Punk Legends: Ramones, Misfits, Dropkick Murphys & More

[RiseAgainst]

What are some of the best punk bands ever. I think some are; The Ramones, The Misfits, The Dropkick Murphys, and Bad Religion.

 

[Chi Meson]

Ramones, definitely.

Dead Kennedys, Minor Threat, Black Flag, Germs, Minutemen, Mudhoney (proto-grunge, perhaps) would be on the American list for me.

 

[RiseAgainst]

Dead Kennedys, Minor Threat, Black Flag, Germs, Minutemen, Mudhoney (proto-grunge, perhaps) would be on the American list for me.

All of those are great bands, I guess I didn't really think the list out too well. I really like the Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables album by the Dead Kennedys.

 

[Math Is Hard]

No mention of the Sex Pistols?

 

[Luke1294]

Ramones, definitely.

Dead Kennedys, Minor Threat, Black Flag, Germs, Minutemen, Mudhoney (proto-grunge, perhaps) would be on the American list for me.

Cosigned! Late Black Flag is criminally underrated.

I'm also a big fan of oi, i think a lot of the up-and-coming kids miss out on a lot of great bands in that subgenere.

 

[binzing]

Black Flag for sure.

I have to say Dropkick is equally as much Irish as it is punk.

 

[binzing]

Oh and of course the OP's namesake. Rise Against are awesome.

 

[Chi Meson]

No mention of the Sex Pistols?

I was rethinking the UK side of "best punk." The weird thing about the UK punks, is the best punk albums are nearly always the first, and maybe the second from each band. After which the major-label effect took over. FOr example:
Clash, Sex Pistols, Damned, Stranglers, Gang of Four, Still Little Fingers, Sham 69, Jam, and several others had fantastic "punk" 1st releases. Some had bona fide 2nd or even 3rd albums (Machine Gun Etiquette by the Damned, best third album ever). But all these bands drifted through various regions of "post-punk." Some albums within those transitions went from OK and tolerable, to outright garbage. With the exception of the Pistols, who broke up when they should have, all of the above bands ultimately ended up as garbage. And Johnny Rotton's band PiL, ended up there as well, so really, that's all of them.

The Damned without Capt. Sensible? Goth Garbage. Gang of Four as a four piece band? Disco garbage. Stranglers after the Men in Black? Sentimental garbage, SLF, and Sham just ran out of inspiration, and Joe Strummer of the Clash thought he was way more talented than he really was. The Jam was the biggest disappointment of the bunch. Evidently only odd-numbered LP releases were allowed to be any good, and when album #7 appeared to be a stinker ("Bitterest Pill" was the last single, and I strongly recommend induced vomiting after taking this one), they broke up.

So, short answer, that list at the top, but only considering first albums.

Edit: add the Fall to the list with the caveat that Mark E. Smith would never consider himself as punk. He'd put out his cigarette in your eye if you accused him of being one. This would ironically reinforce such a categorization. "Wonderful and Frightening world of the Fall" is one of the best LPs of the 80s. "Hit 'em on the head/ with a 2-by-4"

 

[RunSwimSurf]

Definitely the Misfits (Danzig era), the Clash, the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Operation Ivy / Rancid, Bad Brains...

 

[Math Jeans]

Breaking Benjamin

 

[gravenewworld]

Discharge-THE most influential hardcore punk band of all time, if you don't own a discharge album you don't know the roots of punk. Bands like Metallica have covered their songs.

Charged GBH- everyone knows these guys

The Business- created the song that the entire country of England sang during the World Cup 2001 qualifiers. Been around forever.


The Adicts-- Have withstood the test of time. One of the only punk bands that STILL TOURS and STILL has all its original members. CLASSIC PUNK.

 

[SticksandStones]

Breaking Benjamin

Since when was post-grunge considered punk? When I think of punk I think of high-pitched notes and a singer that sounds like every other punk rock singer in existence.


Anyway, I don't mind some punk songs [Shipping Up To Boston, God Save the Queen, Bodies, Fat Lip]. Punk rock as a genre however just doesn't do it for me.

 

[Proton Soup]

i thought the qualifier for punk was just subversive politics. which mostly means, bad music for people who are more verbal than aural.

 

[Math Is Hard]

I was rethinking the UK side of "best punk." The weird thing about the UK punks, is the best punk albums are nearly always the first, and maybe the second from each band. After which the major-label effect took over. FOr example:
Clash, Sex Pistols, Damned, Stranglers, Gang of Four, Still Little Fingers, Sham 69, Jam, and several others had fantastic "punk" 1st releases. Some had bona fide 2nd or even 3rd albums (Machine Gun Etiquette by the Damned, best third album ever). But all these bands drifted through various regions of "post-punk." Some albums within those transitions went from OK and tolerable, to outright garbage. With the exception of the Pistols, who broke up when they should have, all of the above bands ultimately ended up as garbage. And Johnny Rotton's band PiL, ended up there as well, so really, that's all of them.

