# Best punk rock bands



## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

I was the biggest punk rock fan in my university days. The Mekons, the Clash, Wire, Black Flag, Sex Pistols, the Damned, the Ramones, Buzzcocks.

i consider Wire the best punk rock band. Pink Flag is phenomenal.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

I've especially admired the punk bands that didn't seem to take themselves too seriously. If anything, punk was a reaction against pop musicians who took themselves too seriously and strove to create "great original art", most of which was less than great and way less than original, let alone art. I tend to think the punkers, unconcerned about creating great original art actually did create some major pieces. Black Flag does seem symbolic of this mode. The _Damaged_ album captures all of their irreverent "fun" in a microcosm.









But I've always thought Flipper was a compelling band whose songs actually speak for something more than pure irreverence and fun. They certainly rank high in the panoply of punk giants.









Perhaps the major song of the punk movement (and this is only my thought for this moment, I'll change my mind a couple of minutes from now) is "Institutionalized" by Suicidal Tendencies.









This one has a little bit of everything: the irreverence, the fun, a good tune ... and even an advertisement for Pepsi!

But there are many fine things about punk, and some not so fine things. Irreverence and silliness are fine in the proper amounts and contexts. But when people get hurt we're moving past musical art, and I don't adhere to that aspect of the punk attitude. Drug overdosing, and fighting, and smashing, and burning just have nothing really to do with music. And I like music.

So I'm content to revisit my punk library every now and then. I have a rather fine collection of albums including nearly all of the SST label, a lot of Dead Kennedys, Negative Trend and No Trend, the British bands (Sex Pistols, the Damned, the Clash), and a lot of stuff from the NY scene (maybe more "no wave" than punk), from Patti Smith and Lydia Lunch and Television to the Contortions and the Slits ....

I admit I prefer the earlier, more elemental stuff. By the time Green Day showed up on punk lists punk was, in my opinion, dead. Green Day was never punk to my ears.

But it's almost silly to be discussing punk rock. Maybe I should take a holiday in Cambodia instead.


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

I think I only ever owned one punk album, but I liked it a lot. Discharge - Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing. That's like... nuclear apocalypse total death everyone dies no fun punk!


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## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

free screenshot software

Dead kennedys, butthole surfers, the exploited. It all seems a bit nostalgic now, but that is probably just me..


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## TurnaboutVox (Sep 22, 2013)

As well as the well known and obvious bands - X-ray Specs, The Damned, Buzzcocks, The Raincoats, The Slits, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Ruts, Stiff Little Fingers, The Skids, Wire, XTC (early pre pop), The Gang of Four, Scritti Politti, PragVec, Magazine, (OK, we're getting into New Wave now)...

Sheer teenage nostalgia for me, all first heard on the John Peel show on weekday nights on BBC Radio 1. A previous life, not necessarily a happy one, but the music and the fellowship of fans kept me going. And Uncle Johnny Peel who made everyone who listened feel welcome and part of it.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

..................................


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## Guest (Apr 28, 2017)

For highly specific personal reasons not connected to the music itself or being in my late teens, I hated punk when it first appeared in our house (76-77). By the end of '77, I'd bought _No More Heroes._ Over time, I came to love some of the bands that emerged at that time inspired by, or seeming to have something in common with punk/new wave/post-punk, but without the snarling, spitting aggression that seemed to typify the hardest varieties. With only a small number of worthy acts in the preceding years, and charts dominated by disco and the likes of Mud, Sweet, Slade etc, the sudden explosion of new artists was fantastic. I cast aside my love of Genesis and Brand X (for a while at any rate) and embraced Human League, Magazine, XTC, Dead Kennedys, Joy Division, Gang of Four, OMD, Ian Dury, Elvis Costello, Jam, Depeche Mode, PiL. Mind you, I never owned any singles or albums by The Clash, The Sex Pistols or The Damned.

I can't recall any comparable period of growth since, but then growing older brings a different perspective, different needs, and it wasn't until I discovered Radiohead (long after they had already been sanctified and I was in my late forties) that I found any music that excited me as much.


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## AfterHours (Mar 27, 2017)

Are we considering New Wave bands that have significant punk elements to their music? If so, I'd have to say Pere Ubu. Or, if you need stronger punk elements to count, The Pop Group.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

AfterHours said:


> Are we considering New Wave bands that have significant punk elements to their music? If so, I'd have to say Pere Ubu. Or, if you need stronger punk elements to count, The Pop Group.


