Old Punker seeks NEW PUNK

Cafe Society
1

Let’s put it this way… I was very angry in the 70’s. I was even angrier in the 80’s. So I listened to a helluva lot of punk.

For the past 15 years I’ve been exploring a lot of other things, and when I hear younger listeners say “this group’s punk”, I usually listen about 15 seconds and say, “yeah, sure” and that’s that.

But I’ve been listening to Nirvana, and I really dig it. It’s like if the Beatles were signed by Alternative Tentacles. :cool:

So can anyone steer me to some more good nineties and naught’ies punk?

Here are just a handful of my old faves, in no particular order:
Fear
Dead Kennedys
999
X-Ray Specs
Ramones
Electric Sex Circus
Anti-Flag
Minor Threat
Black Flag
Chronic Generation
Stiff Little Fingers
Iggy Pop
Suicidal Tendencies
Butthole Surfers

Could go on and on, but that’ll give you an idea of what I’m into.

2

Try Operation Ivy. They only have one ep available as far as I know. It’s somewhat of a “greatest hits” (though it’s not called that) recorded between about 1987-1989.

Also for some newer stuff, a lot of people talk shit about them, but you can’t really go wrong with Rancid. Try their 2000 self titled album, the one with the skull on the front.

You might also want to check out Punk in Drublic by NOFX (around 1993 I think)

And really anything by Guttermouth. Start with Puke and Balls or Terri Yakimoto.
Hope this helps.

3

Well, there’s Aston Kutcher.

*No punk’d intended :smiley:

4

Oh My GOD :eek: there is actually another person that likes Iggy Pop out there. We ought to be considered an endangered species or something honestly.

As far as good punk stuff of the 90s and 00s I really do not know if theres been any. If you liked Nirvana give **The Pixies ** a try. Also Gwar might be worth checking out (just for the entertainment value if nothing else). I could recommend tonnes of amazingly great russian punk music of the nineties as we had a real big punk thing going back then but something tells me (ok not something, my roommate tells me) you probably won’t find it very good.

5

Anything by boysetsfire is fantastic. Great-sounding, very angry political punk. Same kind of message as Rage Against the Machine.

mmm…Rage Against the Machine…mmm…

6

Our tastes are similar, so I would encourage, no, IMPLORE, you to get out, post haste, and fetch these two albums.
First, Refused, The Shape of Punk to Come. This album does what the title says, and even though it’s somewhere in the neighborhood of five years old, it still tears sh*t up. A group on the eve of breaking up, decide to come back for one last album, knowing it to be their last. They bring in jazz, techno… This all sounds very tame today, because everyone is cross-pollenating, but when it came out this record just blew the doors off anything else, in my humble opinion. Essential, and I don’t say that lightly.

Second, The Blood Brothers, Burn Piano Island, Burn. Picks up where Refused left off. Spazz-core frantic energy with great lyrics, a helluva racket from a five piece. One of the few albums that I still listen to constantly, even though I bought it a year ago. I recommend this every chance I get, and no one ever bites. Won’t you be the first?

The differnce between us is that you were listening to this stuff when it came out; I caught it in the 80’s.

7

Well, speaking as a (somewhat :slight_smile: ) old punk who like everythngi on your list, I have to say I like the stuff currently being touted as “new punk”…The Strokes, The White Stripes, The Hives, The Vines…

Not as angry, or as innovative as the originals but worth checking out.

What? There are plenty of us…arn’t there :eek: ? Gazes fondly at the Naked Iggy picture she keeps over her computer

8

I loved The Stooges…but once it became “Iggy and The Stooges”…I realized I didn’t care so much about the vocalist anymore. If it wasn’t for him I would really be interested in what they are doing now with the reunion and whatnot…it would be real cool to see Mike Watt up there playing with them…but the last few times I have seen Iggy…I threw up.

With that out of the way…new punk:

I say you can’t beat Blink 182- I would say they are the most rebellious thing since The Germs. insert the half asleep smiley

:wink:

9

Iggy Pop? The Stooges??? Never heard of 'um. :smiley:

Here’s some good examples of some newer punk rock…

The Exploding Hearts
The Immortal Lee County Killers
The Royal Grand Prix
The Quadrajets
Tiger Army

10

I like what I’ve heard from The White Stripes. But The Strokes??? I haven’t heard much of them – because what I have heard has sucked – but I sure wouldn’t call it punk. :dubious:

I’ll check out the others you recommend, though.

And thanks to everbuddy else, too. Keep 'em coming.

As for the Germs, if Darby did have to kill himself, too bad he didn’t do it on stage like he sometimes said he would. That would have been the ultimate punk show.

Btw, calling bullshit on ill-advised recommendations is encouraged. :smiley:

11

McLusky were simply fabulous. Their album McLusky Do Dallas is a tour de force.

