One of the highlights off of their 200 self-titled album, !!!'s "Intensify" delivers upon the promise of its title by being really, well, intense. The band stick pretty close to their typical dancepunk sound, but there's a kick-ass breakdown halfway through where all the music drops out to make way for a chorus of people clapping and shouting "can u feel it intensify!"

Hott.

best death punk ever

Full of attitude, sleek, punkish-electro.

Punkish with gravelly lead vocals (male); very good harmonies for this genre; great songwriting. Two guitars, bass, drums. Jesus, what a song about the twists life will take on ya! Better than anything outside of Interpol that I've heard in a long time.

In some ways an obvious pop-punk classic, but still one that's generally overlooked in favour of their singles. One of the greatest nights between my best friend and I was the time that not only did we discover this was both of our favourite Blondie song, but we found out that, rather shamefully, each of us harboured a secret crush on Rimmer from Red Dwarf.

The song is the best among some real class on Plastic Letters. The noises made by a band on the brink of the mainstream super-success they were so worthy of. Deborah Harry never sounded tougher (except perhaps on Rifle Range), a persona that fits her like the ripped catsuit she famously sported on Top Of The Pops.

I hearty Punk rock romp through heart break....Sing along if you want.

"Just Lust" was the B-side to the Buzzcocks' highest-charting single, the Pete Shelley punk-pop classic "Ever Fallen in Love?," eventually reaching number 12 on the U.K. singles chart in September of 1978. The mysterious co-author " Dial" is, in fact, a pseudonym for the band's early manager, Richard Boon, who also shared songwriting credits on "What Ever Happened?," the B-side to the Buzzcocks' infamously banned first single "Orgasm Addict." However, the effect of his involvement in not apparent here, as the music is classic Buzzcocks � masters of the punk-fueled power pop nugget. The rhythm is springy, the track's nervous tension as wired as the melody is infectious. Punchy verses with quick-hit vocals are alternated with short dreamy sections of woozy flanged guitar and chopped up-tempo shifts, the band expertly maneuvering in tight spaces. Shelley follows the twists and turns with clipped phrases followed by drawn-out melodies in sync with the compact arrangement: "Your dream to possess/It hurts/It's so unjust/Just lust, just lust/If nothing mattered less/Then I wouldn't make a fuss/Just lust, just lust/I was slow to catch on and that just makes it worse/If passion is a fashion then emotion is just a curse." Though the track was also included on the Buzzcocks' second album, Love Bites, the group had yet to make an impact in the United States. Thankfully, this little gem was not left to languish in obscurity as it was included in the influential collected singles package Singles Going Steady, compiled as the band's introduction to American audiences and released in the states in 1979.
(AMG)

Cardiacs have been described as: fairground music; punk rock; prog rock; beautiful; frightening; deadly serious; total euphoria; ugly; sexy; avant-garde; pop genius; totally genuine; disturbing; uplifting... All I can say is this song has one of the maddest guitar solos I have ever heard!

Chad does country rock. The album is Songs To Fix Angels, which should go down as one of the best records ever to come out of our local scene(Kansas City, MO). The songs on it sound like stuff you grew up hearing on the radio. Build A Rocket is fast & upbeat, kinda punky.

"Captain Future" was an end-70s Toei Animation science fiction series directed by Leiji Matsumoto (The same team who did all the clips for Daft Punk's singles from the "Discovery" album). For the german release of the series a whole new soundtrack was recorded by Christian Bruhn. The title track is an incredible mixture of funk and disco with sequencers and analogue keyboards galore and very Edda Dell'Orso sounding vocals providing the lead melody (the similarity is striking, but the vocals were performed by Bruhn's wife Erika).

Disko-punk in the vein of the Rapture, Talking Heads and the Clash. Check it out at http://www.artistlaunch.com/artist4.asp?artistid=9403

Rather than single out any song on this record, i'll recommend the album as a whole. A journey to Paradise in sound. Robin Guthrie & Elisabeth Fraser have moved beyond their post punk/goth beginnings to forge a style i would call ambient -rock. This record & the following record "The Moon and the Melodies", with the addition of Harold Budd & Simon Raymonde is also pure heaven.