The Damned without Capt. Sensible? Goth Garbage. Gang of Four as a four piece band? Disco garbage. Stranglers after the Men in Black? Sentimental garbage, SLF, and Sham just ran out of inspiration, and Joe Strummer of the Clash thought he was way more talented than he really was. The Jam was the biggest disappointment of the bunch. Evidently only odd-numbered LP releases were allowed to be any good, and when album #7 appeared to be a stinker ("Bitterest Pill" was the last single, and I strongly recommend induced vomiting after taking this one), they broke up.

So, short answer, that list at the top, but only considering first albums.

Edit: add the Fall to the list with the caveat that Mark E. Smith would never consider himself as punk. He'd put out his cigarette in your eye if you accused him of being one. This would ironically reinforce such a categorization. "Wonderful and Frightening world of the Fall" is one of the best LPs of the 80s. "Hit 'em on the head/ with a 2-by-4"

I think I agree with you there: Play fast and hard - run out of steam fast and hard. I also think the (IMHO) suckage of PIL was about equal to that of The Flowers of Romance. I tried really hard to enjoy PIL out of respect for John Lydon, but could never get there. Out of all of those guys, my fondness is for Steve Jones. He's a solid musician and an intelligent guy. (He interviewed some JPL scientists on his radio show last year and I remember being impressed with the questions he asked them.)

A staple in my day, that I don't see posted here, were the Circle Jerks. Don't know whatever became of those guys. I also have some obscure favorites: Agent Orange and Spizzenergi. I also REALLY really loved The Plasmatics (for their insanity more than their music), and The Runaways who I guess qualify as more of a punk-offshoot band.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

I usually don't like most bands of any genre of music so my list of favourite Punk bands is fairly slim. Mostly I pick my favourites for not being very typical of their genre.

I like Flogging Molly and Dropkick Murphys, though primarily for the Irish influences.
The Real McKenzies, primarily for the bagpipes.
Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies, because they make the most awesome punk covers.
Bad Religion is far and away my most favourite Punk band for the intelligence of the lyrics.
Toy Dolls are just plain fun... erm the band that is. ;-) And their rendition of Toccata in [D minor]D-Moll is great.
Darkest of the Hillside Thickets is called "Horror Punk" and their earlier work is more metal sounding but they are a great geek Punk/Metal band.
And of course The Ramones and Sex Pistols are some good classics.

 

[matt.o]

Don't think anyone has mentioned them yet, but I really enjoy listening to an awesome Canadian band named Propagandhi.

 

[Math Jeans]

Since when was post-grunge considered punk? When I think of punk I think of high-pitched notes and a singer that sounds like every other punk rock singer in existence.


Anyway, I don't mind some punk songs [Shipping Up To Boston, God Save the Queen, Bodies, Fat Lip]. Punk rock as a genre however just doesn't do it for me.

Well, they are the closest band to punk that I am willing to listen to as I hate punk rock with a passion (however, I'll admit that Shipping Up To Boston is an awesome song).

This is a pretty good song by Breaking Benjamin:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTiGlNDnOtE

 

[Chi Meson]

A staple in my day, that I don't see posted here, were the Circle Jerks. Don't know whatever became of those guys. I also have some obscure favorites: Agent Orange and Spizzenergi. I also REALLY really loved The Plasmatics (for their insanity more than their music), and The Runaways who I guess qualify as more of a punk-offshoot band.

Circle Jerks, of course! Hetson of CJ plus Baker of Minor Threat = Bad Religion

And Plasmatics: Wendy O. Wilson killed herself about 10 years ago. She had been running an animal sanctuary about 45 minutes drive from where I live, and I never knew about it until I heard her obituary on NPR. One of the most fantastic songs of that era that I know of is her cover of "Stand by your man" with Lemmy of Motorhead. Not a single word of the lyrics was changed, but the whole song changed its meaning.

I never considered Joan Jett as Punk. Never liked anything she did, but that's just me.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Is the Philadelphia Orchestra considered a punk band now that Charles "Ormandy was better" Dutoit is chief conductor?

 

[Chi Meson]

Is the Philadelphia Orchestra considered a punk band now that Charles "Ormandy was better" Dutoit is chief conductor?

It is a bit of a pain when they have to bleep the conductor's "infamous language."

