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I was never into punk when I was younger, recently I've heard a lot more of the genre here and there, and I love what I hear I just don't know what bands are good because I really never payed attention the the genre.

This song is like my favorite:



You guys know songs/bands similar that I might like?

Well Billy Idol and The Clash are two classic examples.

The Clash: The Clash, London Calling
Ramones: Ramones, Rocket to Russia
Television: Marquee Moon
Sex Pistols: Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
Wire: Pink Flag, Chairs Missing
Meat Puppets: Meat Puppets II
Elvis Costello: My Aim is True, This Year's Model
The Stooges: Funhouse, Raw Power
MC5: Kick Out the Jams
Patti Smith: Horses
The Velvet Underground: The Velvet Underground & Nico, White Light/White Heat, The Velvet Underground, Loaded
Nirvana: Nevermind, In Utero, MTV Unplugged In New York
Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures, Closer, Substance
Gang of Four: Entertainment!
Public Image Limited: Metal Box
Minutemen: Double Nickels on the Dime
The Who: My Generation
David Bowie: Hunky Dory, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
The Replacements: Let it Be, Tim
Talking Heads: Talking Heads: 77, More Songs About Buildings and Food, Remain in Light
Husker Du: Zen Arcade, New Day Rising, Flip Your Wig, Warehouse: Songs and Stories
Black Flag: Damaged
Dead Kennedys: Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
Fugazi: 13 Songs
T-Rex: Electric Warrior, The Slider
New York Dolls: New York Dolls, Too Much Too Soon
X: Los Angeles, Wild Gift, Under the Big Black Sun
PJ Harvey: Rid of Me
The Feelies: Crazy Rhythms
Sonic Youth: Sister, Daydream Nation
The Jesus and Mary Chain: Psycho Candy
Pixies: Surfer Rosa, Doolittle
The White Stripes: Elephant

Many of these predate punk but remain influential to the genre or aren't really punk but were part of the scene and/or were influenced by it, I do this to show you where "punk" came from and to show you how extensive it's influence is.


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Violent Femmes: Violent Femmes
The Modern Lovers: The Modern Lovers


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Start with Ramones, The Clash and The Sex Pistols as they pretty much are the most definitive bands of the genre then branch out from there.


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Iggy Pop: The Idiot, Lust for Life

That's a pretty good and extensive list cheesecat. I love me some minuteman and black flag, and the clash.

I'd also add the bad brains, penny wise, and possibly nofx for popular 80's/90's punk.

Then there is bands like piebald, modern life is world, jimmy eats world as well.


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Add thrice, saetia, and hot cross for a little more hectic screamo punk.

Obtain the Sex Pistols "Never Mind the Bollocks" and NOFX "Punk in Drublic."

Those two records are the greatest examples of UK and US style punk. Other records are either "influences on" early punk (the Clash, Iggy and the Stooges), or "influenced by" punk (Nirvana, the White Stripes), or just not as good (all the other punk bands)

There is lots of decent punk out there. AFI was a good punk band back in the early 90's.

My name is Blacksails, and I approve of Cheesecat's list.

Personally, I've always been more of a ska/ska-punk/ska-core kind of guy. Rancid is probably a good band to look into; good blend of various punk stylings and legends in their own right. Also, Matt Freeman is a god. They play a damn good show live.

For the Canadians, Dayglo Abortions are pretty ace.

I'm sorry, Taking Back Sunday isn't punk. They're simply an alt-rock band.

If you want to listen to real punk, start with the great grand daddy of punk: Johnny Cash. It might be country, but his music especially in later years formed the basis for a lot of what came after. Also The Kinks, The Who, The Stooges, and David Bowie.

Then, start listening to The Clash. I don't know if the argument can be made that they are the 'fathers' of punk, because they weren't the first in the genre, but they were probably the first to fully 'mature' punk and formed what I think is the earliest and best exemplar for others to follow.

