# The Essential Music Library: Punk/Post-Punk/New Wave **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 31, 2005, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-punk-post-punk-new-wave/328673 "2005-10-31T03:35:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-punk-post-punk-new-wave/328673/41 "2005-11-01T19:15:49Z")
> [@RetroVertigo](#): > > I knew I was missing one. :smack: This Place Sucks was also a great album. [nitpick] _This Place Sucks_ was a song…_Everything Sucks_ was the album. [/nitpick] And yes, yes it is. ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-punk-post-punk-new-wave/328673/42 "2005-11-01T19:45:44Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > Top of the post-punk list goes to the Talking Heads (not The Talking Heads, mind you). BZZZZZZT!!! Nice try, but it’s neither. There’s no \*\*\*the \*\* \* there … ever. Not with a big **T** … not with a little **t**. Think about the live album they put out, titled “The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads” (\*\*vibrotronica \*\* got the title wrong, BTW.) If this is still confusing, try thinking of another band, say, Foreigner. One would never say the Foreigner was a great rock and roll band, nor would one say The Foreigner was a great rock and roll band. Instead, one would simply say that Foreigner sucks. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MyNameIsEarl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@MyNameIsEarl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyNameIsEarl)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-punk-post-punk-new-wave/328673/43 "2005-11-01T20:11:19Z")
OK, so these guys have already been mentioned a couple of times in the thread already, but I just want to reinterate that any list of “New Wave” bands that _doesn’t_ include **The Jam** and **Madness** ain’t no list at all. At all, sir! ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-punk-post-punk-new-wave/328673/44 "2005-11-01T23:20:14Z")
> [@Spiff](#): > > BZZZZZZT!!! > > Nice try, but it’s neither. > > There’s no \*\*\*the \*\* \* there … ever. Not with a big **T** … not with a little **t**. > > Think about the live album they put out, titled “The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads” > > (\*\*vibrotronica \*\* got the title wrong, BTW.) > > If this is still confusing, try thinking of another band, say, Foreigner. > > One would never say the Foreigner was a great rock and roll band, nor would one say The Foreigner was a great rock and roll band. > > Instead, one would simply say that Foreigner sucks. 😃 **Ultrafilter** might simply be one of those individuals who uses definite articles more often then your’e used to. My cousin, the missionary priest: “Well, you know, we’ve got the e-mail, now…” ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-punk-post-punk-new-wave/328673/45 "2005-11-01T23:26:08Z")
Actually, it’s just this one case–it really grates on my ears to say “an album by Talking Heads” or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-punk-post-punk-new-wave/328673/46 "2005-11-02T00:45:29Z")
Sham 69 - _Borstal Breakout_ The Specials (their first album, I think it was self-titled, but I can’t remember) Social Distortion - _Mommy’s Little Monster_ & self-titled We still need some old-school NY thrash, maybe some Agnostic Front or Cro-Mags, any fans want to select some ablums? Mission of Burma - whatever’s got “That’s When I Reach for my Revolver” on it. The first three Pogues albums ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-punk-post-punk-new-wave/328673/47 "2005-11-02T01:03:47Z")
> [@waterj2](#): > > Mission of Burma - whatever’s got “That’s When I Reach for my Revolver” on it. That would be “Signal, Calls and Marches”. Though I would be perfectly happy with “VS.” as my MOB choice. I would also add The Flesheaters “A Minute to Pray, A Second to Die” as something worth adding although they aren’t that well known today. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-punk-post-punk-new-wave/328673/48 "2005-11-02T01:10:37Z")
Other bands that have not been mentioned yet, in postpunk or new wave: Psychedelic Furs Concrete Blonde OMD The Police Unfortunately I have compilations of all those so I can’t single out individual albums. Re: Emo: Fugazi, if you’ve heard “Nice New Outfit” and claim it’s not Emo, I don’t know what is. Dashboard: They are important and deserve to be somewhere, why not in this thread? They are at least _influenced by_ emo, moreso than most of the popular stuff that got labelled as that. Promise Ring: 30° Everywhere and Nothing Feels Good are both essential both for their musical quality and to an understanding of the transition between old-school and new-school emo. But, as someone else claimed about Nothing Feels Good, you are looking for the quinessential TPR album, I’d pick the _Boys and Girls_ LP. On average it’s a bit slower than some of their stuff, but it has the best emo song ever (Best Looking Boys), and the other songs are a slower, better produced version of the stuff on 30° Everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-punk-post-punk-new-wave/328673/49 "2005-11-02T02:37:15Z")
> [@waterj2](#): > > We still need some old-school NY thrash, maybe some Agnostic Front or Cro-Mags, any fans want to select some ablums? It’s not NYC, but it’s the same style: G.B.H **City Baby’s Revenge** and also, GWAR **Hell-O** You could make the argument they don’t belong on this\* list, but AFAIC, they’re in. \*There is also an argument that they don’t belong on any list in an essential library. I think that’s just wrongheaded. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-punk-post-punk-new-wave/328673/50 "2005-11-02T02:49:26Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Other bands that have not been mentioned yet, in postpunk or new wave: > > Psychedelic Furs > The Police **Regatta de Blanc, Zenyatta Mondatta** and **Talk Talk Talk.** Both absolutely should be here, especially the Police. So much of Alternative music comes directly from them. it’s easy to forget how big they were then, and I don’t just mean how popular. They used to have the respect of anyone who was interested in the whole genre of music. It’s hard to think of a band that’s currently productive you can say that about. Especially impressive because they were popular\*, which is usually the kiss of death in New Wave. \*I remember when I was a kid listening to America’s Top 40, and Casey Kasem introduced them: “And now at number 22 here’s The Police with some very heavy advice for a girl named Roxanne.” ---