12

Against Me! is one of the most revitalizing punk bands in a long time. Sometimes acoustic/clean guitar songs that still manage to sound more pissed off and energetic than most bands with their distortion set to 11 nowadays. Also, they’ve got amazing lyrics- try the song “Reinventing Axl Rose” for an anthem of what they think the scene should be about today, or “Baby, I’m an Anarchist” for their more politicized side.

Also, now defunct but astoundingly amazing, check out anything by This Computer Kills (a bit more obscure than Against Me!). AWESOME bass lines, erratic guitar playing, and pounding drumming, with twin screaming vocals that are just something to behold.

13

If you like this kind of music, may I suggest that you look into Cream Abdul Babar? They’re from Tallahassee and legendary in Florida, and have a surprisingly large following all over the US and in Europe. You won’t find their in-print CDs at the mall, for sure, and maybe not even at your indie shop, but they’re available online. There will be a 2CD reissue of their early, long-out-of-print material in the coming weeks.

14

You have Minor Threat on your list, how about Fugazi?

Propagandhi, Civ, and Face to Face are all favs of mine.

15

Ya wanted someone to call some bullshit… The Vines, Blink-182 and The Strokes are all BS. I don’t know what you’d call them, but I’m pretty sure they’re not your idea of punk.

As for calling the opposite of bullshit… Propagandhi, Against Me!, Operation Ivy and Refused are all worth checking out.

There’s a new compilation album out on Fat Wreck Records called Rock Against Bush… it’s a mixed bag, but there’s some really good stuff on it, and it certainly has the political overtones that you might appreciate, given the bands you mentioned in the OP.

16

Thanks for the tipoff.

Actually, I’m not a leftie, though. Not into Biafra’s rants, for example. I do like a good sense of humor, and leftie lyrics don’t matter if the tune and playing are good (I enjoy 7 Seconds’ “Fuck Your America” for example, just like I enjoy Fear’s “Strangulation” – tight tune w/ in-your-face lyrics that I don’t take as a model for my life :wink: ). When I started listening back in the day, I pretty much enjoyed whatever gave the government shit.

17

You like punk and aren’t a leftie? That’s a new one. Heh. The politics were really what got me into (old) punk in the first place.

Whoever called bullshit on Blink 182–screw you. You just don’t know good punk…and Good Charlotte…kick ass!

Okay…sorry…bullshit called.

Hmmmm…The Descendents have a new album out…it’s pretty good. The best I can do when speaking of “new punk” is to name old punks with a new album.

I cannot call myself a White Stripes fan at all…but they are okay at what they do. I would not consider them punk.

18

Okay. Postpunk.

Punk is an attitude. Punk is a way of life. Punk is fuck you to… but I don’t need to say that, we all know it.

Punk is three chords and someone banging on a guitar. Punk is doing your music the way you want to.

The problem is, all that contradicts itself.

So… yeah. Okay.

I consider Offspring to be related to surfpunk… it’s got a lot of reggae and Dick Dale lebanese influence in it. They’re funny, they’re talented musically, and they have good music.

There’s the Riot Grrl genre, descending from Joan Jett… Fetish, by the way, is a great album, she came back from blues to rock. Babes in Toyland, L7, Lunachicks.

There’s the Ramones-Descendants. White Stripes, The Hives…

And then there’s music that doesn’t really have any direct relationship… it’s like prog and punk had a baby. Say what you want, it’s different from what you’re hearing. Evanescence. Luca Turil. (Darn, I wish I was home, I’d check my winamp list…) Goblin. Apocalyptica.

Course, there’s also always Marilyn Manson.

How do you want to rage? 110 beats per minute like the Germs where you can’t understand the words? Lyrics you can rock to like the Ramons and Dead Kennedys?

You might like Rich Kids on LSD, too.
And, of course, Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters and Soundgarden for the remains of Alternative. I reccomend the Foo Fighters highly if you liked Nirvana.

19

Pearl Jam?!?

Pearl Jam is about as punk as my aunt Sophie. Everything I’ve heard from them is just another version of the same damn song, and whatever it is, it sure as hell ain’t punk.

Marilyn Manson? Please…

Joan Jett? Get lost.

Fusion, alternative, postpunk, whatever… bullshit. I’m talkin’ 'bout PUNK, Willis!

I’m talking about Lee Ving bellowing “I don’t care about you!” I’m talking about Poly Styrene screaming “Bind me, tie me, chain me to the wall”. I’m talking about D.H., Klaus, and Ray going faster and tighter than a two-wheeled locomotive race, about Mike Muir whipping the pit into a white hot lather, about Killing Joke locking into a synchronized crunch that makes you grind your molars then exploding into a frenzy of screaming nihilism.

Y’know… punk!

20

Unless I’m mistaken, Johnny Ramone is a conservative republican.