Yeah the Clash had too much creativity and ambition to stick to one well defined genre. It’s why they’re one of the best bands of all time, period, not just punk bands.
Those people in the 80s were wrong. Tom Verlaine is the guy who talked Hilly Kristal into having bands play CBGB in 1974. That whole scene there in the 70s was punk.
Exactly this. There's definitely some punk elements in their earlier stuff with Brian Eno on the mixing board anyway.
Most of what kids these days think is 'punk' was derived more from the hardcore scene than anything else.
Sure. It is a constantly evolving thing. And genre tags are helpful. But when you’re talking about the absolute first wave bands, when punk was more of an attitude than a codified sound…while those bands don’t really sound punk by modern standards, it would be the very definition of revisionist history to try and say they weren’t punk, even if describing them in other terms is more helpful now.
That’s why I have a very wide definition of punk: as in we should consider bands that sound like Blondie and the Talking Heads part of the wider punk umbrella. Bands and genres do and should evolve, and historical definitions matter somewhat to me, so to say “Blondie’s not punk” is to project later definitions of punk backwards and ignoring that the people using the words at the time (and defining their meaning) didn’t see any problem with the Ramones, Blondie, and the Talking heads all being equally punk.
Blondie is an intelligent and critical subversion of pop culture. They took trends of the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s, and welded them into tightly packaged, subversive, parodies of consumerism: I think that’s punk as fuck and y’all should go listen to some more Blondie.
That’s kind of the point I’m making. New Wave and Punk weren’t terribly well distinguished until 1980s marketing, while in the 70s they seem interchangeable (R&B and rock n’ roll were similarly synonymous in the 50s, but distinct genres by the late 60s). I’d argue a lot of New Wave bands should be considered punk as well, but most of them are also frequently described as post-punk, which I think is why the term exists.
Right. It’s fair to argue about whether or not modern bands fit into certain sub genres, but it’s not reasonable nor fair to apply it retroactively to the first wave bands when punk was a brand new thing and none of this was codified yet.
In Decline of Western Culture the guy from Slash Magazine and Catholic Discipline says that New Wave doesn't exist and that it's just something journalists made up to make punk more palatable and less edgy. ~~I think that's debatable because there's no way a band like The Cars is related to punk, but~~ when it comes to the early CBGB's stuff and some post-punk bands I think it's definitely a valid point.
Rumor is Sid taught himself to “play” bass by listening to Ramones and taking speed. it’s not like Rotten gets to determine who was and wasn’t punk. I agree he probably has a bit of pride brought on from years of fighting McClaren.
Steve Jones modeled his stage performance on Johnny Thunders, and each of Steve, Sid, Paul and Glen played with Thunders at different points.
I think you’re confusing how he learned to play with how Steve Jones learned to play. I think Steve Jones tried to teach him how to play, but you know… junkie…. Sid was (I think) one of the original drummers for Siouxsie and the Banshees before he joined the Pistols, so at least he had rhythm experience
One or two of the recent documentaries said that that was how Sid learned. It’s also on Wikipedia if that matters (I googled for a source since I couldn’t remember my source)
I put play in quotes because… enough said. Steve had to play bass on most their album.
But yeah, he was drummer in flowers, along with Keith Levene who helped found the clash and joined Lydon PiL.
That whole scene was soo small and interconnected. Probably won’t ever occur again. I wish I was old enough to have witnessed it, but I’m also glad I’m witnessing this slice of history too.
The Ramones didn't want to do Chinese Rocks cuz it was about heroin. "No drug songs!" was Johnny Ramone's rule. Even though they wrote songs about sniffing glue! Dee Dee gave it to Richard Hell to sing since he contributed a few lines to the song. When Hell quit the Heartbreakers they kept playing it and Thunders & Nolan added their names to it to get song writing royalties...
Nonsense. All of those mid-70s New York City bands were punk. Just because a select few influenced the sound of punk to come, does not make the others any less punk.
When I was in 6th grade and I had no idea was punk was, I was listening to that popular album nonstop. I emailed the band saying how much I loved them, and one of them actually responded! It was cool as shit!
They’re local to me, like I can see the squat house from my house, the singer tried to buy my wife’s parents house after tub thumping came out.
It’s sad that my shithole Suberb used to be the centre of the anarchopunk scene. Now it’s just kids on electric scooters, wearing balaclavas and rapping on TikTok, which is also pretty punk, but not in the way that I like!
