Early musical influences included Minor Threat, Bad Brains, Negative Approach, 7 Seconds, and Black Flag.
It was inspired by bands such as 7 Seconds, Minor Threat and SSD, whose members were all straight edge, and lyrical concerns included brotherhood and community values.
However, later youth crew bands, namely Judge, began to take heavily from metal, helping to lead to the development of beatdown hardcore.
Heavily inspired by the sound of U.S. youth crew and straight edge bands, groups in the scene included Steadfast, False Face, No Way Out, Long Cold Stare, Know Your Enemy, The MacDonalds and Northern Wolfpack.
[11][12] Additionally, at this time, Youth of Today's Ray Cappo formed Better Than a Thousand with Ken Olden and Graham Land of early 1990s straight edge band Battery, creating a sound, too, harkening back to this era.
As a reaction against the homogeneity and simplicity that scene had developed, Ten Yard Fight guitarist Tim Cossar and the band's roadie Wesley Eisold formed American Nightmare.
[14] Although still musically rooted in the youth crew revival, the band's negative, poetic lyrics of self-loathing were inspired by groups like the Smiths.
[11][15] American Nightmare's influence was apparent promptly in their home of Boston,[14] then expanded nationally with the release of their 2001 debut album Background Music,[11] being followed by a wave bands including Ceremony, Ruiner, Modern Life Is War, the Hope Conspiracy and Killing the Dream.
Youth crew fashion included bleached hair, crewcuts and similar haircuts, athletic wear, letterman jackets, sportswear, army pants or shorts, oversized T-shirts bearing band logos or straight edge slogans, hooded sweatshirts and hightop basketball shoes.
[21] The year 1988 is often considered the peak of youth crew straight edge New York hardcore, so the abbreviation '88 sometimes appears in songs, T-shirts, album cover art or other media.