01 Algebra Mothers – In And Out Of Order (2018/A·Moms = Algebra Mothers/Third Man Records)
Formed in the 1970s by four like-minded misfits/artists/musicians/friends from Detroit’s Cass Tech High School. After a few gigs and several decades later, Third Man Records contacted head Mothers Gerald Collins (Jeecy and The Jungle) and Ralph Valdez (former WDET Disc Jockey) and discovered they were sitting on at least an album’s worth of home studio demos and live recordings. This is the first song from that release, their second release and some 40 years after their initial release!
02 Bayonettes – Stuck in This Rut (2006/Stuck In This Rut/Deranged Records)
A Canadian punk band from Toronto, Ontario who started life in 2005. They play catchy melodic punk with strong female vocals. Definitely poppy, catchy and upbeat. Absolutely great stuff. And, the drummer used to play bass for Career Suicide for those keeping track!
03 White Lung – Viva La Rat (2010/It’s The Evil/Deranged Records)
Energetic, bold, ultimately entertaining. White Lung is a Canadian punk rock band formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 2006. They first attained recognition as one of the standout acts involved with the Vancouver Emergency Room scene. Exclaim! named the band’s first full length album It’s the Evil as 2010’s punk album of the year. This is the first song from that album.
04 Toadies – Mister Love (1994/Rubberneck/ Interscope Records)
Toadies began in 1989 in Fort Worth, Texas. Their first full-length album Rubberneck was released in the summer of 1994 and featured a sound described as “distinctly grunge” and “distinctly Texan”. When they formed, there was another band with a member who called himself “Mister Love.”
“I just thought that was hilarious,” lead singer Vaden Todd Lewis said in Dark Secrets: The Stories of Rubberneck. “I modeled those lyrics around basically that guy saving me and the whole Dallas-Fort Worth music scene, and that was back in 1990, I guess.”
05 Thee Mighty Caesars – It Ain’t No Sin (1985/Beware The Ides Of March/Big Beat Records)
Thee Mighty Caesars were formed by Billy Childish in 1985 after the demise of The Milkshakes. They influenced many American bands, especially The Mummies, and Sub Pop groups. They were arguably the group that brought about the resurgence of garage rock. This tune is excellent.
06 The Front – La Bete Humaine (1987/La Bete Humaine/ Nocturnal Records And Production)
It’s a brilliant chugging rockabilly strut of a tune and it’s a solidly memorable guitarsy burner that intermittently smack of Lords of the New Church and Screaming Blue Messiahs.
07 Celibate Rifles – Storm (2000/A Mid-Stream Of Consciousness/Munster Records)
The Celibate Rifles were formed in 1979 in Sydney as a punk rock group. They play stripped-down, loud, and fast Ramones-inspired guitar rock and were one of the earliest Australian punk bands to emerge during the post-Radio Birdman/Saints era. Their name is a response to the Sex Pistols – as an antonym or inspiration.
08 Stomach Mouths – Don’t Put Me Down (1985/This Is….. The Stomach Mouths/ Månsi Sunlight)
The Stomachmouths were a garage punk band from Stockholm, Sweden active in the 1980s. They were one of the earliest ‘pure’ garage bands in the European garage revival of the 1980s. They helped pioneer the notion of a garage punk band that strove for authenticity in replicating the sound and the look of the original ’60s inspirators, primarily from the US. Fantastic band!
09 Skeleton Key – Watch The Fat Man Swing (1998/Fantastic Spikes Through Balloon/Capitol Records)
Skeleton Key is a rock band formed in 1995 in New York City. The band was conceived by bassist and singer Erik Sanko, whose intent was to create a sound “luxurious, yet affordable,” using antique microphones, primitive guitars, and unconventional percussion. He does this excellently as you can hear in this tune.
