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The Punk Thread


RPS

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D.I. is good that sways between hardcore punk and skate punk

It's my job to come in and name drop D.I.! Just find 'Live at a Dive', it's basically my favorite live album of all time.

Actually just heard of DI when I posted that song. I had a song on my computer that I had always thought was DRI, googled it and it turned out it was actually by DI

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Been listening to these chaps again recently. I'd never heard of them, until they actually crashed as my mates house during their UK tour. Lovely chaps, and Devin took no offence when I drunkenly greeted him with "Holy fuck it's Ted Dansons son!".

Good stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9ARqQxWh14

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Figured this is as good a place as any to put this;

Iggy Pop just posted on Facebook that Scott Asheton died last night.

My dear friend Scott Asheton passed away last night.

Scott was a great artist, I have never heard anyone play the drums with more meaning than Scott Asheton. He was like my brother. He and Ron have left a huge legacy to the world. The Asheton's have always been and continue to be a second family to me.

My thoughts are with his sister Kathy, his wife Liz and his daughter Leanna, who was the light of his life.

Iggy Pop

:(

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My friend told me about Scott Asheton yesterday, it's too bad. Both Asheton brothers are gone, and I really regret not seeing the Stooges back in 07 when I had the chance, best I can hope for now is just to see Iggy.

Iggy is right, Scott was a great artist. A lot of people will give credit to Ron Asheton as being a great guitar player, developing his own wild style that influence a lot of hard rock acts that followed. Scott deserves as much credit, he fit his role with the Stooges perfectly, giving them a heavy hitting style that was perfect for their style.

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Somebody asked us on facebook, who we thought the best punk band of all-time was. For shits and giggles I'm going to post my thoughts on here. Feel free to share your own.

First thing, what I have always loved about punk is that it stripped the pageantry, gimmicks, and all-around horse shit of rock and roll and took it back to it's 1950s roots. Disco also helped to light a fire under rockers. Alright so the original question asked about the Stooges, Ramones, and Sex Pistols. All are great bands in their own right, the Stooges can be credited as the first to really let out a wild, unhinged sound. Iggy Pop's influence on other well known punk front men (Stiv Bators of the Dead Boys, Darby Crash of the Germs, G.G. Allin) is well documented. That said, I don't necessarily categorize them as a "punk" band as much as just a wild rock band that paved the way for punk bands like the Ramones and Sex Pistols. The Ramones were the first to really get the name and sound out to a wider audience, they were basically just speeding up old rock and roll, making things simple again. Malcolm McLaren, the Sex Pistols manager (and also the manager of the New York dolls prior to going back to England) took the look and sound to England because he thought it was the next big thing. In some ways it was, but not on a huge scale. While the Ramones and Sex Pistols were great, they had peers and followers that may have been a bit better. For example, Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, also a New York band (featuring members of the New York Dolls, giving you an idea of their influence on punk) probably released the greatest punk album ever, L.A.M.F. I consider Thunders to be among my favorite guitar players of all-time, he had such a raw energy in his music, and made love ballads sound fucking tough. It's hard to pick the best of punk, it's a much more diverse genre then some folks think, it went way beyond the scope of "Three chords, fast, loud, and mean". You had hardcore (Bad Brains is a great mention by the way, it's hard to argue against them), stuff that was avant garde (check out San Francisco's scene. Geza-X, Black Randy and the Metrosquad, The Screamers), punk that got funky (Big Boys from Texas, fucking great), the post punk stuff of the mid 80s (Minutemen and Husker Du are the easy choices releasing two of the best albums of the 80s), and even stuff that relied heavily on synthesizers (Screamers again, and Suicide). With all that being said, I think I lean toward the Dead Kennedys. They were sometimes just punk, sometimes hardcore, and often times fused a surf sound into their music. Jello Biafra's distinct vocal style was a perfect pairing for their sound, and he was a lyrical genius. Instead of taking the "Fuck the Government" route, he would often pen his words taking the perspective of those he had opposition with in a satirical way. It made things more interesting then spouting off about anarchy or executing the president. That said, there are others that could rightfully be mentioned such as The Dead Boys, Adolescents, Stiff Little Fingers, Angelic Upstarts, The Germs, and Richard Hell and the Voidoids. I love a lot of different rock and roll, but punk will always be my favorite shit. As a quick side note, don't sleep on the Clash. London Calling is a masterpiece of an album, one of the best of the 80s, if not the best (and that's going up against any genre of music).