Sure why not...........


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

TurnaboutVox said:


> As well as the well known and obvious bands - X-ray Specs, The Damned, Buzzcocks, The Raincoats, The Slits, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Ruts, Stiff Little Fingers, The Skids, Wire, XTC (early pre pop), The Gang of Four, Scritti Politti, PragVec, Magazine, (OK, we're getting into New Wave now)...
> 
> Sheer teenage nostalgia for me, all first heard on the John Peel show on weekday nights on BBC Radio 1. A previous life, not necessarily a happy one, but the music and the fellowship of fans kept me going. And Uncle Johnny Peel who made everyone who listened feel welcome and part of it.


Yeah, X-ray spex Germ-free Adolescents is one of the most rip roaring pieces of music in the history of mankind. I didn't think Gang of 4 were punk. My favourite punk band of all-time has to be the Mekons (forgot, not Wire) from Leeds, UK. Very versatile. They're one of the original from '77 and still active!


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

AfterHours said:


> Are we considering New Wave bands that have significant punk elements to their music? If so, I'd have to say Pere Ubu. Or, if you need stronger punk elements to count, The Pop Group.


Pere Ubu, the best band here on earth, since the late seventies!


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Casebearer said:


> Pere Ubu, the best band here on earth, since the late seventies!


Yeah, great debut album. I like that solo album you posted in that other thread too. But I found I like the Talking Heads more consistently, all of their first 5 really gets me going,


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

Phil loves classical said:


> Yeah, great debut album. I like that solo album you posted in that other thread too. But I found I like the Talking Heads more consistently, all of their first 5 really gets me going,


I'm very sorry for you, Phil


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Casebearer said:


> I'm very sorry for you, Phil


:lol: not a talking heads fan?


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Punk never appealed to me but I agree that, as a force sweeping through and breaking up the established order to a certain extent, it cleared the way for a lot of new music, new groups, new artists. The huge world of post-punk was brought into being--both brand-new material and revitalized old genres: witness the recent threads defending both the 1980s and the 1990s. Mind you, some of the posters on these threads are getting old, grouchy, and stale .


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

Phil loves classical said:


> :lol: not a talking heads fan?


Like them, but not that much. I like Pere Ubu and David Thomas more consistently. They've stayed interesting over the years up till now (although with some ups and downs, I'll admit).


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

Strange Magic said:


> Punk never appealed to me but I agree that, as a force sweeping through and breaking up the established order to a certain extent, it cleared the way for a lot of new music, new groups, new artists. The huge world of post-punk was brought into being--both brand-new material and revitalized old genres: witness the recent threads defending both the 1980s and the 1990s. Mind you, some of the posters on these threads are getting old, grouchy, and stale .


I'll have to correct you, dear Strange Magic: the recent threads on the 1980s and 1990s were not particularly defending the music of those decades. More like trying hard to remember if there was anything worthwhile to remember.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Casebearer said:


> I'll have to correct you, dear Strange Magic: the recent threads on the 1980s and 1990s were not particularly defending the music of those decades. More like trying hard to remember if there was anything worthwhile to remember.


Speak for thyself, he whose case is indeed hard to bear. :lol: So much good music swirled around you then, yet you clearly were not attending! What were you listening to instead?


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

Strange Magic said:


> Speak for thyself, he whose case is indeed hard to bear. :lol: So much good music swirled around you then, yet you clearly were not attending! What were you listening to instead?


I spoke for myself already, dear Strange, you'll just have to bear it the hard way, as I do with my case. I was attending to the complete oeuvre of mr. Zappa, a piece called Flamma flamma by Nicholas Lens (although you would have to listen to the live version instead of the studio version), Bulgarian voices, Flamenco, Arab songs on a Maroccan TV-channel we used to have back in the 1990s, Bartók, Mahler and lots of jazz.


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## poodlebites (Apr 5, 2016)

My favorites are die electric eels. Bands from Ohio where "the punkest". 
Also all the NYC stuff, Ramones, Television, Blondie and from England my favorites were The Damned, that first lp is pure energy. The Dutch scene was also quite interesting, Ivy Green, The Filth, The Nixe... and of course Australia: The Saints, The Victims, Radio Birdman...


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## cwarchc (Apr 28, 2012)

Got to be Iggy Pop & the Stooges in this mix
They have to be the grandfathers of punk?


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## MJongo (Aug 6, 2011)

I was literally going to post the Electric Eels. I'm beyond surprised they've already been mentioned, and by a user from the Netherlands no less!


