Punk Rock thread.

[BurningPirateShipSex]

I grew up listening to punk rock. I spent a lot of time in my teenage years buying punk albums, going to punk shows, playing godawful covers on my guitar, and talking to friends about this band or that, the politics of the bands and associated scenes.

I still mostly listen to punk rock, though that's been on the same steady decline as my enjoyment of other genres; it seems that I just don't "get" recent music, outside of an ironic liking of things I objectively know are terrible (e.g. that fucking Kreayshawn song that's been stuck in my head since byron posted it). I'm not sure if it's because I still feel the same passion and energy for it as I did at 14, or because it's an attempt to hold on to an element of youth that becomes increasingly further gone as I enter into my mid-to-late 20's.

Anyway, the point of this thread is to talk about and discuss punk rock: subgenres, bands, stories from those of us who've spent some time in the scene. Post songs and tell us why you like them-is it from a critical point of view, memories associated with it, or is it just a rad fucking song? Review albums, make fun of entire subgenres, whatever.

I don't think we've had a thread dedicated solely to this topic before, but I know a few people on this board are or were interested in punk rock, even if it's an album or a really awesome comp. So, let's talk about it.

 

[Mickey Massuco]

I don't have much to say but I thought I would add this little-known classic since most probably haven't heard it. I listen to this song to pump me up sometimes before a workout and you better believe it works!

7Seconds We're Gonna Fight

 

[BurningPirateShipSex]

I love 7 Seconds. Awesome song.

 

[Big Beard Booty Daddy]

I'm a pretty big punk fan. I like old stuff and new stuff. Rancid is my personal favorite, but I'm also a big fan of the Sex Pistols, Dead Kennedys, Black Flag is another I love. Social D is pretty awesome.

 

[C Dubya 09]

Early Descendents were some of my favorite albums to listen to in my younger days:

Descendents - I'm Not a Loser

Second the Rancid love. And Out Comes the Wolves is still an album I put on regularly.

Other punk bands I enjoyed throughout the years are NoFX (White Trash in particular), Bad Religion (everything up to Stranger Than Fiction), everything by the Clash, early PiL, and Minor Threat.

 

[BurningPirateShipSex]

Really shitty Punk Rock venues: The Dungeon

The Dungeon was located on Bond St. between Mary and Simcoe in downtown Oshawa. This was the local place for a lot of bands who wanted to play shows between Toronto and Montreal. It was this tiny, semi-hidded bar; it occupied the basement level of a old building that housed a Lazer Quest. It is, without doubt, the shittiest, most disgusting venue I have ever set foot in. You had to go down a flight of stairs at the side of the building to get in; the stairs were chipped concrete, covered in perma-crust. The main entrance had its glass window shattered; the owners (of which there were quite a few over the course of its existence) never bothered to fix it.

Getting inside did not improve one's surroundings: there were more holes in the wall; the coat check was an old, broken hanger. The worst part were the bathrooms. The toilets were constantly overflowing with shit-the kind of diarrhea that eventually overtakes the water in the bowl and forms its own, semi-solid rank layer. For the longest time, there was only one working urinal. The other had been removed, and a plastic bucket placed underneath the piping to catch the drip. Being Oshawa, the patrons took to pissing in the bucket until it overflowed onto the floor, meaning the room had this awful, permanent stank that never, ever went away.

When I went there, the longest-serving owners were two brothers named John and Rob. Rob was a big fat fuck that looked sort of like this:

except that he had black hair. He normally ran the soundboard, and would constantly get into fights with bands for never getting the mix right. John was this creepy fucker who looked kinda like JHawk. The rumor was that he was a child predator; he used to have all ages "raves" in the middle of the week where, so the story goes, he would ply underage girls with booze and ecstasy, and then have sex with them.

