circle jerks

As the 1980s began, most of the world was under the impression that punk rock failed when the Sex Pistols imploded at the end of their 1978 U.S. tour. Bassist Sid Vicious then drove the final nails into its mainstream coffin via self-administering his own fatal dose after allegedly murdering girlfriend Nancy Spungen in New York City the following year...

Circle Jerks have released a music video for their track “Wild in the Streets.” The visual, directed by Atiba Jefferson, comes in celebration of 40 years of their 1982 record Wild in the Streets. The band will also drop a deluxe edition of the album February 18 via Trust Records. Read more...

There are a lot of people out there who know what punk rock is but have no idea how to explain it to a novice or an outsider. It would seem simple enough to define it as “three-chord teenage rebel music,” but what about all those songs that have four or more chords? Or all the...

“When Damaged came out, it perfectly represented the depths and darkness of my particular teen angst,” Adam Grossman, guitarist for Angkor Wat, Skrew and Ministry, tells Alternative Press. “It was the soundtrack of my life at that point in time.” Any musician...

“People were commenting about this one photo I took of Marginal Man that was in the inner sleeve of their record ,” mused veteran Washington, D.C. punk/alt-rock photographer Jim Saah via telephone. He was reflecting on an exhibit at D.C.’s Lost O...

“You’re only as good as your drummer,” Clash singer/rhythm guitarist Joe Strummer lamented in their documentary Westway To The World, as he recounted Nicky “Topper” Headon’s firing ahead of 1982 breakthrough LP Combat Rock’s tour. “Drumming...like nailing a nail into ...

Welcome to Alternative Press’ 10 best punk vocalists of the ‘10s. As we noted when counting down punk’s greatest guitarists of this period, the genre was 35 years old in 2010. Punk rock had a history and a tradition by now, as well as a rule book it was never supposed to have. Which, of course...

The idea of compiling a list of the greatest punk singers of the ‘80s might seem a bit odd. After all, this was when hardcore rose and quickly dominated all things punk. And let’s face it: Hardcore vocalists are more noted for bellowing than actual singing, per se. Not that l...

1996: President Bill Clinton was squaring off against Kansas Sen. Bob Dole in a successful bid for a second term in the White House. On April 3, former math professor Ted Kaczynski was arrested in his remote Montana cabin, suspected (correctly, it turns out) to be American domestic terrorist the Unabomber...

The organizers of Riot Fest have announced that the festival is returning to Douglass Park in Chicago this fall. In typical Riot fashion, the lineup for Sept. 17, 18 and 19 is stacked. “We’ve missed you and we can’t wait to see you this year,” the festival organizers shared.  Headliners include...

1979: As far as the American record business was concerned, punk rock was finished. They’d spent a packet on the Sex Pistols, Ramones and Dead Boys, and those albums seemingly shipped straight to the cut-out bins. The Pistols self-destructed at the end of their U.S. to...

When the ball dropped in New York City’s Times Square at the stroke of midnight Dec. 31, 2009, punk rock had been around 35 years. (Or 33, depending on if you date the subculture from when the Ramones began playing gigs or from the mythic Punk Year Zero of 1977.) It ...

Like most bands (at least the ones who didn’t try to kill their fans), SoCal punk institution Bad Religion didn’t play any shows this year. Until last month, when they performed four shows in front of cameras, not people. Over two days in November, the band performed four sets at esteemed L.A. venue th...

Skateboarding culture has always gone hand in hand with music, whether it’s punk, metal, hip-hop or any other genre. Some of the most famous skateboarders around have also expanded their creative pursuits beyond the extreme sport, though, and broke into the music world. Trad...

In the '80s, many a cloth-eared critic and social dullard thought punk was just a mindless fad. Here in 2020, we know better than our parents ever did. But there's still time for them to catch up. Because these punk albums of 1983 haven't lost any of their potency...

In a back catalog overflowing with radio-friendly hits and roof-raising singalongs, it’s easy for some monumental tracks to slip under the radar. Emo juggernauts My Chemical Romance are no exception, despite only having four albums’ worth of songs to define their career. Delving...

We're pretty sure you've heard the old aphorism: "Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it." It's a statement that's always been universally prescient. However, it might not apply to these choice punk albums from 1982. This APTV video revisits that awesome year for some groundbreaking releases...

Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Riot Fest 2020 has been postponed until 2021. The festival announced the new dates and first lineup announcement on June 16. The Chicago-based festival follows a long list of other festivals that have been postponed this year including Lollapalooza, Glastonbury, Coachella and Reading and Leeds...

As protests against police brutality rage on in the United States and across the world, we’re turning to music as a way to understand our emotions. The anger and sadness that comes with looking directly at how police and society as a whole have been treating the black community is something to embrace and channel to push toward a better world.  ...

Welcome to the top punk albums of 1982. Ronald Reagan's been president for a year. His distaff British stunt double Margaret Thatcher's been prime minister a few years longer. Between the two of them cutting the legs out of their respective nation's economies and eroding freedoms, punk had plenty of grist for the songwriting mill...