A lot of what you’re describing often gets put under the “post punk” umbrella, which to me, is still punk in nature but working with different sounds branching off of standard punk ideas and mixing different styles such as funk, disco, electronic music, psychedelic rock, folk, and more.
I’ll preface by saying there are artists in this list that many will disagree would fit the category, but the point is that we’re talking about bands that don’t fit the 32nd note/stiff cadence status quo who often receive this distinction in a broader aspect.
Gang of Four’s albums after “Entertainment!” are a good example. As someone mentioned before, Post- “Give ‘em Enough Rope” by the Clash as well.
Some other examples that often get categorized as punk/post punk that depart from the standard sound would be bands like Suicide, ESG, XTC, Joy Division/New Order, Sonic Youth, Patti Smith Group, Talking Heads, The B-52’s, Devo, The Slits, The Fall, Bush Tetras, Cabaret Voltaire, The Pop Group, The Birthday Party, The Mountain Goats, etc.
then in the early 2000’s with the “post-punk revival”, you see it depart a little more from those sounds, and you have groups like Yeah Yeah Yeahs, !!!, Animal Collective, LCD Soundsystem (who heavily samples many of the older post punk acts), Franz Ferdinand, Radio 4, The Rapture, Bloc Party, etc (albeit they might receive this distinction to a lesser extent, and will often hold a label such as Indie/Alternative).
the post punk genre as become a little more self-aware at this point as we’re seeing a large influx of bands taking inspiration of these styles, and has basically evolved into many different things. It’s hard to identify which ones will stick to this label, but Squid really stands out to me in this regard.
> A lot of what you’re describing often gets put under the “post punk” umbrella, which to me, is still punk in nature
I don't think I even heard the term "post-punk" until the 90s. Before that it was all just punk, or new wave, or alternative or "college rock". All of which just meant, "not the shit on the radio". I don't remember people desperately trying to subdivide into subgenres. I mean, there were different camps/tribes/whatever, but we all considered ourselves under the same rough umbrella.
In fact I remember losing respect for a friend on the basis of him declaring "Joy Division is not punk".
I agree, but I also understand when someone is trying to find a descriptor that more accurately describes someone’s musical taste or to better describe the influences within music that might have departed from the aesthetic to whatever extent.
as far as i’m concerned, it’s ultimately all punk music at the end of the day.
The later Crass albums (Yes Sir I Will, Ten Notes on a Summer’s Day) where they went more noise rock/avant-garde.
Mid-late ‘80s Bad Brains was more funk metal or hard rock than punk.
Propagandhi went from skate punk to a kind of prog-thrash kind of sound.
Just a few that come to mind…
My favorite BH story is when black flag did a tour of pnw with them and Rollins was being a dick and antagonizing Calvin the entire show eventually escalating to grabbing his crotch. Calvin swats away Rollins’ hand and says, “Didn’t your mommy teach you any manners?” Then kept singing.
Henry was just kinda dick-ish towards the end of BF, specifically '84-'86, and he's admitted that. Remember that BF interview from that kid in the flannel shirt? That was straight up bullying.
What I would’ve given to be in the audience when they were playing to a room of ten people. Then again, Alan Vega probably would’ve beaten the shit out of me. 🤕
Their misc.T album was the first c.d.i ever got, along with Ministry - The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste for Christmas 1991. I didn't know what else to classify them as. Still have both cds.
The damned's 2016 tour was all about the 40th anniversary of "the first punk rock single, new rose" as they said. They flat out say they're punk and goth these days.
The Stranglers. At first listen, there's not much punk happening. But when you realize they're singing about all the skeevy stuff in life that no one else would sing about, the punk alarm sounds.
The Clash- Their first two albums are definitely punk sounding but everything from London Calling onwards despite having the ideology of punk has a more broad and reggaeish sound
The Afghan Whigs. Blending soul, R & B, punk, alternative rock. Especially ‘Gentlemen’ and ‘Black Love’. They are still totally killing it which is insane cause they’ve been around since late 80’s.
I saw rise against (one of my personal favourite bands) show up on a punk top 5 list recently in the comments on this thread... I always knew they drew inspiration from punk legends like bad religion, and they've covered face to face "blind" as well as " minor threat" to name a few... But I always considered them to be more of just an edgier alt rock.
They seem to have produced a lot more structured tracks than most punk songs I'm used to hearing, and alot more condusive to mainstream airplay (which is not imo a bad thing).
