A lot of people would have you believe that punk died in the early to mid 80s. Simply not true. Thousands of bands are still giving the finger to The Man and are recording fast, melody-tinged, fun music. This genre is far too extensive to describe in massive detail in a blog, so I've attempted to compile a top ten of what I think are the best modern punk albums. Ask me tomorrow and the list might be different, but this will do for now. Oh, and if you're wondering why some of the photos are bigger than others; give me a break, I'm no computer expert.
10. Nerf Herder: American Cheese
According to Wikipedia, American Cheese is "a processed cheese, orange, yellow, or white in colour and mild in flavour, with a medium-firm consistency, and melts easily." Yeah? Well, according to me, American Cheese is a huge slab of melodic punk rock that many bands would kill to have made. From opening track Welcome To My World, where important issues such as urinating in the kitchen sink get a mention, this album powers through 12 tracks of brilliance. They never take themselves seriously on the lyrical front, but the music is mind-blowing and goes to show that great albums can be made without a gigantic budget and 18 months of studio time.
Best track: Mr. Spock
9. Green Day: Dookie
I'm not a lover of the term "pop punk," but if I was I would happily declare this as the king of all pop punk albums. Green Day have been accused of selling out and "not being punk", probably because they're incredibly popular and have sold a shitload of albums (when The Clash and The Sex Pistols went to America, what were they trying to do?) and this was where that popularity really started to gain momentum. And anyway, what could be more punk than naming a record after poo? Most people have heard Basket Case and When I Come Around, but this album is so much more than that. For 40 minutes, song after song of punk rock gold which more or less redefined the genre will completely blow you away. Remember, without this album and its success, there would be no Offspring, Bowling For Soup, or New Found Glory. Sell-outs, my arse.
Best track: opening track Burnout (if only because of the drum roll that reminds me of the Pink Panther theme)
8. Bad Religion: Stranger Than Fiction
Bad Religion have recorded many good albums and even more good songs, but what sets this aside from the rest is that every single song on this record is good. In fact, every song on this record is excellent. Someone once described them as "The Ramones with a thesaurus," but for me it's their refreshing use of gang-vocal harmonies that make Bad Religion a true force to be reckoned with (or oozin' aahs as BR call them). This album overflows with melody, yet it is impossible for even the greatest cynic to categorise it as pop punk (Aaaarrrgghhh! I know, for someone who hates the term, I sure use it a lot). They've now been around for over 30 years and this album still remains the jewel in their crown.
Best track: Hooray For Me
7. Vandals: Hollywood Potato Chip
There is still an ongoing legal battle with Variety over the band's logo on this album (give it up, it's only a font). What there can be no dispute over, however, is The Vandals' brilliance. This is probably one of the fastest, most heavy albums on this list and the singing might not always be note-perfect, but what the hell? The Vandals use more distorted guitars than some of their contemporaries, play faster songs than them and generally have funnier lyrics. This is a formula that can never be wrong. The cover of Queen's Don't Stop Me Now is also pure awesomeness.
Best track: Be A Good Robot - some of the most insane drumming ever captured on a punk record.
6. NOFX: So Long And Thanks For All The Shoes
Most NOFX fans would argue that Punk In Drublic is their best record, but this beats it by an absolute mile. Following The Vandals' formula (only my opinion, no-one would ever admit this) of speed + more distortion = better music, So Long And Thanks For All The Shoes (yes, the title is a nod to Douglas Adams) is the kind of album you should listen to before a night of heavy drinking to get in the mood. Opener It's My Job To Keep Punk Rock Elite is one of the fastest songs the band have recorded, and at 81 seconds you feel it's almost over before it's started (rewind and play it again immediately, you won't regret it). The rest of the album continues in the same fun, energetic way and even manages to pack a couple of slow numbers into its half hour journey.
Best track: how could it not be I'm Telling Tim?
5. Rancid: ...And Out Come The Wolves
How many lists of the greatest ever punk albums don't contain this album? At a guess, I would say not many (the research I've put into this is staggering, I know). While a lot of people rate Rancid as one of the best punk bands of all time, I find that this is the only album they've ever recorded that I can listen to all the way through without skipping a single track (hardly sounds like a ringing endorsement, but it is). Rancid's sound is more old school and bridges the gap between old and new brilliantly. On this album, they proved they are great musicians and songwriters - regardless of genre.
Best track: Listed M.I.A.
4. Bouncing Souls: How I Spent My Summer Vacation
The Bouncing Souls sound great live no matter what they play, but on record they are often very hit and miss. This album, however, is all hit. With songs about camaraderie like True Believers and Manthem, they give off a positive vibe throughout and this is mostly fast-tempo stuff. As the title suggests, this is perfect for blasting out loudly during the summer months. The main frustration I have is that the band have never managed to capture anything anywhere near as good as this on record before or since. Also, closing track Gone is more than a little reminiscent of Blink 182's All The Small Things in places, but don't let that put you off (that is also a great song, but it doesn't need to be copied).
Best track: True Believers
3. Propagandhi: How To Clean Everything
Canadian Propagandhi are known for their veganism and strong political views which sounds like a real laugh-a-minute band. You'd be wrong to pre-judge them based on this, however, as this is a very fun album. Along with punk, there are definitely metal influences here and a lot of the riffs are technically complicated (Anti-Manifesto contains a riff that sounds like it was lifted straight out of Metallica's And Justice For All). Despite all sounding like a good time, this album is probably lyrically deeper than any other album on this list (read what you will into titles like Stick The Fucking Flag Up Your Goddam Ass, You Sonofabitch, though).
Best track: Cheap Trick cover, I Want You To Want Me
2. Pennywise: Straight Ahead
I downloaded this album one Easter after one of Amazon's "customers who bought this also bought..." recommendations pointed me in its direction, and listened to it 20 times in a row without listening to anything else. Need I say more? Oh, okay then. Some might say this record is a little hardcore-influenced, whereas fans of hardcore may say it's "too poppy" to be considered hardcore, so where does that leave us? Well, it's basically melodic-hardcore-punk-rock with a slight metallic edge (take that, pigeon-holers). Many of their other albums are excellent too, but this will always be my favourite Pennywise record.
Best track: Can't Believe It
1. Descendents: Everything Sucks
Ironically enough, this doesn't. After taking a break for nine years, the Descendents returned with a new sound and arguably their best album to date. This is not only the best punk album of all time, it is the absolute best album of all time, regardless of genre (potential exaggeration). They are another band who have been accused of selling out, because they made (horror of horrors) a promotional video, but everyone has their detractors. Still performing today (although no new albums in 7 years - time for a new one soon? hint,hint), Descendents have influenced and inspired many bands and musicians in their 32-year history and long may they continue.
Best track: the whole album, but if you held a gun to my head I'd have to say it's I'm The One.
Many bands narrowly missed out on being part of this list and if you've listened to any of the above, you might also want to check out music by New Found Glory, Roger Miret & The Disasters, 7 Seconds, Face To Face, Dropkick Murphys and The Stupids, to name a but a few.
This particular blog entry was a huge undertaking and took me over a week to complete in fits and starts. It's unlikely I will ever attempt anything on this scale again.
Next week: The Ultimate Top 10 Of Top 10s
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