punk bands

Though all but forgotten by this point—save for documentary films like excellent Vancouver overview Bloodied But Unbowed and recent Teenage Head retrospective Picture My Face—Canada once boasted one of the world’s best punk scenes. The quality/quantity of Great White North pogo-rock acts, plus their music’s sheer ferocity, belied our neighbors’ more mild-mannered and civilized reputation. […]

Some promo copywriter at the Clash’s American label, Epic Records, came up with the questionable slogan “19 songs by the only band that matters” for the sticker that appeared on the face of 1980’s U.S. release of London Calling. While singer/guitarist Joe Strummer, lead guitarist Mick Jones, bassist Paul Simonon and drummer Topper Headon didn’t […]

“Detroit is the capital of Australia.” That phrase got thrown around a lot in ’80s American fanzines as our underground discovered Australian punk’s loud-and-aggressive charms. The basic sound: U.S. protopunk, especially of the Stooges/MC5 variety, mixed with ’60s garage, played with thermonuclear energy through modern heavy metal amplification. There was also an especial appreciation for […]

2020 is rapidly approaching, which means this decade is coming to a close. Because we are coming closer to our generation’s roaring (or RAWRing) ’20s, let’s not get sad and instead take a look at some essential punk bands to watch in 2020.  Maybe punk isn’t exactly what Jay Gatsby was listening to, but we […]

Punk has gone through so many stylistic changes over the years, it’s hard to nail down what the genre actually is nowadays. When it started, though, it was all about grimy, politically charged angst and flipping your middle finger to the establishment. The iconic punk bands who birthed the genre had some classic looks back […]