Great Lost Punk Single #3

Going all heavy on your arses now...as you might guess from the title this is a serious agit-prop single, but with a great, catchy punk tune. I guess it you like 'Holidays in Cambodia', you'll like this.

Dunno if its available on CD or not to be honest.

You have to love the 40 second 80's metal band guitar solo... In short it is Zen, then to kick that same riff back at your ears as a Midi composed symphonic tribute shows the ecletic taste that is Daft-licious...

I'm glad that I get the opportunity to be the first to recommend a Bunnymen track, especially since their early work, which I feel is far stronger than anything after "Porcupine," is unknown, primarily Stateside, to many.

"Heaven Up Here" is a car losing it's wheels at full speed while cornering on a high mountain pass. Will Sargeant's opening chick-chick-chicking on guitar gives way to a straight bassdrop, headlong into Pete DeFreitas' insistent pounding on drums, while Ian McColluch's yelps sound utterly desperate, claustrophobic, pleading and angry simultaneously. There's a pause in the careening during the bridge, just long enough for Ian to remind us that "We're all groovy, groovy people...we're okay, we're okay," before it all plunges straight down the cliffside, banging, exploding, scraping and finally, ending succinctly.

I don't ever recall hearing back then, and rarely today, such a beautifully cacophonic melding of swirling psychedelia and assaultive punk/pop. The guitars are cascades of shimmering shards of sound. Les Pattinson's coy, but effective bassline floats beneath the furious energy DeFreitas unleashes on his drumkit. "Mac the Mouth" may be the frontman, but I think this gem is DeFreitas' piece all the way.

After 20+ years of living with this album, and this song in particular, the pump, pump, pump of the bass drum still sends shivers up my spine. Don't overlook this album as a whole either!

On �The Cutter� fellow Liverpool natives, Echo and The Bunnymen successfully wed the Eastern influenced psychedelic sounds made famous by hometown heroes, The Beatles. Crafting Eastern influences into a new post-punk hybrid that was sweeping England in the Early 80�s. It was songs like �The Cutter� that would help define the newly coined Neo-psychedelic sub-genre, practiced by such group�s of the period as The Chameleons U.K., Psychedelic Furs and Simple Minds amongst others. The track opens with a keyboard approximation of Indian strings, whirring briefly before the band kicks into a percolating groove of popping bass, driving straight drums and chinking guitar accents. Ian McCulloch adds another layer of �60 nostalgia, employing his expressive, slack-jawed vocal delivery that conjures aural images of the late Jim Morrison as he unfurls lines that drip with apprehension �Who�s on the seventh floor? / Brewing alternatives / What�s in the bottom drawer? / Waiting for things to give�. The Eastern strings re-enter at strategic points, filling in space between verses and McCulloch�s esoteric pleas to �spare us the cutter!�, which sounds like a good idea in any case. The arrangement also veers into epic territory quite unexpectedly in the second half, signaled by a sweeping wave of keyboard and McCulloch�s more subdued delivery as poses a string of rhetorically poignant questions, �Am I the happy loss? / Will I still recoil? / When the skin is lost / Am I the worthy cross? / Will I still be soiled? / When the dirt is off� -as the music swell behind him. Like any good single, the track never looses steam, cruising through each section with power and grace. A nod is in order for Ian Broudie, who�s smooth production helped The Cutter become Echo and The Bunnymen�s first top ten single in Britain and a linchpin track for the Neo-psychedelic movement.
(AMG)

Great weirdofunk song, it demonstrates best aspects of the sound of the seventies turning into the eighties. The insanely catchy bloop-twang bassline was sampled by Daft Punk for HarderBetterFasterStronger, but this is a gem in its own right. Five minutes and ten seconds go by amazingly fast when i'm listening to this baby.

