Punk Rock Recommendations (1 Viewer)

[Brenton]

Ah, it's hard to go long in a discussion of punk music before some band gets called "sellout". No offense, but I find the accusation stale, not to mention ridiculous. What does "sellout" mean, anyway? (Below, I'm merely taking some stabs at why you may be making this accusation. If none of these arguments apply, please don't feel that I'm attacking you.)

Do you believe that they don't really feel the lyrics that they sing? How would you know that? Do you honestly think that because you, as an individual, are unable to personally relate to their music, that it was written without heart?

Do you think they only care about money? Perhaps because they went on Civic Tour with New Found Glory? How might you be able to determine their motivation simply by hearing their songs?

Is it because they have so many "teenybopper" fans? In my opinion, that's a testament to their mass appeal. Most bands only appeal to punks who are in on the indie scene. The truly great bands are able to spread to punks everywhere. These guys have been able to reach young people who have never been to a show, and who had never even considered being interested in the whole entire genre.

If you don't think their music is a good representation of "true punk", so what? That doesn't mean that it's void of musical merit, as proven by their success in Civic Tour thus far. Perhaps it fits into a category all of its own, only INSPIRED by the other "punk" music that it shares its name with.

If you find their music to be "empty", then that should only mean that you don't happen to like it. And if you don't happen to like it, that's just fine. I'm not a fan either. But please don't drop down to the loathesome level of accusing someone of "selling out". It's really old, and frankly, I'm tired of hearing it. So unless you have some good arguments as to how these guys are "sellouts", think twice before pointing your finger.

 

[Ike]

So unless you have some good arguments as to how these guys are "sellouts", think twice before pointing your finger.

Exhibit A.) Punk was spawned by a bunch of guys that talked about doing (and did) lots of drugs. Good Charlotte are a goody-two shoes bunch of brats in a band that talks about being bullied in school.

Exhibit B.) Iggy Pop would expose himself, cut himself, smear himself with peanut butter, and would have sexual acts performed on him as a sign of rebellion. The guys in Good Charlotte have Slipknot stickers on their brand new PRS guitars, and they wear tear drop make-up.

Exhibit C.) Most punk bands languish in obscurity because of the radical positions they took during their time. Good Charlotte hosts a show on MTV where they make snotty comments about shitty music videos.

Exhibit D.) Punk, by definition, is supposed to be about pushing the limits. Good Charlotte sound like a watered down version of New Found Glory which were a watered down version of Blink 182 which were a watered down version of Green Day which were a watered down version of The Ramones.

Selling out ain't the right term, because you have to have been in before you can sell out, but they aren't punk. "Pop punk" is an annoying term for a style of dress mixed with hard rock. They are "hard pop rock" not "pop punk." The Ramones were pop punk.

 

[Matthew Brown]

Wow! This turned into a "what's Punk" Punk thread!

ha ha!

To me, Good Charlette is a punk rock boy band. There, I said it, they are Punk. Will they be Punk tomorrow? Probably not. A lot of their fans will be mighty upset when the tattoos they newly acquired can't be washed off.

Good Charlette is an excuse for the masses to play dress up and go to shows dressed up like the Reservoir Dogs. I've seen it. I know. Maybe a small percentage of those people will discover what the music is really about and investigate the bands that made a difference. Most will be onto the next fad when the summer is over. They only moved on to Good Charlette because they got tired of Brittney, anyway.

Do you want to know what the biggest musical crime is? Good Charlette is giving a heavy metal attitude to Punk music. New bands are in it for the fame and money. They have their rich daddy's buy them press kits. They call themselves Punk, which is as funny as Aerosmith being in the Alternative catagory on an awards show.

What happens when you water down decaf coffee? This is it. They can call it Punk but it's pop and it doesn't even have an attitude.

Matt

 

[TedT]

Well since the original poster said "modern" punk bands, I'll leave off the Sex Pistols, Ramones, Descendents, Black Flag, etc...

Chixdiggit (excellent punk rock with a poppy, humorous edge to them)

Less Than Jake (the last 3 albums are amazing!)

The Queers ("Love Songs For The Retarded" is about as perfect as you can get. Every song is about listening to the Ramones, girls, and hating the grateful dead)

Teen Idols (some of the best harmonies & vocals I've ever heard)

Sum 41 is a pretty good band for a MTV band. I like how they're not afraid to show their metal influences.

OH! DILLINGER FOUR is about one of the best punk bands EVER!!! Anything by them is simply brilliant!!!

If you like the White Stripes, be sure to check out Doo Rag and Bob Log. (Bob Log was one of the guys in Doo Rag.) Both are minimalist bluesy (old time blues, like the field recordings from the '30s or whenever) music played at a very fast pace.

I'll leave it at that. For now.

 

[Brenton]

Ike;

Your points are all perfectly valid. But you seem to be under the impression that what is called "punk" today is supposed to mesh with what was called "punk" years ago. Time changes things. Just because today's punk shares the same name as the original punk doesn't mean that it is even remotely related to it. The original punk has evolved into something completely its own, and it makes no sense to use the original punk as the meterstick by which to measure Good Charlotte (or any modern punk band for that matter).

If you knew more about Good Charlotte, you would know that they came from financially modest backgrounds, and rose through it to become something more. Kudos to them.

I'd like to reiterate the point that I'm not even a fan of Good Charlotte. I just feel like they are one of the many punk bands who recieve a lot of unjustified and undeserved flack for not being something that they're not even TRYING to be. And it bothers me a lot when people make unfair judgements on the integrity of their music, when these people obviously don't even understand where the band is coming from.