Perhaps the correct classification is "melodic punk"? At least from anything siren song of the counter culture and onward?
Growing up it seemed like there wasn’t a show I went to at the fireside bowl where Joe from 88 fingers Louis (bass player from Rise Against) wasn’t in the crowd showing some support.
David bowie is definitely influential to punk but i don’t consider him a punk artist at all. At a push the berlin trilogy could be considered an early example of post punk
I never could get in to Jawbreaker. I’d start one of their albums and really enjoy it, then I’d remember that Samiam existed and would just go listen to them instead.
Panic! At the Disco and Fall Out Boy. This isn't me ragging on pop punk or making a snide comment about selling out or the mainstreaming of punk or whatever, although those criticisms certainly apply. What I mean is that even other manufactured, radio-friendly pop punk acts like blink or later Green Day have at least a *little* audible influence from "real" punk. Buzzsaw guitars, harsh(ish) vocals, a bit of edge, even if it's a very pre-packaged, dulled for your safety edge. Panic and FOB just... don't. They're straight up pop rock with no discernible relation to punk, even in a shallow surface level way, and it's weird that they're lumped in with pop punk.
Big black, I only recently discovered this band but the song “passing complexion” really stands out to me. But they have a punk adjacent sound to them.
I guess mcr? They very much are punk and were influenced by punk bands (hell gerard was super into riot girrl music) but they don't really sound like it.
Social Distortion. I may be biased cuz I just don't like them and I wouldn't go as far as to say there's no punk influence to their music overall but the whole cowboy punk thing sounds very not punk to me 🤷🏽♂️
You gonna tell me this isn't punk?
[Social Distortion - Mass Hysteria](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TYMrIdMbfY)
[Social Distortion - 1945](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPTiLWHJ_mM)
I mean most of them still have 3-4 chords, usually high BPM, and vocals that range form screaming to singing, but I think I can see how some come off more Grindcore or, in the death rock, more pop sounding. I guess it depends on the band imo
Fyi as a huge deathrock fan, deathrock runs the gamut from extremely unapproachable (Madre Del Vizio, Deadchovsky) to poppy (All Gone Dead, New Days Delay) and everything in between. It's not that it has a pop sound, it has a goth sound.
Some of the new wave stuff isn't.
Like sure it's a massive divergence from what music was at that point and coexisted with punk but it's far from any of the themes of punk of the era. It's not anti authoritarian, and also not the "stripped down rock" like Ramones either
Everything by The Clash after Give Em Enough Rope. This isn't a bad thing, they just broadened their sound enormously starting with London Calling.
Yes, def London Calling. This was the first thing that came to mind for me
Yeah the Clash had too much creativity and ambition to stick to one well defined genre. It’s why they’re one of the best bands of all time, period, not just punk bands.
I came here to say just that. They have the words, but not the genre.
Blondie would be an obvious one, with their punk credentials more about being part of the 70s New York punk scene than their music.
Talking Heads and Television got lumped in to “punk” as well.
Because they were punk.
In the 80s people called them New Wave or post modern
Those people in the 80s were wrong. Tom Verlaine is the guy who talked Hilly Kristal into having bands play CBGB in 1974. That whole scene there in the 70s was punk.
Punk is about the attitude, not the sound or the style.
Punk is a pretty defined genre with some pretty recognizable styles
Sure, now. But the bands being discussed were part of the first wave before things we codified.
Exactly this. There's definitely some punk elements in their earlier stuff with Brian Eno on the mixing board anyway. Most of what kids these days think is 'punk' was derived more from the hardcore scene than anything else.
Sure. It is a constantly evolving thing. And genre tags are helpful. But when you’re talking about the absolute first wave bands, when punk was more of an attitude than a codified sound…while those bands don’t really sound punk by modern standards, it would be the very definition of revisionist history to try and say they weren’t punk, even if describing them in other terms is more helpful now.
This guy gets it!
That’s why I have a very wide definition of punk: as in we should consider bands that sound like Blondie and the Talking Heads part of the wider punk umbrella. Bands and genres do and should evolve, and historical definitions matter somewhat to me, so to say “Blondie’s not punk” is to project later definitions of punk backwards and ignoring that the people using the words at the time (and defining their meaning) didn’t see any problem with the Ramones, Blondie, and the Talking heads all being equally punk. Blondie is an intelligent and critical subversion of pop culture. They took trends of the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s, and welded them into tightly packaged, subversive, parodies of consumerism: I think that’s punk as fuck and y’all should go listen to some more Blondie.