Gypsy Punk? The whole "Unza Unza Time" CD is full of tracks played with full tilt and bravado comparable to the most energetic punk rock. Gypsy/Eastern European melodies and harmonies sound very honestly and convincingly. English/German/Serbo-Croatian? lyrics are full of irony. Overall very energetic and convincing Eastern European ethnic music with the right dose of rock decadence and insanity.

eO's through-composed, symphotronic poem incorporates exotic world-fusion compositions with heavy post-dubstep beats, evocative vocals, and elegant instrumentation.

Avant-garde punk funk played by pre-teens from The Bronx. Rarely has anything this groovy been made with such few elements. A main point must be that these kids from the same family could barely play.

ESG played the closing night of Paradise Garage, NY and the opening night of Hacienda, Manchester.

I Won't Lie Down isn't just a punk song. It is more of a melodic punk song, then just punk. Face to Face originated in Southern Claifornia but has spread there wonder sound throughout the U.S. I Won't Lie Down isn't jus a song you can rock out to but a song you can groove to. I Won't Lie Down was also remixed (techno version) and put on the Mortal Combat souindtrack. Although the remix is good, it isn't as good as the original, but what is?

Neo-New Wave Electro gets elevated to new hights with a sampled looping punk bassline, understated breakbeat work, and new girl of the moment, Melistar on dry-detached vocals.

A tiny nugget of sparse beauty. Punk as fuck.
Nothing is wasted here, bass, drums, guitar, backing vocals adding minimal textures to carry Freda's direct, heart rending vocal, which itself is virtually vibrato-free. An astonishing recording when put in context of the overblown rubbish which dominated the charts at that time (most times, come to think of it).

New york punk late 70's? early 80's?

A punk band that made the progress limited to just a few like the Jam and Killing Joke.This is guitar shaped power pop with a healthy slice of mod swagger and a fantastic chorus .A kind of Bowie esque tribute to wasted cool and what should have been a sure fire top tenner .This came from a buried gem of an album produced by Mott the Hooples Ian Hunter and listening now with hindsight that makes perfect sense ,the group and producer managing to crytalise glams optimism and punks negativity.

This song epitomizes the Kansas City Sound of indy rock in the mid-90s. It's loud, but not grunge or punk. They sounded like Fugazi a little, but the sound is at a distance from you, not in-your-face. It's a perfect hard rock song; direct, knows where it's going, gets there with no fuss but with a little dessert left over at the end. The frontman later changed his stage name and now makes honky-tonk music.

I grew up listening to Joe Jackson and i still find his venturing into all sorts of musical styles and the eclecticism surrounding his musical work very interesting. Starting as a post-punk, new wave singer/songwriter he released three great albums from 79-81 with his "Joe Jackson Band" before going solo with a string of fine albums in the 80s (musically ranging from jazz, R&B, rock to latin-tinged sophisticated pop) and later writing and arranging soundtracks and even doing classical music. He recently regrouped with his band, produced another album and toured with the original line-up consisting of Gary Sanford, Graham Maby and Dave Houghton and surprisingly it worked as good as in the beginning of his career. "Steppin' Out" was released on probably his best solo offering "Night & Day" in 1982, a highly evocative, melancholic, catchy pop song skillfully mixing a synth sequencer beat and keyboards with piano jazz harmonies and xylophones.

The magical Mr Foxx begins to allow some warmth into his sound after the detached ,sometimes clinical feel of his early Ultravox records and alienated classic "Metamatic".The voice is still remote and the lyrics open to a vaugue interpretation but this sublime piece of post punk pop benefits from Spanish guitar and an almost Abba-esque piano motif .This new found warmth adds a feel of hope and optimism to a previously bleak musical landscape .

Soulful and Bluesy with a punk edge.