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Not sure how many have listened to Bigwig, but their one of my favorite bands. This is probably my favorite song by them

And this is an awesome cover of it

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Somebody asked us on facebook, who we thought the best punk band of all-time was. For shits and giggles I'm going to post my thoughts on here. Feel free to share your own.

Loved your post and your explanation. Can't believe I missed it for a few months. I think the Dead Kennedys are definitely in my top 10... maybe even top 5... of all time. I think everything you said about Jello is why I love the group.

Anytime I have to pick a 'best' punk rock group I usually narrow it down to two artists.

1) The Clash. To me, I grew up hearing about how the Clash were the greatest group of all time. My dad and uncle loved them. And for a time in my youth, I was skeptical and worshiped the Sex Pistols. The Pistols were raw, they were angry, they were visceral and it appealed to me as a young person. But as I grew older, the world the Clash was speaking about opened up. The Sex Pistols had one album and it was largely rooted in one place and one time. The Clash presented a world incorporated a grander world view, with different sounds and lots of depth. I truly do believe that the first five Clash albums represent probably the strongest discography of any band ever, punk or not. Clampdown is my all-time favorite Clash song and I think the lyric "let fury have the hour/anger can be power, just know that you can use it" describes the Clash, why I love them and why they are so amazing.

2) Refused. Whereas The Clash have the perfect discography, I think Refused likely has released the greatest punk album of all time and never followed it up. The Shape of Punk to Come is perfectly and utterly amazing. Songs literally feel so chaotic at points, like the entire thing is going to collapse in front of you. Because the band did collapse right after the album was made. Dennis screams so loud because he's pissed at the world, his band mates, the hype of everything around them. The fact that they haven't released a follow up makes it perfect - they made their bold statement, let the world around them crash and moved on.

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Somebody asked us on facebook, who we thought the best punk band of all-time was. For shits and giggles I'm going to post my thoughts on here. Feel free to share your own.

Loved your post and your explanation. Can't believe I missed it for a few months. I think the Dead Kennedys are definitely in my top 10... maybe even top 5... of all time. I think everything you said about Jello is why I love the group.

Anytime I have to pick a 'best' punk rock group I usually narrow it down to two artists.

1) The Clash. To me, I grew up hearing about how the Clash were the greatest group of all time. My dad and uncle loved them. And for a time in my youth, I was skeptical and worshiped the Sex Pistols. The Pistols were raw, they were angry, they were visceral and it appealed to me as a young person. But as I grew older, the world the Clash was speaking about opened up. The Sex Pistols had one album and it was largely rooted in one place and one time. The Clash presented a world incorporated a grander world view, with different sounds and lots of depth. I truly do believe that the first five Clash albums represent probably the strongest discography of any band ever, punk or not. Clampdown is my all-time favorite Clash song and I think the lyric "let fury have the hour/anger can be power, just know that you can use it" describes the Clash, why I love them and why they are so amazing.

2) Refused. Whereas The Clash have the perfect discography, I think Refused likely has released the greatest punk album of all time and never followed it up. The Shape of Punk to Come is perfectly and utterly amazing. Songs literally feel so chaotic at points, like the entire thing is going to collapse in front of you. Because the band did collapse right after the album was made. Dennis screams so loud because he's pissed at the world, his band mates, the hype of everything around them. The fact that they haven't released a follow up makes it perfect - they made their bold statement, let the world around them crash and moved on.

Great post RPS, hopefully it doesn't take you months to see this response (haha).

I have never heard that Refused album so I can't comment right now.

But I will comment on your Clash thoughts. It's fucking on point, you have your shit in one sock (meaning, you know whats up). The Clash are brilliant, I love them, they just kick ass. I really don't look at bands further than "Hey, does the music sound good with the lyrics? It does? Cool.". If some folks take deeper meaning with lyrics, right on, do your thing dude. But yeah, you make a strong argument on why the Clash is the best of the best. They had it, they could write, they had it, they rocked. I cited the Dead Kennedys as my favorite band, but one thing the Clash has a leg up on my Dead Kennedys, they could slow things down, they could do pop better. They weren't pop, but they just had a knack for nicer sounding stuff than the DKs. Clampdown also happens to be my favorite song, so it must kick ass.

I've been drinking tonight, so bear with me. I dig the Clash. I used to say that their self titled album was the best, but that is wrong. London Calling really is their best work, and no shit probably the best album of the 80s.

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I always dug the Dead Kennedys as a teenager. But to me, the Dead Kennedys had some weak moments that you just excused because Jello was so dynamic as a frontman. I really do love the Dead Kennedys, part of me wonders whether the hype and notoriety of the band made me like their music more, rather than the music standing on it's own. Like, in hindsight, I probably would really only go back and listen to their first two albums and skip their last two and the EP.

