Punk rock.

[Guest musick]

Attention punk rock fans! What's up, guys?

I was hoping to discuss punk rock with a few fellow listeners. I'm ready for some good recommendations, as well. I like the usuals: Dead Kennedys, Social Distortion, Ramones, Clash, etc. I am trying to expand my library a bit, so please feel free to suggest your favorites!

[K]

Paging VerbalPuke to this thread.

[YI]

Some newer stuff (others will hook you up with older stuff better than I ever could );

Screeching Weasel - http://www.myspace.com/officialscreechingweasel

The Cut Ups - http://www.myspace.com/thecutupsfromexeter

Witches With Dicks - http://www.myspace.com/witcheswithdicks

Paint It Black - http://www.myspace.com/paintitblack

Lifetime - http://www.myspace.com/lifetimenj

Calvinball - http://www.myspace.com/thisiscalvinball

The Falcon - http://www.myspace.com/thefalconisbiggerthanjesus

Defeater - http://www.myspace.com/defeater

Armalite - http://www.myspace.com/armalite

Hot Water Music - http://www.myspace.com/hotwatermusic

Oh and Leatherface are a MUST!

Edited June 9, 2009 by YI

[Guest musick]

Wow, thanks a lot for linkage and all YI, really helpful.

I'll check all of that out after I am done listening to the greatness that is the Frankenchrist album by Dead Kennedys right now.

[METALMAN]

My favourite Ramones album is Rocket To Russia. Bet that has set your head spinning!

Oh and I like your skeleton picture. It's well good.

[Guest musick]

My favourite Ramones album is Rocket To Russia. Bet that has set your head spinning!

Oh and I like your skeleton picture. It's well good.

I'll have to give that a proper listening through tonight now since I'll be home. (Y)

[Gabriel]

Only Crime (sort of like Black Flag)

Black Flag

The Germs

Misfits

Circle Jerks

Top 5, off the top of my head, that I could think of.

[VerbalPuke]

I could start anywhere, but I'll try to use your favorites as a starting point, and then offer up some of my own favorites.

Since you like the Clash and Ramones you'll want to get a hold of the Dead Boys, The Saints, Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, and Richard Hell and the Voidoids. Those are all bands of a similar mold to the Clash and Ramones, different sounds of course, but they fall under the "If you like these, try these" category. Barring the Saints who were from the Australia, the other three made their name in New York. Johnny Thunders was the guitarist of the New York Dolls prior to his work with the Heartbreakers, the Dolls are another group to look into if you're looking for the music that inspired punks to do their own thing. Also, Richard Hell and the Voidoids drummer was a guy named Mark Ritchie, he was actually the Ramones drummer for the majority of their existence barring the first couple of albums that had Tommy Ramone as the drummer.

I'm not sure what to recommend for Social Distortion, if you like the Mommy's Little Monster era you'll probably be looking for orange county and la hardcore. The Adolescents, D.I., Agent Orange, and 7 Seconds are probably good starting points given that The Adolescents and D.I. had members that were in the very early incarnations of Social Distortion. Battalion of Saints, Fear, Wasted Youth, and Dr. Know are a couple of my personal favorites from that era and region.

It's hard to suggest anything related to the Dead Kennedys because they had a unique sound, they had an excellent sound, a fusion of punk and surf rock, especially that Frankenchrist album you're touting (and glad to see somebody else giving that album recognition). My best suggestions would be Flag of Democracy who had similarities in sound to DK, and Crucifucks if you're looking for a nasally vocalist like Jello.

Who are some of my personal favorites? I've already mentioned a few in the three paragraphs I wrote out for you, but I'll try to suggest you a few things outside of the box. Lately I've been listening to two French Oi bands (you're probably familiar with Oi as a subgenre of punk), those being Camera Silens and Al Kapott. Speaking of Oi, the Angelic Upstarts were an amazing group, the early stuff was pretty much punk and oi, but they also did a lot of acoustic stuff which might be up your alley if you're a fan of Social Distortion. I've been finding that Sweden had a lot of great stuff, they played with a harder edge than some of what you might be used to but look for Anti-Cimex, Crude SS, Puke, Black Uniforms, and Bristles.

If you find that you like the Swedish stuff than you might also enjoy some of the D-Beat/UK 82 stuff that helped pave the way to metal. My personal favorite of that style are the English Dogs, they seemed to evolve more closely to metal in their later days but always kept a sound that any punk fan could appreciate.

And here are a few groups that wouldn't remind somebody of a prototypical punk band but were punk in spirit, and in the fact that they played with punk bands at punk venues (and couldn't get signed because they didn't have a "marketable" sound). The Screamers, Geza-X, Big Boys, Black Randy and the Metrosquad, and Feederz. Those bands range from using synthesizer (the Screamers) to fusing funk and hardcore punk (Big Boys).

Feel free to ask questions or ask for more suggestions, I've got plenty more.

[Guest musick]

I see that the doctor is in. Wow, thanks for all the great info. I'm going to check out all the bands I have not heard of, starting with YI's links, and get back about each one.

Once I gain more knowledge I'll definitely get back to you, VerbalPuke, and maybe we can share some punk rock goodness.

Edited June 10, 2009 by musick

[Nerf]

If you're into The Ramones, and after following up on VerbalPuke's post you find yourself enjoying the likes of New York Dolls and The Voidoids, then definitely check out The Stooges. I'd have thought it was an 'obvious' choice, but they're still awesomesauce regardless. Listen to the Raw Power album from start to finish.

I most definitely prefer Protopunk to standard 'Punk Rock,' so you can't really go wrong with the likes of MC5, Blue Cheer, Patti Smith, Lou Reed and Captain Beefheart in my eyes. Punk before punk ever existed.