Julian Cope was a leader in the post-punk band Teardrop Explodes . This tune is from his finest solo album :Peggy Suicide. The production is very sleek and crystal clear .
The mood of this song is somewhat a mix of mystic and playful-its theatrical and druggy.Its pretty much dragging along in the same tempo from beginning to end , but it never gets close to boring.

Produced by the same guys that did Daft Punk, has the sound of the Discovery album.

some nice tom waits-esque norwegian gipsy punk/ folkpop for you. You probably won't understand a word of what they're saying, as it's sung in a weird norwegian dialect, but most of it is about russian roulette, alcohol, corrupt priests, floods, polka, treachery and other things we enjoy here in norway. it's dramatic, fun and entertaining, so go ahead and buy it/ download from some file-sharing service. you won't regret it.

It contains a sample from Daft Punk's 2001 song Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.

It contains a sample from Daft Punk's 2001 song Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.

A huge hit in the U.K in 1985 and the debut single from a band with global potential still retaing elements of the quick fire genres that happened in those times edgy punk sentiments ,white boy funk and even the two tone /mod revival appeal ,all things to all people ,all the ingredients to make the perfect contemporary pop song,.Its rousing anthemic chorus should have been the springboard to stadium size success which somehow slipped away within a year or two,perhaps its catch all ambitions recalled the adage that you cant please all the people all the time .This one piece of brilliance still remains as a monument to all the should have beens and great white hopes.

This gorgeously ominous ditty seems to borrow [intentionally?] more than a little from The Creatures' ode to alcoholic decadence "2nd Floor", but even by Siouxsie and Budgie's standards this is a grim little number. Sort of the title track to the LP - "Witching hour...soft power", the chorus goes - this song evidences the group's successful movement away the explicit influences of The Human League/Fad Gadget/Soft Cell/etc. toward a sort of synth-heavy post-punk along the lines of The Scars, Tuxedomoon, Family Fodder and/or The Banshees' "Kaleidoscope" LP. The melody is beautiful, and the lyrics - full of images of monster glamour girls nightclubbing the rest of world to death - are creepy as fuck.

I want Daft Punk to come play at my house. We've got to set them up, kids... set them up. This song has kickin' cowbell.

Melds punk, new wave and hip hop into a seemingly cute package. Although I'm not all into riot girl, or angry girl music, this is an exception. Bikini Kill's frontwoman Kathleen Hanna has very well written lyrics. The whole album is something to check out. So... check it out.

Great electrofemmepunk.

Energetic, hyper post-punk...
Les Savy Fav manages to create an ethereal feel within their Fugazi/Sunny Day Real Estate/[insert emo pioneer here] influenced cocoon of rock. It's a great tune to get you bouncy and riled up, shking your head and shouting whatever it is you think the lyrics are...

Swiss post-punk that really cheers me up. Certainly one of my favourite singles of all time, this. Five women (formerly named the corporate-baiting Kleenex) weave ununderstandable lyrics through a backing as tight as anything The Fall have ever produced. I first heard this in a Brighton record shop 5 or so years ago and nearly ripped it off the turntable in my anxiety to have it for my very own.

Funny, fast, w/ weird stream of conciousness lyrics. Mary Prankster (a funky mix of punk, rock, and rockabilly) is in-your-face, vulgar, clever, and original. Also great live--check out MaryPrankster.com for tour dates.

"I'm really stoned, and I think mom put acid in my orange juice again"

"Revenge" is a catchy, electro punk song on Mindless Self Indulgence's new CD "If." Besides Jimmy Urine's (the lead singer) hallmark falsetto reeling in the chorus, this song has a certain feel that takes me back to the days of "Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy." Listen to the bridge the second time around ( a little after the two minute marker) and you will notice the detail of some perfect timed techno. The tune behind "This...is...my...re..venge..." is just hypnotic and I wish I could just isolate that part into a song of its own. The introduction is a little annoying but with the help of the "seek" button I have perfected fast forwarding it to the actual song and enjoying two minutes of pure bliss any industrial, jungle, or techno fan will simularily enjoy.