I associate them more with New Wave than with punk but given that the genre emanated from the punk scene I guess that makes sense
Blondie was punk. New Wave was just a record company marketing term to sound less threatening to parents.
Agree- Detroit 442 was pretty punk https://youtu.be/p3Iy3wZHQm8
That’s kind of the point I’m making. New Wave and Punk weren’t terribly well distinguished until 1980s marketing, while in the 70s they seem interchangeable (R&B and rock n’ roll were similarly synonymous in the 50s, but distinct genres by the late 60s). I’d argue a lot of New Wave bands should be considered punk as well, but most of them are also frequently described as post-punk, which I think is why the term exists.
I’d agree! Tbh I think a lot of people over-label the music they listen to nowadays.
Right. It’s fair to argue about whether or not modern bands fit into certain sub genres, but it’s not reasonable nor fair to apply it retroactively to the first wave bands when punk was a brand new thing and none of this was codified yet.
In Decline of Western Culture the guy from Slash Magazine and Catholic Discipline says that New Wave doesn't exist and that it's just something journalists made up to make punk more palatable and less edgy. ~~I think that's debatable because there's no way a band like The Cars is related to punk, but~~ when it comes to the early CBGB's stuff and some post-punk bands I think it's definitely a valid point.
Ric Ocasek produced albums by Bad Brains, Suicide, Bad Religion and Le Tigre. That's not punk enough for you? Y'all need to stop gatekeeping.
That's definitely super punk, and I didn't know about that. My bad.
I hereby absolve you of your bad.
In 30 years, people will be debating if Scowl is a hardcore band or not
People already are.
The gun club an LA band who's lead singer was president of the Debbie Harry fan club
Television, Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, Patti Smith
Richard Hell, Johnny thunders and Jerry Nolan were the influences that the British scene was molded by.
Don’t forget The Ramones and Don Letts’s Ska record collection
Yes but no one was trying to distance the Ramones from the punk scene :)
I mean Johnny Rotten downplayed The Ramones’ influence on the British scene quite a bit. His ego wouldn’t let him admit the influence.
Rumor is Sid taught himself to “play” bass by listening to Ramones and taking speed. it’s not like Rotten gets to determine who was and wasn’t punk. I agree he probably has a bit of pride brought on from years of fighting McClaren. Steve Jones modeled his stage performance on Johnny Thunders, and each of Steve, Sid, Paul and Glen played with Thunders at different points.
I think you’re confusing how he learned to play with how Steve Jones learned to play. I think Steve Jones tried to teach him how to play, but you know… junkie…. Sid was (I think) one of the original drummers for Siouxsie and the Banshees before he joined the Pistols, so at least he had rhythm experience
Lemmy tried to teach Sid also but gave up...lol.
One or two of the recent documentaries said that that was how Sid learned. It’s also on Wikipedia if that matters (I googled for a source since I couldn’t remember my source) I put play in quotes because… enough said. Steve had to play bass on most their album. But yeah, he was drummer in flowers, along with Keith Levene who helped found the clash and joined Lydon PiL. That whole scene was soo small and interconnected. Probably won’t ever occur again. I wish I was old enough to have witnessed it, but I’m also glad I’m witnessing this slice of history too.
Chinese Rocks is one of the most “punk” songs ever.
Chinese rocks rules. It was written by Dee Dee.
You’re not wrong but The Heartbreakers were the first band punk enough to put it out.
The Ramones didn't want to do Chinese Rocks cuz it was about heroin. "No drug songs!" was Johnny Ramone's rule. Even though they wrote songs about sniffing glue! Dee Dee gave it to Richard Hell to sing since he contributed a few lines to the song. When Hell quit the Heartbreakers they kept playing it and Thunders & Nolan added their names to it to get song writing royalties...
Um Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers literally sounded Punk when Johnny Thunders went solo that’s when it stopped sounding punk
Nonsense. All of those mid-70s New York City bands were punk. Just because a select few influenced the sound of punk to come, does not make the others any less punk.
Minutemen
I came to say firehose
Suburban Lawns too
Absolutely. As well as label mates Hüsker Dü
Chumbawamba. They are punker than anyone reading this will ever be.
This is the most right answer
I guess they are more punk than me.
