early days of American hardcore were generally represented by the scenes based in and around Washington D.C. and Los Angeles, with the rust belt throwing in via Detroit areas bands such as the Necros and Negative Approach. Ably representing the youthful resentment of the heartland, however, were Indiana's Zero Boys. The band's landmark 1982 full-length, VICIOUS CIRCLE, is a hardcore classic, matching the raw nihilistic intensity of punk rock's then new subgenre with the pop smarts of the Ramones. In seizing upon the political concerns just beginning to infiltrate the punk scene at the time, the band's songs became all the more potent. The Zero Boys were a short-lived entity, calling it quits by the mid '80s, but their influence is now understood to be considerable and resonates throughout the punk and hardcore of today.