ramones

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 […]

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 was well into its […]

Despite what some TikTok troll in his aunt’s basement is incoherently ranting about in 2021, punk rock isn’t dead by any means. It never has been, and a sea of incredible bands in its aggressive world get overlooked all too often. We’re here to remedy this. Whether you’re a punk-rock purist who thinks that Sex […]

“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 […]

As we exited the ’90s and entered the new millennium, pop divas, prefabricated boy bands and rappers bragging about conspicuous consumption and how poorly they treated women ruled the airwaves. Meanwhile, what passed for “rock” was the white guys who beat you up in high school P.E. class who’d discovered hip-hop and figured it’d sound […]

For as long as music has existed, artists have been inspiring other artists. Right here within our own beloved scene, we’ve witnessed many examples of newer-era bands drawing inspiration from the OGs. What’s especially endearing is that not only have bands influenced each other in terms of musical style; they’ve also taken from the lyrics […]

“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 […]

“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 […]

Alternative rock still dominated popular music in 1993. This obviously begged the question of just how “alternative” something was if it was now on a major label and on the radio. Not necessarily a bad thing. After all, we’d never have to hear Whitesnake again. Bottom end and distortion returned to rock record-making in a […]

In the ’70s, England had two great punk cities. Most across the planet thought London was the world’s only punk capital, completely ignoring the music and culture’s beginnings in New York City, mostly due to the Sex Pistols’ outsized reputation and influence. But if London was English Punk City No. 1, Manchester definitely came in […]

Remember the time Hootie And The Blowfish performed on NBC’s Friends and Monica even wound up getting a hickey from one of the band members at a meet and greet after the concert? Of course you do. You probably also remember that the band actually didn’t play on the show and, even worse, weren’t seen […]

You would think television (the medium, as opposed to Television, the band) and punk rock were a match made in heaven. After all, the music and culture are sharp, edgy and visually arresting. This should have made punk flawless televisual fodder, right? Truthfully, punk and TV collisions have more often resulted in mutual incomprehension and […]

The mood of 1992: “We won!” Nirvana’s Nevermind sold by the truckload hourly. All anyone could talk about was alternative rock and grunge. Record biz execs walked around that spring’s SXSW convention in Austin in floppy, artfully unwashed hair, just-purchased flannel shirts and ripped jeans. You’d pass a line of them in the parking lot […]

When Evergreen State College student Bruce Pavitt began his Subterranean Pop fanzine in the early ’80s, covering American independent bands and recordings, he had no idea he would virtually invent an entire rock genre. He was just looking to earn a course credit at the freewheeling Olympia, Washington, higher education outlet. But the ‘zine had […]

When pub-rock singer Joe Strummer of the 101ers first met with former London SS guitarist Mick Jones in 1976 to brainstorm material for a new band eventually named the Clash, Strummer was shown one of his songs, “I’m So Bored With You.” He wasn’t having it: “‘Ere, let’s rewrite this now!” The rather wimpy romantic […]

Welcome to Alternative Press’ pick of the 15 best punk albums of 1991. It was a momentous year, one in which underground culture burst into the mainstream, taking punk and all its offshoots with it. Blame it on one album: Nirvana’s Nevermind.  Many punkier-than-thou types will moan when seeing this album’s inclusion. They’d be denying […]

Christmas is quite possibly the most musically controversial holiday of the year. Not everyone digs the varying styles of seasonal music, though it’s a genre unto itself. You have the ancient carols, full of religious imagery, usually sung by hoary old choirs. The early 20th century’s awash with hokey Tin Pan Alley Christmas standards, sung […]

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,” […]

Whether you’re curating your own wish list or getting ideas for your closest friends and family, it’s never too early to start sorting out your holiday shopping plans. Department stores might have the classics, but what about shopping for the punk in your life? Maybe you need a quick list to share with your own […]

Welcome to Alternative Press’ 15 best punk albums of 1989. It’s easy to look at the final year of the decade and see it as transitional. But there are portents of the future all over this list. Yet, truth be told, haven’t we seen that with all these lists? As we’ve worked on this series, […]