captain sensible

10 best '70s London punk bands, from Siouxsie And The Banshees to Sex Pistols

As long as there’s been a punk scene, its denizens have argued as to which city invented it — New York or London? Truth be told, it was neither because history’s first proper punk band was the Stooges from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Which would make Detroit punk’s proper birthplace. But if much of the sound […]

10 glam-rock artists from the 1970s who heralded the coming age of punk

Rock ‘n’ roll had, for the most part, lost its “roll” by 1970. It became rock music—self-serious, dour, pompous, filled with pretensions to being “art.” It ceased being fabulous teenage noise, filled with Chuck Berry’s playful swagger and Elvis’ hypersexualized pelvic thrust and rebel sneer. Kids wanted something loud and flashy, full of energy, something […]

Kid Congo Powers is the most outside insider in all of punk rock

Kid Congo Powers has been one of punk rock’s most valuable players since 1979. That was the moment when boho poet/Slash journalist/Blondie fan club president Jeffrey Lee Pierce handed an open-tuned electric guitar to the Ramones fan club president, who’d previously been one of the suburban teenage habitues of influential local DJ Rodney Bingenheimer’s storefront […]

10 bands who led the very grisly idea of goth-punk across history

“Goth-punk,” eh? Not as far-fetched as you might believe. Goth was essentially an offshoot of punk, especially its darker early bands—the Damned or Siouxsie And The Banshees, anyone? But basically, anyone playing chainsaw punk rooted in the artsier end of glam a la Bowie and Roxy Music, a fondness for Hammer horror films, macabre literature […]

These 15 punk guitarists of the '80s set the standards for the future

Welcome to Alternative Press’ list of the 15 greatest punk guitarists of the ’80s. As the timeline shifted from the ’70s into the new decade, the music changed. Punk had morphed from stripped-down, high-speed rock ’n’ roll with a nasty attitude. It was now faster and louder than the already fast and loud sound, with […]

The sleeves of these 25 old-school punk singles are as cool as the music

As recently established here, the 45 RPM record was the greatest medium for punk rock. It’s compact, it’s affordable and brevity’s of essence—distill all of your best moments in three minutes or less. You can also master these seven-inch beauties hot, perfect for loud music. Then you have the picture sleeves. With punk being so […]

These five records prove exactly how the Damned became punk-rock icons

Real talk? The Damned are the greatest punk band to come out of the United Kingdom. Yes, the Sex Pistols got the notoriety while the Clash got the mainstream success. But the Damned? They’re still writing chapters in punk-rock history. For those of you unaware (it’s cool, just don’t parade that), this APTV video shows […]

These 5 albums embody the Damned’s punk-rock magnificence

Oct. 28, 2019: Dissatisfied with being the first at everything in English punk-rock history (first U.K. punk 45, first U.K. punk LP, first Britpunks to tour America, first U.K. punk band to break up, first to reform), the Damned called upon the masses to help them enter The Guinness Book Of World Records. Booking the […]

The Damned postpone shows due to Captain Sensible's injury

On the Toronto date of tour, the Damned's Captain Sensible fell off stage and broke a rib. Due to these injuries, three of the band's shows have been postponed. First, the Montreal date was postponed to May 23 and the Boston date was posted to May 24. “Ladies and Gentlemen….How do.” As I’m sure you’re […]