sex pistols

This past March 5, the French punk label Guerilla Asso quietly slipped a genius album into the marketplace: Rocket To Kingston, credited to Bobby Ramone. The melding of the isolated vocal tracks from nine of Bob Marley’s most deathless classics to edited Ramones backing tracks, it sounds like a joke on paper. The cover even […]

Lester Bangs, the greatest rock journalist ever, felt eternal Lower East Side musical royals the Velvet Underground were “our Beatles and Bob Dylan combined” and that “modern music begins” with them. He wasn’t wrong. They existed only for a handful of years—1965 to 1970. But five years was enough for them to create virtually everything […]

We’re back with the latest AltPress Weekly. Every week, we highlight new things we want you to check out. We call attention to new songs and old hits, classic listens and fresh finds. We’ll also keep you up to date with the latest happenings at Alternative Press, along with the stories we keep coming back […]

Since the world first became aware that there is such a thing as punk, there’s been a nonstop argument about its birthplace. The clueless mainstream media reported for years that it began in England, simply because the Sex Pistols’ snarl was more extreme. Which royally pissed off New York City, the first place to essentially […]

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 […]

Nashville songwriting great Harlan Howard once defined country music as “three chords and the truth.” Many have said that definition could also be applied to punk rock. Therefore, it stands to reason that the figure writhing behind the mic stand might be the most essential member of any punk band. After all, it isn’t the […]

Since their inception, English rock duo Nova Twins (vocalist/guitarist Amy Love and bassist Georgia South) have been defying convention and making room for women of color in alternative-rock spaces. Meanwhile, American pop-punk band Meet Me @ The Altar, a three-piece energetic group composed of lead vocalist Edith Johnson, bassist Téa Campbell and drummer Ada Juarez, […]

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 […]

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 […]

When blink-182 announced the collaborations for their upcoming album, the message-board grumblings were loud. The additions seemed too mainstream for a band who often mocked pop culture.  On the other hand, making a play at distant fanbases can only help the scene. If Pharrell fans turn back to blink-182, maybe they’ll get a taste for, […]

With a slew of acting credits ranging from the hilarious antics on Saturday Night Live to a serious reflection on life in The King Of Staten Island and the upcoming action-packed The Suicide Squad, it’s clear Pete Davidson is always up for a challenge. This still rings true outside of acting as the comedian hit […]

Post-punk had to happen. Punk rock opened all this space for people to make exactly the kind of art or culture that the disenfranchised had been imagining in their heads, and maybe had limited means or skills by which to make it. But what if you didn’t want to crank out recharged three-chord rock ’n’ […]

“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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Earlier this year, we learned that director Danny Boyle is directing a new Sex Pistols mini-series called Pistol exclusively for FX. Now, Sex Pistols fans are getting their first look at the actors portraying Steve Jones, Sid Vicious, Johnny Rotten, Glen Matlock and Paul Cook in the upcoming limited series. Read more: Bad Suns are performing […]