Kostic was later replaced in turn by Conation drummer Murray Ruse in 2011. de Silva returned as a guest vocalist in 2014, and permanently rejoined the band in 2016.

[2] The Hard-Ons' origins are traced to Western Sydney's Punchbowl Boys High School, where three founding members were students.

[3][5][6] In 1982 Creighton left to form Thrust and Raymond Dongwan Ahn joined on bass guitar with de Silva taking over on drums, the group began playing as The Plebs before being renamed as The Hard-Ons by the end of the year.

[4] Quickly gaining a considerable following, in August 1985 the band released its debut extended play, Surfin' on My Face, on ViNil Records.

It also reached the Top 5 on the NME chart; this made The Hard-Ons the third Australian band after Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and the Go Betweens to do so.

[3] During the break-up of The Hard-Ons, Ahn and Black formed another punk band, Nunchukka Superfly, with Pete Allen of Massappeal on drums and, a short time later, James McCann from Harpoon on vocals; while de Silva created Malibu Stacey.

[3] Black compared Nunchukka Superfly with The Hard-Ons as "a much heavier and experimental outfit, citing psychedelic, avant-garde, progressive rock, free jazz, funk and dub among the usual inspirations of punk and post-punk".

[8] The Hard-Ons featured on "Episode 6: Gathering of the Tribes 1984–2000" where they were described as "an eclectic band of misfits that took up where punk had left off in the early 80s.

[citation needed] In 2005, the 21st anniversary of the band's first pub gig was celebrated by Australian and European tours as a four-piece, with Kostic drumming and de Silva on vocals.

[citation needed] Recordings were made in 2006 with contributions from all four – though primarily Black, Ahn and Kostic – with the intention of releasing a double album.

In 2012, the band began re-issuing their early catalogue as bonus re-packagings featuring unreleased songs and live tracks.

While working a shift as a taxi driver between legs of that tour on 18 May 2012, Black suffered a severely fractured skull when he was assaulted with a skateboard.

Another Australian tour to wrap up the previously cancelled shows was completed in October, with a 51-track re-release of Dickcheese coming out around the same time.

Yet never has so much been owed by so many to so few chords ... fused punk tempos, hardcore attitude, heavy metal riffs and surf-pop melodies into a seamless ball of energy".

The physical challenge of drumming to the band's fast punk rock songs as well as singing (as opposed to shouting) made for charismatic live performances.

Guitarist Black provided another original touch to the band with his distinctive guitar sound that is both melodic and messy, often making use of feedback.