This song is one of the post-punk classics, performed by Boston legends Mission of Burma. As their kind-of hit, it is a standard of their live repertoire adored by fans. It features a standard three-piece rock band with guitar, bass and drums, but features jumpy and jagged rhythms, a very pronounced and melodic bass solo and intro, and great vocals and lyrics that, while somber, simply beg to be shouted along.

moneybrother (anders wendin of former swedish punkband monster fame) delivers his strongest gospel since his first lp, 'blood panic'. this song is among his absolute finest and together with the first single of the album, 'they're building walls around us', a good example of a brilliant song writer.

benn into this band for a while, I'm not gonna lie mostly because the name is so damn funny. but I really love this song!

punk. its amazing

Although far less well known than the 12" version and the 1987 'substance' rerecording, I'm utterly in love with this 7" version. I think perhaps the band hate it, since it doesn't seem ever to have appeared on CD, and was not even on the recent 'Retro' box set. At a little over 5 minutes long, it just seems much more focused and affecting to me than the overlong 12" version and the scrappy 1987 version.

It opens with that hypnotic beat/synth sound that has become famous since the song was used in various film soundtracks (most famously, Trainspotting, and most recently, 24 hour party people. Both used the later, rubbish version though). On this version, there's a twangy guitar sound added over the top of the introduction. The other main difference from other versions is vastly improved vocals (particularly over the 1987 version), and that wonderful early New Order guitar sound, as witnessed on other classic tracks like 'Ceremony' and 'Procession'. Like a handful of other tracks I've recommended, it's hard for me to be completely objective about this one, because I've adored it since my mid-teens. But having just bought an extra copy of the single, I'm happy to report that it sounds as brilliant as ever.

This recording showcases a raw and under-appreciated New Order/Joy Division sound that mixes early synth sounds and beats with punky guitars in a really beautiful and affecting way. I still enjoy their later stuff, but it's tracks like this that really attract me to the band.

Post-punk, rockabilly mixed with punk, great tune

The DIY ethos of punk served to liberate performers from the obligation to have a great deal of technical ability. The unfortunate corollary was that any display of already-acquired virtuousity instantly marked one as part of the Uncool Wankerage, forcing nascent guitar gods like Andy Summers to play as though suddenly arthritic. Possibly the first artist to successfully bridge Old World training and New World raucousness was Nina Hagen. "New York New York" is the East German-trained singer's signature tune. Over a clipped, dry Morodor techno-dystopia background, the verses present Hagen recounting her then-current regimen of glamourous excess in a harsh, metallic raven's shriek. Then, as though descending from the heavens at the end of a Wagnerian opera, comes the chorus -- a meltingly warm (yet uncomfortable) wave of minor chords, then a soaring, yearning, superbly modulated mezzo-soprano...which, after a jolt of realization, is understood to also belong to Nina Hagen. And so on.

Digital Hardcore just sounds hopelessly dated now. Whether its the post-September 11th climate of antipathy to all things terrorist / anarchist, or those dusty 10,000bpm sounds, or Alec Empire's gradual metamorphosis into a footsoldier of nu-metal I guess we'll never know.

However, Patric C (the male half of EC8OR) escapes this near-universal damnation with his first album, probably because it was specifically retro in the first instance. The musical accompaniment to an imaginary computer game, The Horrible Plans Of Flex Busterman beeps and bursts at you like all the best simple timewasting game soundtracks did. This song, played toward the end of the album and meant to signify success at the digital challenge, is the finest of all; an inspired melody that is devilish in its simplicity and an absolutely perfect sound to come from a Commodore 64 or Amiga 500 (two of the "instruments" Patric C employed on this album).

It also retains a definite piss-taking attitude, which also stands it in good stead for longevity; the general earnestness of most Digital Hardcore is so difficult to stomach these days, and lightness of touch sets Patric C apart.