Despite the general shittiness of the place, it was the best, or rather the only, place to go locally to see shows. Oshawa used to have a pretty thriving punk scene, and on any given weekend, you could go and see some pretty cool bands for about $5. A lot of "big" bands would occasionally stop through, though not many of them returned, probably owing to the fact that the two shithead brothers couldn't run a business to save their lives. Some friends of mine were in a band and would seemingly play there every other weekend; they'd eventually outgrow the place, get pretty popular, and start touring nationally; I think they're just finishing up a European festival tour right now.

Despite make-overs, new ownership, and several new liquor licenses, the place shut down a few years ago. It's affected the broader musical community, as there's not as many venues available, particularly ones which are open to booking new and local bands, or don't have insane rules which came into force as a result of the Dungeon's reputation. Still, people talk about the place nostalgically, despite how bad it was. Probably because of the energy and familiarity of the place, ya know? I wonder how many awesome shows took place in shitty dives like this.

 

[Smartly Pretty]

Fugazi - Waiting Room

This is my favorite punk song.

I like folk punk (Plan-it-X kinda shit) a whole lot more than I really should.

Johnny Hobo-New Mexico Song

 

[BurningPirateShipSex]

I never really got in to folk punk (unless Billy Bragg fits in to that definition); care to recommend some things?

 

[Smartly Pretty]

Billy Bragg isn't really the kind of thing I'm referring to, but I fucking love Billy Bragg. Anyway, INTRO TO FOLK PUNK~!

Defiance, Ohio - I Don't Want Solidarity If It Means Holding Hands With You

Andrew Jackson Jihad - Heartilation

Wingnut Dishwashers Union Fuck shit up! (whanana)

 

[The Coat Is My Father]

WHITE WIRES - Girly Girly Girly

The Zeros - Beat Your Heart Out

The Marked Men - Fortune

Dead Moon - The Way It Is .wmv

 

[The Coat Is My Father]

sup posers

 

[The Coat Is My Father]

lost kids - Cola Freaks

Mean Jeans - Let's Pogo B4 U Gogo

 

[Edwin]

We'll travel round the world, just you and me, punk rock thread.

 

[The Coat Is My Father]

I don't know if you're making fun of this thread or not, you cheeky fucker, but that song rules.

 

[BurningPirateShipSex]

I want to talk about Refused for a second. More specifically, I want to talk about The Shape of Punk to Come.

This is possibly the best punk album of all time.

If you haven't heard of Refused, I fucking hate you. My reaction at age 20 to people who should have known better was probably like this:

i start thinking-- ERGGGH IT MAKES ME SO ANGRY!

Refused were a Swedish hardcore band from Umea. In addition, they were all communists. Not mainline Stalinists: semi-obscure, autonomous marxist types. They were also straight-edge, militant vegans. They were probably the most extreme-left wing band that's ever come out of the punk scene, way more so than the majority of anarcho-punk bands whose lack of music talent is proportional to how badly they should fucking shower.

Anyway, in 1998, the band released the above-mentioned album. It's perfect in almost every way. "Worms of the Senses/Faculties of the Skull" opens with Dennis Lyxzen giving a spoken-word monologue, before screaming out the opening lines ("I've got a bone to pick with Capitalism/and a few to break". The whole album is a mixture of screaming vocals and heavy guitars mixed with electronic elements("New Noise"), soft, almost acoustic songs("The Apollo Programme was a Hoax), and virulent left-wing propaganda ("Liberation Frequency", "Summer Holdays vs. Punkroutine").

On the electronic note: I've seen a lot of punk bands try to mix hardcore and electronic music. They are, in a word, awful. For example, watch this:

Abandon All Ships - Take One Last Breath (video)

Don't you want to punch these fuckers right in the face? (Full Disclosure: I know these guys through band friends of friends; I also saw them a few years ago when some friends opened up for them. Generic guitars, autotuned "clean" vocals, overly choreographed 'moves' during the breakdowns, making ever so sure not to damage their super-expensive rig; in addition to being comprised to a man of stereotypical, guido 'bros' from Woodbridge, ON.)