From there, the world is your oyster, some good go-tos:

The Pixies
Dead Kennedys
Sex pistols
The Misfits
Bouncing Souls
The Ramones
Butthole Surfers
The Smiths
Sonic Youth
Patti Smith
Black Flag

From there you can move on to more recent 'post-punk' (technically I don't think that term is strictly applicable, but it conveys my point well enough) acts, which are heavily influenced by punk, but not strictly punk in and of themselves:
Bruce Springsteen (oh yes, The Boss might not have the punk rock sound, but he embodies the blue collar/working class mindset, i like to think of him as proto-folk-punk)
Green Day (esp. 90s Green Day)
The Offspring
Violent Femmes
Dropkick Murphys (celtic punk)
Flogging Molly (celtic folk punk)
Operation Ivy (ska punk)
Streetlight Manifesto (ska punk)
The Hold Steady (not strictly, however their music is heavily influenced by punk, particularly the vocals)
The Gaslight Anthem (my absolute favorite, also probably he closets you'll get to "Taking Back Sunday")
Titus Andronicus
Gogol Bordello (gypsy punk)
Anti-flag
At the Drive-In (post-hardcore)
Bad Religion
Frank Turner (folk punk)
Dave Hause
Sum 41

Otherwise, I think Cheesecat has a pretty good list, though a couple of those acts don't quite fit (Nirvana, for example, though grunge is closely associated with punk it stresses different elements musically), but I'm sure he would say the same about my list as well.

feeder wrote:
Obtain the Sex Pistols "Never Mind the Bollocks" and NOFX "Punk in Drublic."

Those two records are the greatest examples of UK and US style punk. Other records are either "influences on" early punk (the Clash, Iggy and the Stooges), or "influenced by" punk (Nirvana, the White Stripes), or just not as good (all the other punk bands)

There is lots of decent punk out there. AFI was a good punk band back in the early 90's.

There's plenty of punk bands that are just as essential as your examples that you left out dude, like Television's "Marquee Moon" is one of the most creative and critically acclaimed albums to come out of not only the punk scene but for music in general. It trades in the aggression of punk

but retains the repetitious hooks, angst filled vocals and minimalist atmosphere but is un-punk in the sense that they're really good at playing there instruments, has a rhythm and lead guitar that play off of each other, subtle and poetic lyrics, longer songs, Jazz inspired sound, etc. The

fact that many critically acclaimed bands use Television as an influence like The Feelies, The Strokes, Fugazi, Interpol, R.E.M, Pavement, The Smiths, U2, Sonic Youth, etc just reinforces their importance in the music world. I could name like 5 US punk albums that are easily more

important in the history of punk music than "Punk in Drublic" off the top of my head, "Ramones", "Marquee Moon", "Damaged", "Remain In Light" and "Let it Be" there you go.

Here it is in full on YouTube if you want a listen:

My punk list is as follows (not order of popularity):
Bad Religion
Blink 182
One Man Army (punk group, not the thieving rap idiot)
Green Day
Hot Water Music
Alkaline Trio
The Ramones
LUDO
Good Charlotte (First two albums only)
Sum 41
Simple Plan
Bowling For Soup
AFI
Acrobrats are a fun new one that came out for Guitar Hero
MI6
Crimson Circle

A bunch of this stuff is obscure (HWM, OMA, MI6, Ludo, CC...list goes on). But it's mostly from the 90s and early to mid 2000s. All is enjoyable to me. Maybe you'll find something you like too.

chaos0xomega wrote:
snip.

I think most critics and music historians generally either consider Patti Smith or Ramones as the first punk rock band although some start with stuff like The Stooges, MC5, Velvet Underground, The Who, etc (often classified as "proto-punk") as "punk" because many bands had stuff that

sounded "punky" years before the Ramones or Patti Smith.

 Cheesecat wrote:

feeder wrote:
Obtain the Sex Pistols "Never Mind the Bollocks" and NOFX "Punk in Drublic."

Those two records are the greatest examples of UK and US style punk. Other records are either "influences on" early punk (the Clash, Iggy and the Stooges), or "influenced by" punk (Nirvana, the White Stripes), or just not as good (all the other punk bands)

There is lots of decent punk out there. AFI was a good punk band back in the early 90's.

