Super Leather
Integral Poster
I was about to bump the old punk thread, but the board suggested that I start a new one since it's been a long time since anyone posted there. Let's talk about some punk rock again and all of its offshoots, tell some stories, whatever. I have plenty to share on the topic.
I started getting into punk in the early '90s when I was in the eighth grade. My first tape was Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols and it's still one of my favorite records to this day. Finally acquired an old vinyl copy last year - pink cover, but I hope I find an old yellow cover in the wild for cheap someday. I also have an original copy of the "Holidays in the Sun"/"Satellite" single. "Holidays in the Sun" is one of the best opening tracks in rock 'n' roll history if you ask me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ah1JM9mf60
Black Flag's Damaged blew my fucking mind when I was fourteen. Although the Sex Pistols were great, Damaged is probably the only record that legitimately scared me. I felt such a sense of paranoia listening to it back then; there was no way this record was legal to own. Rollins haters can suck it because Damaged is the best Black Flag record ever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf6W9TMol6U
My first punk show was Fugazi at the Metropol in Pittsburgh in the summer of 1993. In on the Kill Taker had just come out and I was a big fan at the time. They were great, but I knew I needed to get back to the East Bay and figure out what was going on here. Started attending shows at Gilman Street a couple months before I turned 16 and immediately fell in love with the East Bay punk scene. Unfortunately, I showed up too late to see Green Day or Rancid or Jawbreaker, as well as underground bands like Filth, Blatz, Econochrist, or Grimple.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8RrFBJWKFc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zwqMOsPK6A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj1BKsLfkKI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18ATCRxpXDg
Although I missed a lot of great bands that set the standard, you have to define your own generation. I wasn't into the pop punk or ska-core bands of the time; I was looking for local hardcore punk bands and there weren't many. However, I found a handful of bands who filled the void by playing way faster or heavier. Capitalist Casualties and Spazz played hardcore at a ballistic pace that verged on grindcore territory. I saw them as my equivalent to older bands like MDC and DRI and started my fair share of circle pits at their shows.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BkNjFW3w6c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMk6L8lEOvw
Dystopia summed up my generation of punk kids in the late '90s, for better or worse. Angry, depressed, nihilistic, drug-addled, sarcastic, and sometimes whiny and bitchy too. We hated ourselves and thought it was funny. We hated you too and that was hilarious. We probably hated each other too, but it didn't really matter when Dystopia was playing at Gilman Street or Mission Records or wherever because it was just a fuckin' party that brought together all the dysfunctional elements.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg6CHLDCeNs
My favorite punk show of all time took place in 1996 when Japanese hardcore legends Gauze played several shows in the US. I was lucky to see them at Gilman and they were incredible. You can find the video on YouTube, but it's nothing like being there in the pit seeing grown men in their 30s playing flawless hardcore like it was their second nature. I compare being there to stories I've read from old punks about seeing the Bad Brains for the first time; it was one of those things that solidified your commitment to the 'core.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbw0HbC3MdE
I started getting into punk in the early '90s when I was in the eighth grade. My first tape was Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols and it's still one of my favorite records to this day. Finally acquired an old vinyl copy last year - pink cover, but I hope I find an old yellow cover in the wild for cheap someday. I also have an original copy of the "Holidays in the Sun"/"Satellite" single. "Holidays in the Sun" is one of the best opening tracks in rock 'n' roll history if you ask me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ah1JM9mf60
Black Flag's Damaged blew my fucking mind when I was fourteen. Although the Sex Pistols were great, Damaged is probably the only record that legitimately scared me. I felt such a sense of paranoia listening to it back then; there was no way this record was legal to own. Rollins haters can suck it because Damaged is the best Black Flag record ever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf6W9TMol6U
My first punk show was Fugazi at the Metropol in Pittsburgh in the summer of 1993. In on the Kill Taker had just come out and I was a big fan at the time. They were great, but I knew I needed to get back to the East Bay and figure out what was going on here. Started attending shows at Gilman Street a couple months before I turned 16 and immediately fell in love with the East Bay punk scene. Unfortunately, I showed up too late to see Green Day or Rancid or Jawbreaker, as well as underground bands like Filth, Blatz, Econochrist, or Grimple.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8RrFBJWKFc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zwqMOsPK6A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj1BKsLfkKI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18ATCRxpXDg
Although I missed a lot of great bands that set the standard, you have to define your own generation. I wasn't into the pop punk or ska-core bands of the time; I was looking for local hardcore punk bands and there weren't many. However, I found a handful of bands who filled the void by playing way faster or heavier. Capitalist Casualties and Spazz played hardcore at a ballistic pace that verged on grindcore territory. I saw them as my equivalent to older bands like MDC and DRI and started my fair share of circle pits at their shows.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BkNjFW3w6c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMk6L8lEOvw
Dystopia summed up my generation of punk kids in the late '90s, for better or worse. Angry, depressed, nihilistic, drug-addled, sarcastic, and sometimes whiny and bitchy too. We hated ourselves and thought it was funny. We hated you too and that was hilarious. We probably hated each other too, but it didn't really matter when Dystopia was playing at Gilman Street or Mission Records or wherever because it was just a fuckin' party that brought together all the dysfunctional elements.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg6CHLDCeNs
My favorite punk show of all time took place in 1996 when Japanese hardcore legends Gauze played several shows in the US. I was lucky to see them at Gilman and they were incredible. You can find the video on YouTube, but it's nothing like being there in the pit seeing grown men in their 30s playing flawless hardcore like it was their second nature. I compare being there to stories I've read from old punks about seeing the Bad Brains for the first time; it was one of those things that solidified your commitment to the 'core.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbw0HbC3MdE