 

[Ike]

Does picky labling even matter?

Okay, here's an unpicky label: they are shit. Punk or not.

 

[Matthew Brown]

Brenton -

I didn't mean to imply that Good Charlette used their rich daddy's money to get where they are. I actually have nothing against the band. I think their songs are catching but they lack the feeling that I like in a song. That's just my opinion.

I hope this comes out right because I don't want to offend or sound like "Super Punk" or anything.

My problem with a band like Good Charlette is that a lot of the people hear the music, as in millions of people. The band's hearts may be in the right place but a lot of the people listening think all you have to do is put on makeup, play a catchy riff and now your Punk and your going to make money. In the past most Punk bands came from the same place emotionally. Some new bands are jumping steps and calling themselves Punk. Some of these bands I have seen personally, get flashy press kits, tour vans (!), fancy equipment, and they bitch and whine like the band Bitchslap in the Mixerman articles. To me, that's like those guys who buy themselves into the Russian space program.

Green Day came out of the Punk scene but they were always more Pop than Punk. They always got slagged for not being Punk enough. So they went on to something great and I am happy for them. Everyone called them Punk when they got popular but it never affected what I really felt were Punk shows. For years I was still able to go to shows featuring bands that I enjoyed. Some were bands I had friends in, some just local ones. Once in a while a band like the U.K. Subs would pass by.

Things are different now. When my band plays shows, there are bands that feel if they throw enough money into a "look", they are Punk. It ruins the flow of the whole show.

Matt

 

[Tony-B]

Wow...

Sorry for mentioning this...

I would also like to recommend Millencolin.

 

[Brenton]

Don't be. A healthy discussion like this never hurt anyone.

 

[Stephen L]

They would never call themselves punk, but the early Jam is great stuff.

My all time favorite band, the have to be one of the most under rated.
A couple of more old time punk bands worth exploring
The Undertones
Stiff Little Fingers
Mission Of Burma
The Stranglers
Wipers
Hüsker Dü

 

[Jason Garrett]

See if you can find some Hank III. Hank Williams III his first name is actually Shelton and he is the grandson of Hank Williams, son of Hank Jr. He looks just like his grandpa though and sounds like him somewhat too, it's a trip. He is a huge Misfits fan and he plays a pretty cool punk rock set at his shows. I've seen him play like 3 or 4 times and they are pretty good. You might have a hard time finding his punk music though... I don't even know if he's still putting out the country music. He was on Curb Records, but from the looks of the t-shirts at his shows I don't think he was very happy with Curb for some reason.

I saw somebody mention The Dead Milkmen. They are pretty funny! A bunch of people I grew up with loved these guys. One dude from high school knew one of them and we got to meet them at a concert back in high school. That was like 15 years ago though.

 

[Matthew Brown]

Brenton -
No weak accusations here. I have seen directly what influence bands like Good Charlote have.
The "They" in the quote above refers to the bands who imitate Good Charlette, not Good Charlette themselves.
Tony-B
You will find that people who are into Punk music will have healthy debates on just about anything to do with the music. The biggest one might just be how "Punk" a band really is. The second is what defines a sellout or poser. This has been happening since the music started. One of the funnier debates I remember occured in many fanzines when CD's started to come out. A lot of Punks didn't feel that CD's were punk. It was vinyl or nothing else. I think some still feel this way.
Back to some bands that are worth checking out.
U.S. Chaos (check out this little video I made for them http://www.loveandbullets.com/Pictures/gwgd.mpg)
The Toy Dolls
The Dickies
For some flat out nasty biker rock 'n roll, The Anti- Nowhere League. The only problem with their albums is that you don't know until you buy them if certain songs are censored.
Generation X is also great. I prefer it to anything Billy Idol has done after.
IMHO, the best way to get into the music is to go see the bands. It doesn't even matter who. It's not arena rock, bands usually play small clubs. The shows I have been to lately haven't been violent. I never got into that part of it but somehow it surprises me how safe it has become. I went to this huge punk fest in Asbury Park last year, my wife (pregnant at the time) and i finally got to see the Exploited. I didn't see a single fight.
Matt

 

[Kevin Farley]

Exhibit A.) Punk was spawned by a bunch of guys that talked about doing (and did) lots of drugs. Good Charlotte are a goody-two shoes bunch of brats in a band that talks about being bullied in school

What? Uh,, Minor Threat was straight-edge, I doubt the Clash was much into drugs, The sex pistols, well, never mind; but That is NOT what punk was about. To me, Punk=Political Messages, Agression, Deep emotions, and fast music.

For all the Fugazi talk, I can't believe that Minor Threat hasn't been mentioned yet. Ian MacKaye's first band, and flawless hardcore punk. An unbelievable record from start to finish.

Listen to Agent Orange, Living in Darkness (first album). Great stuff. Got to see them at a big show (surf/skate expo) It was great to see them with like 20,000 people. I was vibing off of their excitement to be playing to so many.

Me, I'm still learning. Fugazi, Minor Threat, 7 seconds, DRI, Agent Orange (Great band!!!!), Sex Pistols, the Clash, Subhumans, DK, Black Flag, Rollins, Thrasher Skate Rock Vol. 1, The Faction, etc...

 

[Mark Lee]

Stephen -

Good to see that there's another MoB fan on this forum! (Of course, I figured it had to be a Boston-area chap who'd be Burma-aware....)

Have you seen them live since they re-formed? I missed their LA show last year, and I'm anxiously awaiting the All Tomorrow's Parties festival later this year in LA, which MoB is supposed to be playing in.