I've almost had the exact opposite happen with Black Flag. I really thought their first EPs and LP were their best work and thought their later stuff was shit. But My War, Family Man, Slip It In, and In My Head are such great albums. I think my teenage self didn't really apperciate the experimental aspects of their stuff, but now I love it.

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I always dug the Dead Kennedys as a teenager. But to me, the Dead Kennedys had some weak moments that you just excused because Jello was so dynamic as a frontman. I really do love the Dead Kennedys, part of me wonders whether the hype and notoriety of the band made me like their music more, rather than the music standing on it's own. Like, in hindsight, I probably would really only go back and listen to their first two albums and skip their last two and the EP.

I've almost had the exact opposite happen with Black Flag. I really thought their first EPs and LP were their best work and thought their later stuff was shit. But My War, Family Man, Slip It In, and In My Head are such great albums. I think my teenage self didn't really apperciate the experimental aspects of their stuff, but now I love it.

I think the entire appeal of Black Flag is that they tore up the punk rock rulebook and called everyone out for turning the entire genre into something uniform and boring.

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I'm pretty mild on Black Flag these days, they had some good moments. The songs with Keith Morris and Ron Reyes are probably my favorites, the rest not so much.

As for Dead Kennedys, I like everything they did, but their last album is weak compared to everything else they put out. It's like they got together and tried to bang out a hardcore album, and went away from the stuff that made them great in the first place.

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It is so sad that Kathleen Hanna got Lyme disease. I've loved every single project she has done and I remember when I was 15-17 years old discovering Bikini Kill and it changing my world. I really loved punk music up until that point, but it was mostly pop-punk and whatever Epitaph was putting out. But when I heard Bikini Kill, it was like night and day. The music awas great and Kathleen Hanna sounded more pissed off than her male counterparts. Now she has Lyme disease and her output for the last 10 years has been limited to one good release with a project called the Julie Ruin.

My favorite Kathleen Hanna song is about NoFX. I personally never liked NoFX when I was younger. There were other pop-punk bands who did everything that NoFX was doing better. But I guess NoFX took offense to Bikini Kill's feminist politics and they wrote a song called "Kill Rock Stars" and it is basically about how Kathleen Hanna can't blame all men for her problems and, oh also, there is a sly joke about how it is good that we are going to kill rock stars because Kathleen Hanna is the new queen and that he wished Courtney Love would have beaten up Kathleen Hanna. So definitely a great way to respond to a women saying that she doesn't feel like she is treated equally in the punk world.

I was a huge Le Tigre fan, a dance-punk band that Kathleen Hanna formed after Bikini Kill split up. Their big single was called Deceptacon, I must have listened to the song hundreds of time and I never knew the backstory behind the song. She sings at one point during the song: "Because I'm so bored that I'd be entertained/Even by a stupid fuckin linoleum floor, linoleum floor/Your lyrics are dumb like a linoleum floor/I'll walk on it/I'll walk all over you." Which is so great! It just makes me love Kathleen Hanna much more. I never picked it up until a few years ago when I read an article about Hanna. She took a fun dance song that seemingly has silly, nonsensical lyrics and made it into a subtle diss of NoFX. Punk as fuck.

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I've heard of Bikini Kill, but never listened to any of their stuff. So I'm checking them out on Youtube, and I need to check more of this out. This is really cool stuff, maybe it's this song, but her vocals remind me of Poly Styrene from X-Ray Spex, but a lot better.

Kathleen Hanna is seen dancing around in a Sonic Youth video, Bull in the Heather.

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Oh, without a doubt - if you don't have X-Ray Spex and Poly kicking down the door in 1977 with Oh Bondage, Up Yours, there would be no riot grrl movement and no Bikini Kill.

I always laughed when people crapped on punk in the 90s. I mean, sure there was things that were a bit poppier on the scale of things, but the whole riot grrl movement was so great. Bikini Kill belongs in the same category as the other greats. Sleater Kinneys too. There later stuff tends to be less punk, but for 10 years they were the best punk (and probably the best rock group) in the USA, but I guess no one wanted to get behind a bunch of chicks who rocked hard.

For about the last 10 years I kind of drifted away from looking for new punk music and just sort of enjoyd it by listening to stuff from the 70s and 80s and the great stuff that came later on. But I've got to say, there was one release this year that really got me back into punk and it was Against Me's Transgender Dysphoria Blues. If I was 16 year old and I listened the album, I'd buy a guitar and form a band to be like Against Me. Laura Jane sounds pissed off, she has a great vision and the music is great.

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