**Author:** ![RetroVertigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@RetroVertigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RetroVertigo)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-punk-post-punk-new-wave/328673/51 "2005-11-02T08:01:55Z")
> [@Hal Briston](#): > > [nitpick] > This Place Sucks was a song…Everything Sucks was the album. > [/nitpick] You’re right man, it was pretty late ☹ That is no excuse though > [@Ludovic](#): > > Re: Emo: > > Fugazi, if you’ve heard “Nice New Outfit” and claim it’s not Emo, I don’t know what is. I wouldn’t put them in there for one song. I’d say their music is pretty politically charged **imho**. Not really meant for a **emo** audience ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-punk-post-punk-new-wave/328673/52 "2005-11-02T16:36:06Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Re: Emo: Fugazi, if you’ve heard “Nice New Outfit” and claim it’s not Emo, I don’t know what is. (minor hijack) Ok, I know where you’re going with this, but Emo to me connotes two different qualities. 1) introspective, personal lyrics & 2) a less heavy than punk aesthetic. I know Rites of Spring is considered the first “emo” band, and I know their ties to Fugazi are strong (several members being in both), but still…I point out the gripes: -Emo has become synonomous with this mellower sound, with bands like the Promise Ring, Dashboard Confessional, the Anniversary, Saves the Day, the Get Up Kids etc. exemplifying the feel. I might be reverse-defining here, but it’s true. This is what emo is now. Punk, conversely, has not met the same fate. Although “bands” like Good Charlotte & Blink-182 have half-hijacked the label of punk-rock, bands like the Exploding Hearts remain, bands that sound as much 1979 as 2003. Emo, because of it’s shorter history, I believe is defined more directly by bands of the 90s and the new millenium, of whom I named. -Also, on the introspective lyrics point: I’d say most of Fugazi’s lyrics are political at their core, not introspective or personal. Nice New Outfit included. Emo has never been and can never be, by definition, politically-charged. I’m not trying to say Emo is mindless pap (I mentioned the Get Up Kids, who I think belong on this list of essentials somewhere), I’m just saying it’s not heavy or all-encompasing enough to classify Fugazi, who in my mind, is among THE quintessential post-punk bands. If not THE. (end minor hijack) That said, I’ll again mention the Get Up Kids & Braid (Frame and Canvas) as two of the more essential emo bands not yet mentioned. Moving on now. ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-punk-post-punk-new-wave/328673/53 "2005-11-02T16:39:26Z")
…apparently, had I checked page 2 (sneaky ol’ page 2), I would’ve seen **RetroVertigo** nearly sum up two paragraphs in a sentence. But I had fun. ---
**Author:** ![party\_store](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@party\_store](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/party_store)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-punk-post-punk-new-wave/328673/54 "2005-11-03T02:28:33Z")
**Birdmonster** : how about we just say that, given the title of this thread, Fugazi definitely belongs somewhere here? It is essential, whichever category it’s filed under. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-punk-post-punk-new-wave/328673/55 "2005-11-04T00:01:31Z")
I didn’t see this and suprised they haven’t been mentioned yet, but how can you talk post-punk without including **The Replacements**? Either _Hootenanny_ or _Let It Be_. Or both of them. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-punk-post-punk-new-wave/328673/56 "2005-11-15T18:54:26Z")
I know it’s bad of me to resurrect threads, but I can’t let this one go by without comment. 5 (IMHO) Essential Albums… [Can’t Stand The Rezillos](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:t9axlfae5cqp) - The Rezillos [Double Nickels on the Dime](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:njevad6kv8w3) - The Minutemen [Machine Gun Etiquette](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wmf2zffhehak) - The Damned [The Specials](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:7mmyxdsbjoly) - The Specials [Flipper](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:6unyxd0bjols) - Flipper ---
**Author:** ![Blobbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Blobbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blobbo)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-punk-post-punk-new-wave/328673/57 "2005-11-20T04:56:37Z")
That noone mentions The Pixies - Surfer Rosa makes me sad. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-punk-post-punk-new-wave/328673/58 "2005-12-11T04:27:17Z")
> [@Blobbo](#): > > The Pixies - Surfer Rosa I bought this today for no particular reason and I was curious to see if it got mentioned in here. This is pretty intense - is it their best? ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-punk-post-punk-new-wave/328673/59 "2005-12-11T05:25:02Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I bought this today for no particular reason and I was curious to see if it got mentioned in here. This is pretty intense - is it their best? I think so, though most people pick _Doolittle_. The much-maligned _Trompe le Monde_ is very strong, also. And, as I feel is my holy musical duty, I should also recommend **Husker Du** ’s 1985 _New Day Rising_ if you enjoy _Surfer Rosa_. When Black Francis put up the ad to start the Pixies, he wrote that he wanted a band that would be a cross between Husker Du and The Mamas and the Papas. You’ll definitely hear the influence, though Husker Du were more emotionally and lyrically direct than the Pixies. p.s. For no particular reason, eh? Sure the cover had nothing to do with it? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-punk-post-punk-new-wave/328673/60 "2005-12-11T05:29:21Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > p.s. For no particular reason, eh? Sure the cover had nothing to do with it? Didn’t even see it until I was back in the car. I was there to get something for my Secret Santa person, but they didn’t have anything I needed and for some reason, that’s what I decided to treat myself to. If I don’t break this habit of getting gifts for myself when I’m also buying gifts for others, I’m going to be very poor at the end of the month. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-punk-post-punk-new-wave/328673.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-essential-music-library-punk-post-punk-new-wave/328673.md?page=4)