From Ramones to The Twilight Zone, hell's portrayal in media has changed over the years. We owe this shift not only to Sam Raimi but also to the Vietnam war.
From Joy Division's Peter Hook to Green Day's Mike Dirnt, these are the 20 greatest punk-rock bassists of all time. See if your favorite made the list.
In 1991, Anita Hill testified before a Senate Judiciary Committee about being the target of sexual harassment from African-American judge Clarence Thomas at his Supreme Court confirmation hearing. The hearings were televised, and Hill’s lurid testimony sent bolts of shock and disgust across an America yet to become completely tabloidized. When...
After the Stooges, New York Dolls were the most important of all protopunk bands. The standard belief is that in their original lifetime — 1971 to 1976 — they invented the sound and attitude of ‘70s punk rock and the look of ‘80s hair metal. Blame the latter on th...
“It’s been an all right year,” DE’WAYNE says. The genre-bending artist released his debut record, STAINS, an explosive combination of punk, hip-hop and pop, in June. For DE’WAYNE, it wasn’t just the powerful start of a new era but also a chance for him to cross a childhood goal — releasing an album by the age of 25 — off his list. “That was really huge for me, and I got to wor...
As the new century’s first decade unwound, things evolved or deteriorated rapidly, depending on your perspective. The entire world was changing in every aspect. So of course, punk rock was gonna change with it.
The fundamentalists would scream and moan about how these changes weren’t punk at all, that we needed to go back to basics, how everything was better in “the old days.” Which was downr...
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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...
The most notable aspect of punk rock in 2002 was the mainstream ascension of garage for the first time since the ‘60s. But all those albums by the Strokes, the White Stripes and the Hives that went mega this year were all recorded and released in 2002. Whic...
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...
Foo Fighters have just announced a summer 2022 North American tour in support of their album Medicine At Midnight. Along with a string of U.K. and European dates, the band will hit several stadiums across the country between May and August.
Meanwhile, Dave Grohl is continuing the annual tradition of the “Hanukkah Sessions” with Greg Kurstin. The pair r...
Welcome to Alternative Press’ selection of the 1980s’ 11 best punk drummers. One key factor happened that changed it, and the character of its musicianship: hardcore. ‘70s punk posited that Anyone Could Do It. While this was true on paper, some degree of basic musicianship was required to make truly great punk rock. This was especia...
“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...
The Rolling Stones invented the very notion of the modern rock ‘n’ roll band. Which means, in turn, their impact on punk rock and alternative music was total.
This is the point where there’ll be a loud and noisy exit from our tale. “Aw, c’mon maaaa...
"Government authorize education/(Don't mean a thing)/They'll teach you what they want you to think/(Don't mean a thing)/Saturation of stars and stripes/(Don't mean a thing)/The only freedom worth fighting for is for what you think/Why bother spending time/Reading up on things/Everybody's an authority/In a free land"
Those 11 lines comprise the entire lyric of “In A Free Land,” the second
“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 ...
“We’re the Interrupters! We’re from Los Angeles, California!” the young guitarist announces over a fanfare, as the camera pulls back and reveals a four-piece band, plus a singer, and a crush of throbbing humanity in a tiny space. “And this first song i...
“Energy, good energy and bad energy/I've got plenty of energy,” Amy Taylor wails seconds into Melbourne, Australia aggro-punks Amyl And The Sniffers’ freshly released second LP, Comfort To Me. “It’s my currency,” she sings on that opening track, “Guided By Angels.” Indeed, the band—Taylor, drummer Bryce ...
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Boston, Massachusetts, Sept. 25, 2021: The 1965 Mosrite Ventures II electric guitar played by Johnny Ramone on every Ramones album from 1977 onward and at 1,985 of their live shows sold at auction for $937,500. Not bad, considering the punk guitar architect paid $200 for it, after his original one he bought for $50 in the early ‘70s was stolen.
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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...
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, Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliott) acts. Neo-country artists Shania..