Edited June 10, 2009 by Nerf

[Crybaby Bunting]

I probably wouldn't be able to help you when it comes to gritty '70s punk, but I can help you if you want to try any of the '90s revival punk.

Bad Religion, NOFX and very early Manic Street Preachers produced some brilliant angsty punk back at the start of the 90s... and many of their later work is also exceptionally good.

Offspring and Green Day were 'good' around the early 90s... but I wouldn't consider them really 'punk'. They were pretty much just the 'Ramones' of the '90s, AKA the most popular ones that therefore didn't try to dig into any controversial subject matter.

Oh but I can help you out with at least one gritty 70s Punk band... even though they came out about 5 years after it 'died'. STIFF LITTLE FINGERS! Despite those guys only really doing one 'good' album and deteriorated from thereon in, the stuff that they brought to the table was raw, yet defined and is therefore the most accessible punk.

Oh and would Devo and possibly Joy division fit into 'punk inspired bands that didn't actually produce a punk rock sound', therefore creating brilliant experimental pop.

[METALMAN]

I most definitely prefer Protopunk to standard 'Punk Rock,' so you can't really go wrong with the likes of MC5, Blue Cheer, Patti Smith, Lou Reed and Captain Beefheart in my eyes. Punk before punk ever existed.

I would agree with checking these out. I also prefer protopunk, which is why I have quite a bit more of that than actual punk.

Oh and the Undertones for some nice late 70s pop punk.

Generally though I prefer what came before and after punk - proto-punk and post-punk. One of my favourite post-punk bands are Gang of Four. Their debut album Entertainment! is definitely worth a listen.

Edited June 10, 2009 by metalman

[K]

STIFF LITTLE FINGERS!

True. If you only get one punk album out of this thread, make sure it's Inflammable Material by the Stiff Little Fingers. It is one of my favourite albums of all time.

[Guest musick]

Some newer stuff (others will hook you up with older stuff better than I ever could );

Screeching Weasel - http://www.myspace.com/officialscreechingweasel

The Cut Ups - http://www.myspace.com/thecutupsfromexeter

Witches With Dicks - http://www.myspace.com/witcheswithdicks

Paint It Black - http://www.myspace.com/paintitblack

Lifetime - http://www.myspace.com/lifetimenj

Calvinball - http://www.myspace.com/thisiscalvinball

The Falcon - http://www.myspace.com/thefalconisbiggerthanjesus

Defeater - http://www.myspace.com/defeater

Armalite - http://www.myspace.com/armalite

Hot Water Music - http://www.myspace.com/hotwatermusic

Oh and Leatherface are a MUST!

Just to follow up for YI, as I have not been able to keep up (you guys rock!), I dug Screeching Weasel, The Cut Ups, The Falcon, Hot Water Music. The more 'hardcore' stuff can be very tough for me to get into, but when I do I like it. It has to have undertones of other genres. Any emo stylings that may find their way into the music kind of kills it for me though. Still looking into Leatherface.

I'll have to add The Stooges (have heard them, just not enough), Stiff Little Fingers, and all the rest to an already long list provided by VerbalPuke. I'll be back to let you all know how it's going.

[VerbalPuke]

If you're into The Ramones, and after following up on VerbalPuke's post you find yourself enjoying the likes of New York Dolls and The Voidoids, then definitely check out The Stooges. I'd have thought it was an 'obvious' choice, but they're still awesomesauce regardless. Listen to the Raw Power album from start to finish.

I most definitely prefer Protopunk to standard 'Punk Rock,' so you can't really go wrong with the likes of MC5, Blue Cheer, Patti Smith, Lou Reed and Captain Beefheart in my eyes. Punk before punk ever existed.

If that's the case then you should also check out the Dictators, Zolar-X, The Punks, and Rocket From the Tombs.

Edit - Musick, if you need help finding songs from the bands, let me know. You might find good stuff on youtube, but some of those bands are either not on youtube or not best represented by youtube.

Edited June 11, 2009 by VerbalPuke

[Guest musick]

I've searched online and can't figure this out.. any Bad Brains fans out there?

wtf is the difference between their self-titled (you know, the yellow album) and Attitude - THE ROIR Sessions.

Is there any? I know the ROIR sessions has the cuts and the talking, but is it just the same songs?

Trying to sort out my iPod.

[GRIFT]

It is the same album minus the bonus track. I think the performances are the same, but I am not sure about the mastering. The difference mostly falls, I believe, in the fact that the first release was only on cassette and when they finally got around to releasing it on LP and later CD formats we came up with the latter.

But it has been ages since my days of Bad Brains fanaticism. So take all that with a grain of salt.

[Guest musick]

It is the same album minus the bonus track. I think the performances are the same, but I am not sure about the mastering. The difference mostly falls, I believe, in the fact that the first release was only on cassette and when they finally got around to releasing it on LP and later CD formats we came up with the latter.

But it has been ages since my days of Bad Brains fanaticism. So take all that with a grain of salt.

I do think you're right. The mastering is different. The songs on Attitude sound like you were there during recording. You hear the, "Okay, what's next?". Thanks for the help.

[VerbalPuke]

Bad Brains were great, and from I've read the self titled album has been re-mastered. Grifter is right on the money.

Bad Brains were one of many great bands from the highly underrated D.C. area. D.C. is actually where Henry Rollins got his start before he was with Black Flag in a band called S.O.A. (State of Alert).

[GRIFT]

Not to mention his childhood friend Ian McKaye... was in like half the bands in DC.

Edited June 12, 2009 by GRIFT