I first heard Tom Rapp's music via the version of 'The Jeweller' on one of the This Mortal Coil albums. From their first album on, Pearls Before Swine used a broad palette of sounds, in contrast with many of the garage punk guitar combos popular at the time and stood out like a sore thumb on the ESP Disk label (later Warners). It's one of the moving songs I've ever heard. Plaintive strings, understated brass and the most restrained steel guitar ever. Rapp's lisp contributes to the atmosphere of the song beautifully. 'Rocket Man' is a cracker too. That's also on this complimation.

To me this is one of the best pop songs of the last 10 years or so where just everything falls perfectly into place and couldn't be bettered in any way. It's insanely catchy without ever getting annoying, it's immaculately produced with the whole instrumentation blending together perfectly (including extremely lush synths all over the place provided by Daft Punks Thomas Bangalter) and it doesn't wear off even after listening to it for ages. I was glad to see this track finally getting some exposure on the "Lost In Translation" soundtrack recently. If only they would write more songs of that caliber, but instead both albums they released to date are rather patchy.

Punk Rock - Agressive with cert....fuck off... listen!!!
www.purevolume.com - PIGS BLOOD CHERRY BITTER
www.tramavirtual.com.br - PIGS BLOOD CHERRY BITTER

good pixies song
it's simple and energetic

A great track that comes in two parts. The first is a sweet repetitive pop tune with electronic piano, synthesized strings, pleasant guitar chords, and wordless 'ba ba' vocals. Just before the three minute mark, it begins to mutate gradually, until it turns into a glorious early New Order-style sound, with a piercing, punky guitar sound and a loud bassline. The vocal elements from early in the track then come back in. A great fusion of different styles.

insanely hard, pulsating fascist dance punk piece, easily the best song on primal scream`s uneven last album. features some mean distorted synthezisers, a gigantic bassline and some great, sneering vocals from Jim Reid of the jesus and mary chain. (am i the only one who has a problem with bobby gillespie`s singing voice?)i often find myself jumping around the house while listening to this.

One of the best slovenian bands, it's the best in slovenian rock. They sound like a punk version of Sonic Youth, it's unique sound. Their lyrics are in English. They have a female vocalist.
This is the first song from their debut album wich was released 1998 or 1997 (sorry, I forgot).
It's very energetic. It was recorded live at an old Slovenian castle. The other song that stand outs from this album is Air Rager. This album is great.
If you like it you should also check their other albums: Autoerotic, Desinvoltura. If you like inovative fresh rock sound, you must check out this band.

PiL's first single (from 1979, just after the Sex Pistols broke up) has this big drum sound, new for it's time as far as I know. It still kills today. Same for the bass. And ecstatic lead guitar makes this one of those punk rock anthems. One amazing trio of instrumentalists back up a sneering Lydon, who sure hadn't used up all his ideas & talent in the Sex Pistols.

This a wonderful slice of punk-pop quirkiness that just NEEDS to be jumped around to. Rachel's singing voice is wonderfully petulant and even though I have no idea what the lyrics are about the attitude and jadedness come across loud and clear. She's better known for her covers such as B-A-B-Y and New Rose but this is far and away her finest recording,

An obscure(ish) cover of a Daft Punk song done in 1980 when Daft Punk's babysitter entered a timewarp, grew a moustache, played a guitar synth, and rapped self consciously badly. Either that or it's Air's funky alter ego with a touch of that Phoenix FM sound.

Mind-blowing late-60s girl-group sound with very odd lyrics...words really can't describe it. Suffice to say, it's a strange song. This group started out as a very typical girl group of the early 60s mold, but kept plugging away long after those groups had gone out of style. This cut from '68 is very psych-y and "groovy", as was the fashion at the time. They eventually transformed into Barry Manilow's backup singers, but please don't hold that against them.

a pop/ska/punk band taking a break. it's a touching song about a regretted breakup,involving only a singer and a dirty guitar.

it's catchy without being too cute. poppy emo punk. lyrics concern trying to figure out why a lover left you for another--great lyrics.

