wire

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 Detroit punk’s proper birthplace. But if much of the sound […]

In 1996, Your Punk Professor interviewed the Clash’s distinguished lead guitarist Mick Jones for a proposed Alternative Press piece on punk’s original guitar heroes. Though it remains unpublished, I asked in the course of it what he thought of Rancid. Jones waxed effusive, noting he’d met the Berkeley punk traditionalists in the course of a […]

Welcome to Alternative Press’ pick of the 15 best punk guitarists of the ’90s. One notable difference between this list and the other two we’ve compiled is the inclusion of several women. Punk did much to democratize rock ’n’ roll in the ’70s, with many pioneering all-female (the Runaways, the Slits) or mixed-gender lineups (X-Ray […]

As recently established here, the 45 RPM record was the greatest medium for punk rock. It’s compact, it’s affordable and brevity’s of essence—distill all of your best moments in three minutes or less. You can also master these seven-inch beauties hot, perfect for loud music. Then you have the picture sleeves. With punk being so […]

Punk in 1978: The Sex Pistols broke up in San Francisco and were about to become an asset in a legal battle, despite “new” material being issued. The Damned also dissolved and then reassembled as the Doomed, with Captain Sensible moving to lead guitar and Motörhead’s Lemmy briefly on bass before realizing they’d fare better […]

Wire Silver/Lead FILE UNDER: Post-punk promise made manifest ROCKS LIKE: Beach House, Interpol, the Chameleons WHAT’S DIFFERENT: The creative hot streak that these post-punk pioneers have been on since reuniting in the new millennium continues. With 2012 addition Matthew Simms now comfortably ensconced in the lineup as lead guitarist, Wire feel free to stretch out […]

Sometimes the rock world can get noisy, and we don’t just mean in decibels or fuzz. Often the signal-to-noise ratio is more noise than signal. But no worries: We read, listen to and watch everything so we can sort it for you. Here are some of our favorite new songs and videos of February 2015. […]

Wire Change Becomes Us British art-punks Wire have been around in some configuration at various junctures for the better part of 30 years. While you would think they would just be grumpy old auteurs (or worse yet, succumb to making the same record an infinite number of times), they continue to exercise more craft in […]