 

[fuzzyfelt]

Aus. Punk.
The Saints. From their second album, love it and probably posted it before-
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=NLbyaNbhHdU&annotation_id=annotation_748733&feature=iv

Radio Birdman.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=rKsUSrNSdHQ
I think they did justice to the Hawaii 50 theme music, as incidentally, did the Dickies to the Tra la la song. On that note, I also like Nouvelle Vague’s non punk versions of the DKs, Ever Fallen In Love, Making Plans For Nigel, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Cure, The Specials, etc..

I’m just thinking there were plenty of Stranglers albums before MIB in 1981, although I agree the pre 1982 music was much better, I also admit a huge fondness for Golden Brown, which was 1981, I think, but post MIB? Also, part of what I like about some punk music is the immediacy, which is tricky to sustain. Otherwise, I like the UK list so far, but missing some faves, like importantly, Ian Dury, I know its going to fit.


No German Punk? Pogo In Togo, c1980?

(This is without fully regarding the boundaries of punk)

 

[baywax]

What are some of the best punk bands ever. I think some are; The Ramones, The Misfits, The Dropkick Murphys, and Bad Religion.

I can't argue that these are greats. I just want to put light on the the best, most prolific and oldest Punk band out of my home town... D.O.A... they have reconstituted their band and are now touring China... a first for Punk.

These guys are affiliated with Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys, and many other US Punk bands. They played the Fun Fun Fun Fest in Dallas or thereabouts in November 08.

Catch their latest tunes here... from their latest CD... "Northern Avenger".

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=140138077

 

[Luke1294]

I can't argue that these are greats. I just want to put light on the the best, most prolific and oldest Punk band out of my home town... D.O.A... they have reconstituted their band and are now touring China... a first for Punk.

These guys are affiliated with Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys, and many other US Punk bands. They played the Fun Fun Fun Fest in Dallas or thereabouts in November 08.

Catch their latest tunes here... from their latest CD... "Northern Avenger".

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=140138077

DOA was pretty good...back in the day. Hardcore '81 is a great record...but they seriously need to call it quits. Northern Avenger is awful, and their live show is downright embarassing. Maybe it was because Joey Keithley was playing his guitar behind his head every time he had the chance, or the constant failed attempts to swing it around his neck, or because he changed the words in 3 songs to be about George Bush...but whatever the reason, that was one of the worst shows I have ever seen.

 

[baywax]

DOA was pretty good...back in the day. Hardcore '81 is a great record...but they seriously need to call it quits. Northern Avenger is awful, and their live show is downright embarassing. Maybe it was because Joey Keithley was playing his guitar behind his head every time he had the chance, or the constant failed attempts to swing it around his neck, or because he changed the words in 3 songs to be about George Bush...but whatever the reason, that was one of the worst shows I have ever seen.

Thanks for the update!

I only worked with Jello and Joey on a film they produced and I haven't actually gone to any recent shows. Their old energy was fantastic and relayed well to film. Did you catch them in Texas?

 

[wolram]

Six feet under or dust to the wind.

 

[Luke1294]

Thanks for the update!

I only worked with Jello and Joey on a film they produced and I haven't actually gone to any recent shows. Their old energy was fantastic and relayed well to film. Did you catch them in Texas?

I was at Riot Fest in Chicago, which was one of the most awkward experiences of my life. Don't get me wrong, they had energy...but it seemed more 'rockstar' like than what I associate with punk.

See, I'm from a smallish town in the Midwest, but we have a pretty unique 'scene'. We have mostly hardcore-punk bands around here, and everyone is really good friends- the fashion that tends to come with the 'punk scene' (jackets, spikes, mohawks, modded jeans, etc) never really had a place here. Just a bunch of kids playing fast, talentless music.

So when I went to Riot Fest, I stood out like a sore thumb...I didn't have the standard uniform. All in all, that was an awful show. TSOL and the Anti Nowhere League canceled, as did Municipal Waste...the Mighty Mighty Bosstones played for well over an hour, the Horrorpops played...all in all it was just not a good time. The second stage had awful acoustics...I'm sure Paint it Black would've sounded great, but all I could hear was the reverb. I'm much more comfortable with <100 kids in a Legion Hall or a basement rather than the Congress Theater. That being said- Cock Sparrer is scheduled to play there next year, so I'll probably go.

It was neat watching ALL play a few Decendents covers, though.

 

[ray b]

tooo early to get the name but the music is PUNK

KINGSMEN classic louie-louie a one take wonder with guys who could barely play

PLASTIC ONO BAND john doing punk before they knew what it was to be called

 

[Chi Meson]

It was neat watching ALL play a few Decendents covers, though.

Oh yeah, Decendents! Another great band, as long as you do NOT read their lyrics while listening.

 

[Luke1294]

oh yeah, decendents! Another great band, as long as you do not read their lyrics while listening.

i like food
food is good

Bill Stevenson is in the band now, it was pretty neat watching him play.