minor threat

20 songs that transformed punk, from "Raw Power" to "Rebel Girl"

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 […]

Check out these rare photos of punk legends, as captured by Jim Saah

“People were commenting about this one photo I took of Marginal Man that was in the inner sleeve of their record [Identity, Dischord Records, 1984],” mused veteran Washington, D.C. punk/alt-rock photographer Jim Saah via telephone. He was reflecting on an exhibit at D.C.’s Lost Origins Gallery celebrating his new book In My Eyes: Photographs 1982-1997 […]

These 10 artists made Washington DC into one of the epicenters of punk

It’s been said in various ways that Washington, D.C. is the least punk town in the world, which perhaps makes it the perfect place for a punk scene. Certainly, the national capital’s first stabs at three-chord ‘70s teenage rebel music might challenge Johnny Ramone or Joe Strummer’s idea of the same. Among the earliest local […]

10 times different artists collaborated to make inspiring music

September 1963: A young R&B combo called the Rolling Stones are rehearsing, preparing for a recording session. Their manager, former Beatles publicist Andrew Loog Oldham, was tearing his hair out. They were about to record their second single, a follow-up to their modestly successful remake of Chuck Berry’s “Come On.” But they had one problem: […]

1998’s top 15 punk albums simultaneously changed and preserved the form

Top 15 punk albums of 1998? You’d be forgiven for thinking that there weren’t any in the year the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal dominated the news. A quick perusal of Billboard’s Hot 100 singles of the year sees domination by several R&B (Destiny’s Child, Janet Jackson, Usher, Mariah Carey) or hip-hop (Puff Daddy, Master P, […]

11 singers who helped define the vocal style of punk rock in the ‘90s

The ‘90s: the decade punk went mainstream. First, SoundScan made radio safe for Nirvana and the grunge-ified hordes. Then Green Day and other pop-punk acts moved in and squatted at the top of the Billboard charts. True, it seemed to be finished two years later, only to be reinvigorated at the turn of the century. […]

These 11 singers steered the course of punk and hardcore in the ’80s

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 late ‘70s punk harbored many […]

These 15 classic albums made 1996 a crucial year in punk history

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. Conservative public policy bulwark […]

11 LGBTQIA+ punk musicians who changed the genre forever

It stands to reason LGBTQIA+ culture informed, inspired and enmeshed with punk, down to the crossover with the ’70s glam scene that helped spawn it. After all, both worlds were essentially the Island of Misfit Toys, from the Rankin/Bass 1964 holiday special Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer: a rebel culture for those whose ideas don’t fit […]

10 old-school punk bands who created the blueprint for the hardcore scene

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. tour the previous year, and now that Sid Vicious kid […]

15 punk albums that set up 1994 to be a year of major change for the genre

To consider Alternative Press’ list of 1994’s top 15 punk albums, one has to bear in mind two factors: Green Day’s Dookie was released Feb. 1. Kurt Cobain died by his own hand April 5. The alternative nation’s voice was suddenly, shockingly stilled. After three years of the most popular music being an agonized scream […]

10 Joan Jett-inspired artists who are breaking boundaries just like her

“Joan Jett doesn’t play rock ’n’ roll,” I wrote two years back, reviewing her SXSW showcase for The Austin Chronicle. “She is rock ’n’ roll.” It’s true. The individual born Joan Marie Larkin in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, embodies the music and spirit better than anyone this side of Keith Richards. As Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong […]

7 artists who were banned from ‘SNL’ for their badass performances

Getting booked as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live is the perfect way for any artist to become a household name. But with the national spotlight comes the show’s strict standards for guests, leaving some outspoken artists to feel restrained. As punk and alternative became more mainstream in the ’80s, the show began to […]

25 most influential albums that define what it means to be emo

The genre affectionately known as emo started out as a wave of internalized rage bubbling under the surface of Washington, D.C.’s Revolution Summer in the mid-’80s. Within three decades, it had permeated the mainstream and changed beyond all recognition. Like it or not, the bands inspired by that initial breakthrough, including Rites Of Spring and […]

Here’s when you can get the back catalog of punk icons Bad Brains

Bad Brains, the righteous and ferocious Washington, DC-based rastapunk quartet who arguably invented hardcore, have won back the rights to their back catalog. In the near future, they will undertake an extensive remaster/reissue campaign. The records will be issued on a custom imprint, Bad Brains Records via Org Music. “Hey what’s up Bad Brains family,” […]

REVIEW: Anti-Flag live by the political messages they promote in new doc

Anti-Flag are a sharp and substantive band who will have a legacy that stands the test of time. But don’t just take our word for it. Watch Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello, singer-songwriter Billy Bragg, Rise Against frontman/guitarist Tim McIlrath, Brian Baker of both Minor Threat and Bad Religion and many more musicians […]

This is how Minor Threat ended up as direct support to the Damned

Do you remember what you were doing around this time last year? We do. Prior to their kickass show at Cleveland’s Agora in August 2019, Bad Religion members Jay Bentley and Brian Baker stopped in to blow the breeze on everyone from Minor Threat and the Damned to Sonny Moore and Unwritten Law. Not really. […]

This is how Brian Baker ended up in Bad Religion over 25 years ago

If there was a punk-rock hall of fame, Bad Religion would certainly belong in it. The long-running California punk outfit have maintained a positive agenda while creating some classic songs. But if the band drove up to the front door of said punk building, they’d probably look through the glass door, look at each other […]
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