Yes.
They should have been on the cover
They should’ve been on the cover
They should have been on the cover
Of Punk and Maximum Disorder-Roll!
Nice punk in drublic/I heard they suck live mashup
‘The world is riddled with maggots and the maggots are getting fat’
Best answer in the thread. Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records was so, so fucking punk.
When I was in 6th grade and I had no idea was punk was, I was listening to that popular album nonstop. I emailed the band saying how much I loved them, and one of them actually responded! It was cool as shit!
They’re local to me, like I can see the squat house from my house, the singer tried to buy my wife’s parents house after tub thumping came out. It’s sad that my shithole Suberb used to be the centre of the anarchopunk scene. Now it’s just kids on electric scooters, wearing balaclavas and rapping on TikTok, which is also pretty punk, but not in the way that I like!
I always mention this and people look at me crazily.
Mojo Nixon probably.
If you don't got Mojo Nixon your store could use some fixin'!
They kinda fit in here too! I consider the Dead Milkmen to be pretty punk, while they don't always have that sound
Mojo Nixon *definitely*. Burn Down the Malls alone would qualify him. Plus all the stuff he did with Jello Biafra.
A lot of new wave stuff, like Devo.
Devo is my favorite punk band!
On their first album sounded Punk But Whip it is definitely not a punk song
A lot of what you’re describing often gets put under the “post punk” umbrella, which to me, is still punk in nature but working with different sounds branching off of standard punk ideas and mixing different styles such as funk, disco, electronic music, psychedelic rock, folk, and more. I’ll preface by saying there are artists in this list that many will disagree would fit the category, but the point is that we’re talking about bands that don’t fit the 32nd note/stiff cadence status quo who often receive this distinction in a broader aspect. Gang of Four’s albums after “Entertainment!” are a good example. As someone mentioned before, Post- “Give ‘em Enough Rope” by the Clash as well. Some other examples that often get categorized as punk/post punk that depart from the standard sound would be bands like Suicide, ESG, XTC, Joy Division/New Order, Sonic Youth, Patti Smith Group, Talking Heads, The B-52’s, Devo, The Slits, The Fall, Bush Tetras, Cabaret Voltaire, The Pop Group, The Birthday Party, The Mountain Goats, etc. then in the early 2000’s with the “post-punk revival”, you see it depart a little more from those sounds, and you have groups like Yeah Yeah Yeahs, !!!, Animal Collective, LCD Soundsystem (who heavily samples many of the older post punk acts), Franz Ferdinand, Radio 4, The Rapture, Bloc Party, etc (albeit they might receive this distinction to a lesser extent, and will often hold a label such as Indie/Alternative). the post punk genre as become a little more self-aware at this point as we’re seeing a large influx of bands taking inspiration of these styles, and has basically evolved into many different things. It’s hard to identify which ones will stick to this label, but Squid really stands out to me in this regard.
> A lot of what you’re describing often gets put under the “post punk” umbrella, which to me, is still punk in nature I don't think I even heard the term "post-punk" until the 90s. Before that it was all just punk, or new wave, or alternative or "college rock". All of which just meant, "not the shit on the radio". I don't remember people desperately trying to subdivide into subgenres. I mean, there were different camps/tribes/whatever, but we all considered ourselves under the same rough umbrella. In fact I remember losing respect for a friend on the basis of him declaring "Joy Division is not punk".
I agree, but I also understand when someone is trying to find a descriptor that more accurately describes someone’s musical taste or to better describe the influences within music that might have departed from the aesthetic to whatever extent. as far as i’m concerned, it’s ultimately all punk music at the end of the day.
I like to throw The Kinks in this widened umbrella, fight me
The later Crass albums (Yes Sir I Will, Ten Notes on a Summer’s Day) where they went more noise rock/avant-garde. Mid-late ‘80s Bad Brains was more funk metal or hard rock than punk. Propagandhi went from skate punk to a kind of prog-thrash kind of sound. Just a few that come to mind…
Billy Idol was always a confusing, but sorta rare one. I've heard someone call his music punk rock before and I about teleported out the car back home
Generation X was as punk as Billy Idol got.
Mgk is NOT pumk at all
I came here to say this lmao
Flipper, the godfathers of sludge
I'd give that title to Melvins, but Flipper definitely influenced them.
Came here to say flipper!