There's plenty of punk bands that are just as essential as your examples that you left out dude, like Television's "Marquee Moon" is one of the most creative and critically acclaimed albums to come out of not only the punk scene but for music in general. It trades in the aggression of punk

but retains the repetitious hooks and minimalist atmosphere but is un-punk in the sense that they're really good at playing there instruments, has a rhythm and lead guitar that play off of each other, subtle and poetic lyrics, longer songs, blues inspired sound

without it being obviously blues, angst filled vocals, etc. The fact that many critically acclaimed bands use Television as an influence like The Feelies, The Strokes, Interpol, R.E.M, Pavement, U2, etc just reinforces their importance in the music world. I could name like 5 US punk albums

that are easily more important in the history of punk music than "Punk in Drublic" off the top of my head, "Ramones", "Marquee Moon", "Damaged", "Remain In Light" and "Let it Be" there you go.

I agree with you, and like I said, there is lots of decent punk out there, I just chose the two best of the UK and US style punk. Not most important, or influential, but best. If the OP doesn't like these two records, chances are he's not going to like Punk.

Thanks for the link, Television is one of those bands you read about all the time but never really hear.

chaos0xomega wrote:
Otherwise, I think Cheesecat has a pretty good list, though a couple of those acts don't quite fit (Nirvana, for example, though grunge is closely associated with punk it stresses different elements musically), but I'm sure he would say the same about my list as well.

Yeah, I'm taking a more liberal definition of "punk" including genres that aren't typically what people think of "punk" but are often associated with it like New Wave, Post-Punk, Art Punk, Alternative Rock, etc. Grunge is a style of Alternative that mixes elements of Punk Rock, Hardcore Punk,

Alternative Rock, Noise Rock and Heavy Metal and Hard Rock acts of the 70's so Grunge does have punk elements to it but it's a hodgepodge of lots other ideas as well.


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feeder wrote:
I agree with you, and like I said, there is lots of decent punk out there, I just chose the two best of the UK and US style punk. Not most important, or influential, but best. If the OP doesn't like these two records, chances are he's not going to like Punk.

Thanks for the link, Television is one of those bands you read about all the time but never really hear.

Sorry about the misunderstanding, I apologize.

We'll this thread escalated quickly :p

I forgot how much I love the aquabats and AFI though. So thanks for that timetowaste

Oh and if anyone listens to Television expecting a Ramones or Sex Pistols style sound you're going to be horribly disappointed, but the reason they're celebrated is not for those reasons either.

Surprised no one mentioned the B-52's either. They we're early enough.

Chancetragedy wrote:
Surprised no one mentioned the B-52's either. They we're early enough.

Yeah, forgot to mention them but then again for New Wave stuff I'm only really familiar with The Talking Heads, Elvis Costello and The Pretenders so it would be unfair for me to comment on them. Blondie is another New Wave group I need to learn more about.

 Mr Nobody wrote:
Well Billy Idol and The Clash are two classic examples.

Billy !


I love this guy.

chaos0xomega wrote:
From there you can move on to more recent 'post-punk' (technically I don't think that term is strictly applicable, but it conveys my point well enough) acts, which are heavily influenced by punk, but not strictly punk in and of themselves:
Bruce Springsteen (oh yes, The Boss might not have the punk rock sound, but he embodies the blue collar/working class mindset, i like to think of him as proto-folk-punk)
Green Day (esp. 90s Green Day)
The Offspring
[…]
Frank Turner (folk punk)
Dave Hause
Sum 41

You do know that there is an actual genre called post-punk, and that it sounds nothing like any of the band you quoted, right ?
With bands that have cool name that you really, really want to type on Google when in a public place, like Sex Gang Children . It is basically the origins of goth music .