With Refused, however, it works perfectly when it's done. Maybe it's because Refused were one of the first bands to do it, but it's 13 years later and no mixing can come close to touching how well this is done.

Here's the best part: after releasing this album and touring it, they broke up. No decline in album quality, no touring long past the point of relevancy (unlike, say, the Sex Pistols). They released their best work, and left on the strongest note possible.

If anyone hasn't heard this album, I'd be glad to share a download link.

 

[Czech]

We'll travel round the world, just you and me, punk rock thread.

Well, I have nothing to add to this thread anymore. Thanks, Edwin!

 

[The Coat Is My Father]

The little breakbeat interludes are the worst thing about that album.

I think Crass were probably more authetically left wing than Refused. Penis Envy is a pretty wonderful album, and is an interesting precuser to the riot grrrl stuff wrt integrating feminist themes into punk rock.

Crass- Systematic Death

 

[The Coat Is My Father]

The screamers- Vertigo

The Screamers weren't really self consciously "electronic" in the way that moments of The Shape Of Punk To Come are, but they were entirely synthesizer driven, no guitars. That counts for something, right?

 

[BurningPirateShipSex]

I haven't listened to Crass in a very long time, so this should be a fun!

 

[Smartly Pretty]

Crass - Big A Little A

This is the best Crass song.

 

[Agent of Oblivion]

I remember like Stations a lot, but I haven't given Crass a spin in years.

 

[Sesquipedaliantique]

One chord wonders - The Adverts

Stiff Little Fingers - Alternative Ulster

Swell Maps-Blam!!

 

[The Coat Is My Father]

This is the best Crass song.

Nah, the one I posted is. You remind me, though, is anybody familiar with the band Big A Little A, who took their name from the Crass song? I remember a friend pushing them to me heavily a few years ago, but he was annoying so I always ignored him.

 

[The Coat Is My Father]

Yeahhhhh Swell Maps like a motherfucker.

 

[Edwin]

I don't know if you're making fun of this thread or not, you cheeky fucker, but that song rules.

It's been a long time since I really punked out, but no, that was just the first thing that came into my head. I do pull that Refused album out every 18 months or so, and it rocks, if I recall.

 

[BurningPirateShipSex]

The screamers- Vertigo

The Screamers weren't really self consciously "electronic" in the way that moments of The Shape Of Punk To Come are, but they were entirely synthesizer driven, no guitars. That counts for something, right?

I guess so, sure. A lot of the early punk stuff is so fun to listen to because of how eclectic the sound is; I'm more referring to a time after the first wave of hardcore when 'punk' could be said to have crunchy, distorted guitars as a defining characteristic, and what existed in the early scenes had separated into their own distinct genres and subgenres with pretty clear lines. A lot of this is my own personal experience and bias, but I can't remember hearing a blending of 'distinct' electronic and hardcore before or to the degree that Refused did it.

 

[BurningPirateShipSex]

Of course, it's also in my top 5 albums of all time so there is probably a lot of personal bias influencing what I post about that album.

 

[Smartly Pretty]

None of the Minutemen songs I searched on youtube appear to actually be on youtube, which is weird and kind of a shame, cause Double Nickels on the Dime is probably one of my favorite albums ever but that's probably, like, not news. Doesn't everyone and their mother have that record?

Anyway, here's this one.

Meat Puppets - Split Myself in Two

 

[BurningPirateShipSex]

The Ruts - Staring At The Rude Boys

Here's a really fun UK punk band that was only around for a few years because their lead singer was a heroin addict.

Also, for those who are interested/ want to listen to Henry Rollins talk, here's a story about the Ruts and getting to fill in for Malcom Owen at a one-off a few years ago:

Henry Rollins on The Ruts (Part 1)

 

[The Coat Is My Father]

The Meat Puppets were good, but I think the Mekons beat them at their own game pretty decisively on the album Fear & Whiskey.

This is one of my favorite songs ever:

The Mekons Last Dance