10 Amy & The Angels – I Hate Being In Love (1981/ Various – Making Waves – A Collection Of 12 Womens Bands From The UK /Girlfriend Records)
AKA Stef Petticoats of the Petticoats. The track is the only Amy & The Angels track I’ve found, and is on the compilation “Making Waves: A Collection of 12Women’s Bands from the UK’ on the Girlfriend Records label. A great tune for me. A great find.
11 Billy Nomates – Call In Sick (2020/Billy Nomates/Invada)
From Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, Victoria Ann Maries plays under the moniker Billy Nomates and her sound is very DiY and Lo-fi, She records at home using Garage Band and Acid software; often self-releasing tracks via Bandcamp. After a brief DiY digital release, the reworked debut album was completed at Invada, just as the Coronavirus pandemic appeared in the UK. But one to watch and she has garnered great support from the likes of Sleaford Mods.
12 The Welders – SOS Now (2010/The Welders/BDR Records)
I have a soft spot for anything from St. Louis back in the day and here we have it. It’s always great to hear new tunes from this place and even hear reissue releases, like this one, which were probably all sitting around in people’s basements, having never been released in the first instance. This particular record was found and released in 2010 on BDR, who seem to specialize in STL punk, which is totally great in my eyes.
13 The Raincoats – Fairytale In The Supermarket (1979/Fairytale In The Supermarket/Rough Trade)
Well, what can I say about the Raincoats? Formed in 1977 and like the Slits, one of their major influences, the Raincoats gradually became an all-female group. I love this tune. With its scratching violin and shouty vocals, it’s a bleak examination of a relationship and I admit it’s not for everyone. But the Raincoats became a cult band because of their distinct sound. For me, this is an early postpunk gem.
14 The Prats – Disco Pope (1980/1990’s Pop E.P./Rough Trade)
OK, a band that started out when they were aged 12 – 14, The Prats were an Edinburgh-based punk rock group, active from 1977 to 1981. In 1979 the band managed to bag themselves the interest of John Peel who helped finance a single. In 1980, the EP “The 1990s Pop” was released and “Disco Pope” received significant airplay under John Peel. Mad you can clearly hear why.
15 The Nixe – You Say (2008/The Nixe/ Polly Maggoo Records)
The Nixe were an early all-girl punk band from the Netherlands. Nine out of 10 experts on rock and roll history will tell you Joan Jett and the Blackhearts or The Runaways were the first important all-girl rock band. I think these girls could challenge that claim.
16 Slaughter and the Dogs – Cranked Up Really High (1977/ Cranked Up Really High/Rabid Records)
This was Slaughter and the Dogs’ debut single. Hailing from Manchester, but frequent visitors to London and in particular “the Roxy”. This is one of the all time punk classics, noisy, fast and furious. Defo a favourite of mine.
17 Lithics – Tower Of Age (2020/Tower Of Age/ Trouble In Mind)
There’s a lot of post-punk out there, but very little as good as this. It’s art-punk, just in different clothes. Its composition is structured so tightly, so sparsely, the band uses blank space as its own instrument. The music of Lithics takes the shronky, jagged post-punk of bands like Kleenex/Liliput and Bush Tetras (some of my favorite groups in the subgenre) to a rigid extreme. Not rigid as in stiff or boring or devoid of unexpected shifts; rigid as in disciplined and precise and fastidiously authored. This is genuinely fantastic.
18 Alien Sex Fiend – Lips Can’t Go (1983/Who’s Been Sleeping In My Brain/Anagram Records)
A band influential in developing the style of gothic rock known as deathrock. This is electronic brilliance and one of my favourite ASF tracks. You defo get a very special atmosphere by hearing these fantastic, non mainstream, songs. They are really unique indeed.
19 Menace – I’m Civilised (1978/G.L.C./Small Wonder Records)
Menace were a Street Punk band from UK formed in 1976. A lot of punk these days just does not have the emotion that this classic stuff had.
20 Malchix – Crisis (1979/Various – Street To Street – A Liverpool Album/Open Eye Records)
Probably the most virulently punky folk to be heard here.
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