Obligatory video of a punk clip :

Yeah, post-punk is stuff like Public Image Limited, Joy Division, Gang of Four, Television, Wire, The Feelies, Talking Heads, etc stuff that has punkish elements to but often trades in punk's aggression for more atmospheric and/or experimental sounds while keeping punk's minimalism.

But I think he's/she's just using "post-punk" to mean any music that has a "punky" feel to it but isn't a conventional punk sound either and comes after the birth of punk music.

 Hybrid Son Of Oxayotl wrote:
You do know that there is an actual genre called post-punk, and that it sounds nothing like any of the band you quoted, right ?

I assure you I am aware, hence the paranthetical note following it where I state "technically I don't think that term is strictly applicable, but it conveys my point well enough."

But I think he's/she's just using "post-punk" to mean any music that has a "punky" feel to it but isn't a conventional punk sound either and comes after the birth of punk music.

He, and yes, pretty much this.

Realistically though, punk is a tough genre to classify musically, even amongst the first and second wave punk acts there was a widely diverse sound there. The one primary thread that (generally) defines punk is that stripped down, simple, no frills rock and roll sound - generally three chord rock (but not always), relatively simply drumbeat and bassline, not a lot of emphasis on 'showing off' with solos and bridges, a simple/repetative chorus/refrain, and generally unrefined, raw vocals - the emphasis is on self-expression and passion, not on sounding good and technical skill. Lyrically, punk songs often (but not exclusively) have a political or social message behind them, or are about bucking social norms (more or less purely for shock value), but just as often its about personal issues and heartbreak though when this is the case, the songs tend to be deeper in nature and use more complex allusions than more commercial genres, and there is often a suggestion of anger/violence associated with the heartbreak. In general, I think attitude is also as important as the sound when it comes to defining the genre, its about expression, its about playing by your own rules, not following the crowd, and challenging authority.

Generally, I would say that 'true' punk largely died out in the early 90s, and pretty much only continues to survive in underground clubs in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, LA, D.C., the UK, and a few obscure corners of the globe, with a small number of slightly more prominent acts (Gogol Bordello, The Gaslight Anthem) that have some recognition in the public eye still staying at least somewhat true to the genre's roots.

Gogol Bordello are fething awesome. Everyone should like Gogol Bordello.

Don't get too caught up in exactly what constitutes punk, its a question without an answer.

There is a pretty comprehensive foundation in this thread and you will find most if not all of it on youtube.

For my part I would like to add:

Excellent list Cheesecat, but you missed out my two favourite punk artists!:










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Incidentally, Cobain was a big Buzzcocks fan. There's a really cool video on youtube of him hanging out with them backstage at some gig.

 Albatross wrote:
Excellent list Cheesecat, but you missed out my two favourite punk artists!:










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Incidentally, Cobain was a big Buzzcocks fan. There's a really cool video on youtube of him hanging out with them backstage at some gig.

Thanks, I love the Jam and Buzzocks too but I was just showing the one's that I thought were the most important bands out there and not just a list of punk, proto-punk and punk inspired bands that I happen to like, there's a about a dozen other bands I could of added that I enjoy listening

to like the Jam, Buzzcocks, The Damned, The Pretenders, etc but I wanted to get stuff that I felt was essential and let people discover some other great punk, proto-punk or punk inspired bands on their own.

I like a great deal of the music listed, especially Billy Idol, the Clash, the Ramones, the Pixies, Joy Division, down to the more modern punk-lite (I think the term was post punk) of Green Day, especially (as noted) mid-90's Green Day.

 Ouze wrote:
I like a great deal of the music listed, especially Billy Idol, the Clash, the Ramones, the Pixies, Joy Division, down to the more modern punk-lite (I think the term was post punk) of Green Day, especially (as noted) mid-90's Green Day.

Well post-punk (it's an actual genre) is more stuff like this (see spoilers), stuff that often has the minimalism and vocal style of punk but is atmospheric and experimental instead of aggressive and energetic. Post-punk is often inspired by a wide range of things like krautrock,

experimental rock, punk rock, disco, dub, funk rock, etc.