Cheesy beyond all belief, but one of the cutest tracks you could get from a band like Screeching Weasel. Lifting part of its chorus from the Flintstones, of all things, it encourages you to "let the sun shine in, and chase away your blues because smilers never lose and frowners never win". The elements differentiating it from the cartoon might make a big difference though. For instance, this track uses curse words and is seemingly directed towards a prostitute or rape victim.

For the Flintstones reference and everything, one might assume that this is a throwaway, jokey type track, but it's not. It's sung totally heartfelt, and the beat is killer.

Recommended for: punk fans with a soft side

a very good song of ska-punk that talks about the situation between Israel and Palestine.

Catchy but still hard and edgy. What a grown up Punk kid should sound like.

A laid-back song, my favorite on And The Horse They Rode In On, along with "Spinnin". Good midwestern post-punk. The album title is also my favorite ever.

Don't let the name throw you, this is an excellent french song. It's alternative a bit poppy but a punk feel too. and great lyrics for those french speakers. Post-grunge era song, something like a female french radiohead. Somewhat.

Fusing pyschedelia with Velvets drone, the 10 minute plus "Marquee Moon" is a staggering piece of music from one of the best albums of the NY punk movement. I'm not usually a far of virtuoso guitar heroics, but here it works so well ... with Richard Lloyd & Tom Verlaine's distinctive guitar technique seemingly battling it out for supremacy. Many bands have based their entire career on this song.

Post-punk "pop" at its most gorgeous/baroque/bewilderingly extreme - and the perfect introduction to the God-like genius of Alan Rankine and the late/great singer Billy Mackenzie. A four car-pile-up between Roxy Music (circa "For Your Pleasure"), Bowie (circa "Heroes"), Scott Walker's "Scott 3" and Kraftwerk's "The Man Machine", (with King Tubby and Shirley Bassey acting as ambulance attendants), this song is both empty and lush, creepy and hilarious, ice-cold and almost embarrassingly emotional. I have loved/lived/died by this song for almost two decades, and I still can't begin to tell you what its about. It's like something from outer space - like so many of the greatest pop songs are.

The B-52's were one of several late-'70s bands for which there was no real category. With their modified surf guitar sound, their thrift-shop fashion sense, and their jokey demeanor, they certainly weren't in the rock & roll mainstream, but they exhibited none of punk's sneering rebelliousness or musical aggression, either � the only anarchy that seemed to interest the B-52's was of the sartorial variety. "Rock Lobster" was the first B-52's song to catch popular attention, and it's easy to see why. The minimalist guitar lick is like a beach-bum's rendition of the James Bond theme, the one-note organ ostinato complements it perfectly, and Fred Scheider's campy sprechgesang jumps out at you immediately. Yet despite the song's self-consciously weird texture and silly lyrics about earlobes falling off and communal towel coordination, there's a thread of darkness weaving through it. Make no mistake � this is not a song with hidden meaning lurking below the surface. But its surface is a little more complicated than it seems to be at first. For one thing, it's almost seven minutes long, and it does start to drag toward the end. Right when it does, you notice the mood getting darker � Schneider delivers lines about "having fun" and "baking in the sun" in a hoarse croak, and the guitar starts sounding repetitive in a slightly creepy way. Suddenly you realize that the whole song has been in a minor key, and as Schneider shouts and the guitar barks out its angular riff over and over, you start to wonder if maybe there's some kind of commentary going on here. But then Kate Pierson's angelic voice comes in with a surprisingly pretty falling harmony part that can only be described as a descant, which repeats several times, gradually paring itself down to a single phrase, and abruptly the song is over. The whole song ends up being a goofy party confection with a slightly crunchy center � a pretty satisfying overall flavor combination.
(AMG)

The Snotty British working class punk version of an old hard core song.