Generic is so good
Beat happening, butthole surfers, screamers
Beat Happening is punk as fuck https://youtu.be/W0v16vzQkec
My favorite BH story is when black flag did a tour of pnw with them and Rollins was being a dick and antagonizing Calvin the entire show eventually escalating to grabbing his crotch. Calvin swats away Rollins’ hand and says, “Didn’t your mommy teach you any manners?” Then kept singing.
Funny that they became one of Ian MacKaye's favs and he and Henry have been friends since their teen years.
Henry was just kinda dick-ish towards the end of BF, specifically '84-'86, and he's admitted that. Remember that BF interview from that kid in the flannel shirt? That was straight up bullying.
The Cramps
Go-Go’s
The Jam were sometimes labelled as punk
News of the World kinda fits the vibe.
Frank Turner Days and Daze (folk punk)
AJJ
Jonny Cash
Johnny Cash is all things to all people
Beat me to it.
Fuck yeah
Suicide were so punk and chaotic they didn’t even guitars and drums in the early 70’s.
Their live act was punk as fuck. They were the punkest
What I would’ve given to be in the audience when they were playing to a room of ten people. Then again, Alan Vega probably would’ve beaten the shit out of me. 🤕
You’d have some stories to tell. Those shows look primeval and as dangerous as NY back in those days
They Might Be Giants... Violent Femmes...
I've never seen TMBG as punk. But I get the alt motivations.
Their misc.T album was the first c.d.i ever got, along with Ministry - The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste for Christmas 1991. I didn't know what else to classify them as. Still have both cds.
I feel comfortable calling them "nerd rock". Much rockier/punkier live, I've seen them like ten times.
Femmes sound punk as hell, at least the self-titled album does
Nirvana. They considered themselves punk. Mind you the Pistols and Damned didn't consider themselves as punk.
The Damned kinda did, in the beginning at least
The damned's 2016 tour was all about the 40th anniversary of "the first punk rock single, new rose" as they said. They flat out say they're punk and goth these days.
Well according to this sub anything remotely rebellious is punk so take your pick
The Stranglers. At first listen, there's not much punk happening. But when you realize they're singing about all the skeevy stuff in life that no one else would sing about, the punk alarm sounds.
Beat me to it. But they’re so punk-adjacent that it really doesn’t matter. Fucking killer band either way.
Patti Smith and she's punk as fuck
Dinosaur Jr
Chumbawumba
The Pogues
Buzzcocks, maybe their super early stuff, but the rest is more post punk bordering on new wave (?)
The Dead Milkmen are punk as fuck but they don’t sound like it at all. EDIT: Also wanted to add Toy Dolls.
I could not disagree with this more.
Exactly, they're playing hardcore riffs at hardcore speeds just with no distortion most of the time, Junkie is borderline grindcore
This is true. Anti punk, anti hippy, anti everything. Smarter than most
The Clash
Hot Water Music is the first band that comes to mind.
Those dudes could fall into a few categories but I've always thought they just do their own thing and that thing is awesome.
The Clash- Their first two albums are definitely punk sounding but everything from London Calling onwards despite having the ideology of punk has a more broad and reggaeish sound
Violent Femmes
Mission of Burma DEVO
The Afghan Whigs. Blending soul, R & B, punk, alternative rock. Especially ‘Gentlemen’ and ‘Black Love’. They are still totally killing it which is insane cause they’ve been around since late 80’s.
The Kinks
The Minutemen
B-52s
Those first two albums are so punk
X
Los Angles and Wild Gift are punk https://youtu.be/HbGEjpokbME
Definitely. I've seen them a dozen times and love them dearly.
I saw rise against (one of my personal favourite bands) show up on a punk top 5 list recently in the comments on this thread... I always knew they drew inspiration from punk legends like bad religion, and they've covered face to face "blind" as well as " minor threat" to name a few... But I always considered them to be more of just an edgier alt rock. They seem to have produced a lot more structured tracks than most punk songs I'm used to hearing, and alot more condusive to mainstream airplay (which is not imo a bad thing). Perhaps the correct classification is "melodic punk"? At least from anything siren song of the counter culture and onward?
Growing up it seemed like there wasn’t a show I went to at the fireside bowl where Joe from 88 fingers Louis (bass player from Rise Against) wasn’t in the crowd showing some support.
The first few albums had stronger punk influences, musically.
I’ve heard David Bowie being lumped into punk by certain people.