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chaos0xomega wrote:
Generally, I would say that 'true' punk largely died out in the early 90s, and pretty much only continues to survive in underground clubs in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, LA, D.C., the UK, and a few obscure corners of the globe.

I think there's plenty of good "punk" inspired music is goes beyond the 90's like certain indie rock groups and the post-punk revival like The White Stripes, The Strokes, Interpol, the Kills and Arctic Monkeys have kept the "punk" spirit going, but I also don't have much respect for traditionalists

like Green Day, Blink 182 and Billy Talent who don't really do much to innovate the genre and more appreciate bands who take elements of punk and twist it in a way that feels fresh and new so I maybe be biased.

 Cheesecat wrote:
The Clash: The Clash, London Calling
Ramones: Ramones, Rocket to Russia
Television: Marquee Moon
Sex Pistols: Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
Wire: Pink Flag, Chairs Missing
Meat Puppets: Meat Puppets II
Elvis Costello: My Aim is True, This Year's Model
The Stooges: Funhouse, Raw Power
MC5: Kick Out the Jams
Patti Smith: Horses
The Velvet Underground: The Velvet Underground & Nico, White Light/White Heat, The Velvet Underground, Loaded
Nirvana: Nevermind, In Utero, MTV Unplugged In New York
Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures, Closer, Substance
Gang of Four: Entertainment!
Public Image Limited: Metal Box
Minutemen: Double Nickels on the Dime
The Who: My Generation
David Bowie: Hunky Dory, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
The Replacements: Let it Be, Tim
Talking Heads: Talking Heads: 77, More Songs About Buildings and Food, Remain in Light
Husker Du: Zen Arcade, New Day Rising, Flip Your Wig, Warehouse: Songs and Stories
Black Flag: Damaged
Dead Kennedys: Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
Fugazi: 13 Songs
T-Rex: Electric Warrior, The Slider
New York Dolls: New York Dolls, Too Much Too Soon
X: Los Angeles, Wild Gift, Under the Big Black Sun
PJ Harvey: Rid of Me
The Feelies: Crazy Rhythms
Sonic Youth: Sister, Daydream Nation
The Jesus and Mary Chain: Psycho Candy
Pixies: Surfer Rosa, Doolittle
The White Stripes: Elephant

Many of these predate punk but remain influential to the genre or aren't really punk but were part of the scene and/or were influenced by it, I do this to show you where "punk" came from and to show you how extensive it's influence is.


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Violent Femmes: Violent Femmes
The Modern Lovers: The Modern Lovers


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Start with Ramones, The Clash and The Sex Pistols as they pretty much are the most definitive bands of the genre then branch out from there.


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Iggy Pop: The Idiot, Lust for Life

see cheese this is what I love about you... you remind me in so many ways... taste in music like that, ach, so proud.

The first step is admitting you have a problem. Kudos to you

Thanks guys, I am slowly working my way through all these new songs

London Calling by The Clash is pretty much Punk's greatest moment, in my opinion.

Brilliantly crafted songs combining loads of different musical styles without sacrificing any of the energy associated with punk.

Nothing has topped it since (again my opinion).

Combat Rock is also worth a listen. Interesting album for its mix of "mainstream" punk tracks such as "Rock the Casbah" alongside more "risky" tracks like "Straight to Hell" and "Ghetto Defendant".

Would also chime in and say Streetcore by Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros, since nobody else has said it. Joe's last album (he died whilst still recording it so some of the vocal tracks are first or second takes, not that you can tell) but he goes out as, as one review said, "a roaring, laughing, snarling lion".

I know I mentioned Alkaline Trio, and nobody else has, but go give a listen to their album "From Here to Infirmary". As a huge fan, I'd say it's their best album, and it's the second most punk one they have. The most punk one was probably "Goddammit", which, interestingly enough I had to special order from my local music store and the manager was the son of a minister...and I had to ask him for the album "Goddammit". I was mildly uncomfortable, and really felt like I was going to be struck down by lightning upon leaving the store. I was also in my teens when I ordered it and wasn't the ass that I am now.