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## poodlebites (Apr 5, 2016)

MJongo said:


> I was literally going to post the Electric Eels. I'm beyond surprised they've already been mentioned, and by a user from the Netherlands no less!


Well, I like punk rock a lot and all ways lead me to Ohio. Not only die electric eels, but Rocket from the Tombs (and the later Pere Ubu and Dead Boys), The Pagans, Rubber City Rebels... or all the Columbus weird scene with Tommy Jay, Ron House, Mike Rep or Jim Shepard are some of my favorite (non classical) music.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

If we're talking US punk no list would be complete without the Dictators, the Dead Boys, Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers and Richard Hell & the Voidoids.


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## Agamemnon (May 1, 2017)

Great album but the genre is post-punk I think (my reply to the OP: Pink Flag by Wire).


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## Agamemnon (May 1, 2017)

My favorite punk album is Damaged by Black Flag. From beginning to end it is an explosion of anger and raw energy; in every song (except the odd 'TV Party') Henry Rollins destroys everything in his path. Even the oddly slow last song (post punk?) is as furious and intimidating as the rest.


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## Guest (May 11, 2017)




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## Guest (May 11, 2017)




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## Guest (May 11, 2017)

Burn-your-face-off punk


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## Guest (May 11, 2017)

Strangely, the opening chords were taken from an MC5 song and the band is named after a Stooges album but they are Italian. But at least they know who invented punk--Detroit.





Recorded in Detroit in 1972--long before the term "punk rock" existed.


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Ramones, Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks.

Other favorites both in and beyond the era of "punk" include The Flying Lizards (Summertime Blues, Money), The Jam (The Modern World), The Stranglers (I Feel Like a Wog, Bring On the Nubiles), Yes Lps thrown through the living room window...


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

I'm wondering why the best punk rock bands are infinitely more popular than the favorite extreme metal bands (on this forum). For punk rock, my "best" are Ramones and Social Distortion. Former black metal band Darkthrone have some wild punk songs lately too!


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Check out this song


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

Great song in it's genre.


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## poodlebites (Apr 5, 2016)

What about the Good Vibrations scene in Northern Ireland?


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

poodlebites said:


> What about the Good Vibrations scene in Northern Ireland?


Wow, that compilation is really something!


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## yetti66 (Jan 30, 2017)

Surprised to not see HUSKER DU listed in 3 pages of comments - a great band.


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

Good to see 'Teenage Kicks' getting a mention. Surely one of the the best songs of all time about growing up


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## sjwright (Jun 9, 2017)

Fear
rik l rik
black flag


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## Marc (Jun 15, 2007)

With punk, it's more about songs to me.
Like _Borstal Breakout_ of Sham 69, one of my favs.

Favourite punk bands are probably Buzzcocks, Undertones and Dead Kennedys.

Saw and heard The Undertones 8 years ago, and me and a friend went drunk afterwards with Paul and Damian. 
Great fun. My head still aches.


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## ldiat (Jan 27, 2016)

ok i am not into these kind of bands. here is a band. the only reason i kinda follow it is because of the lead singer. does any one know who she is? now she is not the most famous BUT she has been on 2 tv shows(cable) and on main tv channels.


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

Never heard of her but her voice reminds me of, of .... I know, Marianne Faithfull.


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## ldiat (Jan 27, 2016)

Casebearer said:


> Never heard of her but her voice reminds me of, of .... I know, Marianne Faithfull.


keep guessing! food


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## ldiat (Jan 27, 2016)

ok i loved her on this show....


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

Why did the punk rocker cross the road?
'Coz he was stapled to the chicken.


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## ldiat (Jan 27, 2016)

she also does and did videos like this one. this one is somewhat tame. she is a bit lloony


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## ST4 (Oct 27, 2016)

Kjetil Heggelund said:


> I'm wondering why the best punk rock bands are infinitely more popular than the favorite extreme metal bands (on this forum). For punk rock, my "best" are Ramones and Social Distortion. Former black metal band Darkthrone have some wild punk songs lately too!


Darkthrone are awesome, I got plenty of their albums. Never a funeral moon too far from exceptional! :cheers:


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## ST4 (Oct 27, 2016)

I'm gonna go straight out and say Black Flag, not only do I love _Henry Rollins_ (outside of the band too) but all their work is exceptionally great!

Bad Religion, Minor Thread, Buzzcocks, Dead Kennedy's, plenty of great more underground bands too!


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