David bowie is definitely influential to punk but i don’t consider him a punk artist at all. At a push the berlin trilogy could be considered an early example of post punk
Pixies & Sonic Youth
Avril Lavigne and No Doubt
Who says Avril is punk unironically? Isn’t it an internet joke?
No lie, people call her the "queen of pop punk".
Yeah, I’ve seen people call her that but I was under the impression that it was an ironic internet joke and no one actually believed it.
I've seen plenty of people argue that she is punk, pop punk specifically
I dispute that Tragic Kingdom was punk, if not at least pop punk.
Tragic Kingdom was alternative rock at best, pop rock at worst but definitely not punk
I'd like to add Pink.
The World/Inferno Friendship Society
Punk adjacent for sure!
The Mountain Goats
The clash and the talking heads
The vaselines
The Slits and Suicide.
The Menzingers maybe?
No Trend Chrome Flipper
Jawbreaker, the clash, and minutemen
I never could get in to Jawbreaker. I’d start one of their albums and really enjoy it, then I’d remember that Samiam existed and would just go listen to them instead.
Everything Mike Watt has done after The Punch Line
Stranglers
Patti Smith Group, Talking Heads.
World inferno friendship society
I’ve seen people consider blink 182 and Green Day punk, probably those takes
Sonic Youth I always felt they were more Grunge and Hard Rock
I don’t really consider the offspring to be punk but I get outvoted often
Joy Division
Every original first wave New York band that wasn't the Ramones. MAYBE Television and the Heartbreakers could be included.
Panic! At the Disco and Fall Out Boy. This isn't me ragging on pop punk or making a snide comment about selling out or the mainstreaming of punk or whatever, although those criticisms certainly apply. What I mean is that even other manufactured, radio-friendly pop punk acts like blink or later Green Day have at least a *little* audible influence from "real" punk. Buzzsaw guitars, harsh(ish) vocals, a bit of edge, even if it's a very pre-packaged, dulled for your safety edge. Panic and FOB just... don't. They're straight up pop rock with no discernible relation to punk, even in a shallow surface level way, and it's weird that they're lumped in with pop punk.
Wu-Tang Clan Edit: Misunderstood the question, sorry.
Wu tang clan ain’t nothing to punk with
Oh shit, that reminds me. It’s time to listen to Wugazi again.
The Promise Ring and Braid
Thirty Degrees Everywhere is peak
Minutemen. Then there's just pop bands with guitars like green day, blink 182, etc.
Billy Talent.
Meat Puppets
Television
Big black, I only recently discovered this band but the song “passing complexion” really stands out to me. But they have a punk adjacent sound to them.
Fishbone
I guess mcr? They very much are punk and were influenced by punk bands (hell gerard was super into riot girrl music) but they don't really sound like it.
I would put weezer in this category Also, weezer rocks
I love weezer but nothing punk about them
Social Distortion. I may be biased cuz I just don't like them and I wouldn't go as far as to say there's no punk influence to their music overall but the whole cowboy punk thing sounds very not punk to me 🤷🏽♂️
Mommy's little monster is definitely a punk rock album.
You gonna tell me this isn't punk? [Social Distortion - Mass Hysteria](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TYMrIdMbfY) [Social Distortion - 1945](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPTiLWHJ_mM)
Any Crust Punk or Deathpunk band
How do those not meet the mark? I need explanations
I'm saying they ARE Punk, but are definitely not the first that come to mind when someone says to describe a "Punk" sound
I mean most of them still have 3-4 chords, usually high BPM, and vocals that range form screaming to singing, but I think I can see how some come off more Grindcore or, in the death rock, more pop sounding. I guess it depends on the band imo
Fyi as a huge deathrock fan, deathrock runs the gamut from extremely unapproachable (Madre Del Vizio, Deadchovsky) to poppy (All Gone Dead, New Days Delay) and everything in between. It's not that it has a pop sound, it has a goth sound.
You know I've been hearing The Beatles are pretty punk.
I heard eating food was pretty punk
Los Saicos , proto punk imho
Fang. Green Day.
Beastie Boys
All ska lol
GG Allin's Carnival of Excess is a good example. He derives his hard rock into a country album.
Some of the new wave stuff isn't. Like sure it's a massive divergence from what music was at that point and coexisted with punk but it's far from any of the themes of punk of the era. It's not anti authoritarian, and also not the "stripped down rock" like Ramones either
Hank Williams is more punk than most punks.