Dead Kennedies, early Adicts, The Descendents, The Clash, early Misfits, Husker Du, Screeching Weasel, Bomb the Music Industry!, Choking Victim, No Cash, The Living End, The Ramones, The Minutemen...

... To name a few. But if I were to whittle it down to my super-favorites, I'd say The Clash, Operation Ivy, and The Ramones.

I guess I like more melodic stuff that doesn't have the manufactured Sex Pistols-esque pretenses of being a bunch of bullshit tough-guys.

joshwoodzell wrote:

Yeah I very much dislike the Sex Pistols, good call. Operation Ivy was sweet, even though they only lasted from '87 to '89.

I just bought the re-issue of Energy over the summer, and it's honestly one of the worst things I've heard. Now that everything is crystal clear, it's all treble, and Armstrong's wailing is much more noticably out of tune. Sometimes I wonder if a lot of punk bands would still be popular today if the recording back then sounded like it does today.

Syd Lexia wrote:

Social Distortion

I like them. Oddly enough, I never really liked their earlier stuff in favor of their rockabilly/blues-style stuff.

Lately, I've gotten into some crack rock bands like Choking Victim, INDK, and No Cash. It basically takes the energy of hardcore punk, rhythm of reggae, and adds in the dark, melodic sounds of black metal. It's kind of addictive, and is one of the few things close to modern metal that I enjoy.

I really wouldn't call Motley or Maiden punk (I am familiar with their early stuff). I could see Motley as they were kind of messy glam rock in the vein of New York Dolls or Middle-era Misfits, but I have the feeling they'd get booed off the stage pretty quickly at most punk clubs.

I've always liked Punk because it's been so versatile, without losing its energy. You have bands that mixed punk with reggae (Bad Brains, Op Ivy), funk (Minutemen), folk (Pogues, Dropkick Murphies, Violent Femmes), jazz (The Clash), metal (any crack rock/riot ska), and pop (Jawbreaker, everything recorded after Blink 182 got popular), and countless others. It's also cool because of the DIY efforts of many bands. I can walk into the local small recordshop, spend $20 and walk out with an armful of CD's and vinyl. Hell, Bomb the Music Industry! has released all of its albums for free. Suck it, Radiohead.

I generally do like the lyrical contents for a lot of the bands. I like the idea of protest songs that don't pussyfoot around with poetry in order to make it more radio-friendly. That doesn't mean that I'll listen to crap like "Anti-Flag" where anyone who doesn't agree with them is a fascist. I just like the feeling that there are people who genuinely feel angry enough to not let their message be toned down for any reason.

Joe Strummer always struck me as an ideal musician and artist. You can hear in songs like "White Man in Hammersmith Palais" and "The Right Profile" that although he may not have had vocal "talent", his voice and musicianship was just unsurpassed by his contemporaries in energy and emotion. He is also admirable in that he always tried to improve himself, was notoriously loyal to his fans.

I think the Clash get a bad rap nowadays thanks to the constant fake praise of people who pretend to like them because they like to have the poster of Paul smashing his bass, but I do think they are one of the best bands in rock history in terms of lyrics, music, and performance.

Man, mentioning local groups reminds me of how much I miss my town's punk rock clique. Seems like anybody who was in a band or hosted concerts in their basements either died or moved away. Then the only all-ages metal/punk club closed down and converted into a bong/hookah shop. Now the only music acts left in the town are crappy mod-alt clones and douchebags with acoustic guitars.

I figure the second I graduate/drop-out of college, I'm just going to move to a city and get a half-decent job in a decent music area.

On a less depressing note, I've finally found it inside myself to ignore some of the hokiness of Streetlight Manifesto's new album in order to start loving it.