Following shortly on the heels of Of Skins and Heart, "Tear It All Away" still was the picture of a developing band, but one already more comfortable with the studio, able to use subtlety and quiet drama to inform its cool, soothing yet tense take on post-punk filtered through psychedelic touches. The familiar Byrds-derived guitar and Bowie-tinged lyrical regret and sighing crop up as they so often would in the earliest days, but there's a clean, blue tinge to the whole performance, something that feels inexpressively like an eighties recording rather than a sixties throwback. Call it the space in the mix, the gentle keyboards here and there, or the substituting of folk and country roots for something more urban and faster-paced. The lovely mid-song solos show the Marty Willson-Piper/ Peter Koppes team still well within its element, and the whole composition has a rich, lush feeling to it that's most attractive.
(AMG)

Loud and Brash=Brittish punk in the 1970's

This song is a perfect punk masterpiece. It's short, it's superfast and it's pissed off. It doesn't get much better.

You could see this as typical of late period Clash or solo Joe Strummer. It's got a vaguely world music type vibe with Far Eastern sounding keyboards and interesting drumming.

It was a double A-side with 'Should I Stay or Should I Go', (which was later re-released (without Straight to Hell) and was a big hit in the UK, following a Levis advert.) Straight to Hell is a lot less 'rock-y' than Should I stay.

If you were going to buy a Clash compilation then I would check whether this is included if you like there more mellow stuff - its on some of the compilations but not others.

I'm lucky enough to have seen this done by both the Clash and Joe Strummer when he was in the Pogues. Both very memorable.

Snearing put down of a song. "Who needs accidents when you've got me"

nice bitter sweet Irish-punk dittie

I've got to admit, I'm in this band. It's a throwaway 2 minute punk rock song. Hopefully you'll agree it's got some energy to it and some charm in the many lead line mistakes and catchy chorus. We tried to keep the production as lo-fi and lively as possible - but it's a problem finding a recording studio and engineer that properly understands what's required. It's been likened to the Undertones (down to Dan's voice) and Stiff Little Fingers. I think it's kind of like the Ramones - probably because of the rhythm guitar part I play in the verse. If you like it, find out more about the band at www.theelectricshocks.com

I was shocked to see that no one had recommended anything by these Mancunian legends. The Fall could never be called proponents of over-production and this brittle recording is no exception. This song features basically one chord and a mostly one-note bassline, but still manages to be as propulsive as hell. The wry, wound up lyrics from vocalist Mark E. Smith are augmented by great backing shouts of "totally wired!" This is a complete classic from one of the most original and influential bands of the post-punk era.

This was originally released as a single in 1980 and is available on several different compilations.

Has anyone ever seen "The Hudsucker Proxy?" You know the scene where Tim Robbins first comes to work for Hudsucker and he gets an orientation that lasts exactly one minute ("Punch in late and THEY DOCK YA!")? "First Day" is more or less that scene's musical equivalent.

Clocking in at two minutes and not wasting a second, "First Day" describes someone's first day at work that begins optimistically enough ("And they say this is the job that people die for / I hope you're ready for the next stage"). Eventually, the day goes on too long (through dinner!) and his spirits are dampened by a coworker ("And he says like it or not / You have to do what they say / And it is something that you would like to talk about / But it is only your first day"). And then things just go out of hand.

"And they say 'faster, faster!'"
The song speeds up slightly.
"AND THEY SAY 'FASTER! FASTER!!'"
And the song now reaches breakneck speed. Incredible!

I have no doubts that "First Day" could've been one of the greatest, most brilliant post-punk singles ever, had it been released 25 years ago. As it stands, the Futureheads are becoming quite popular in England with the impending release of their first full-length album (for which "First Day" was re-recorded). They are a band worth hearing and I can only hope their album gets an American release.

This song was first released on their limited edition debut single "Breaking America" which is where I first heard it. Incidentally, I think it's the best song on this 3-track single as opposed to the title track. The lyrics and concept are uber-funky, and the guitar riffs are really really cool. This is a song that points to a band with lots of spunkiness and talent. ^_^

This song makes me wanna EXPLODE whenever I put it on. Think The Sonics' version of "Have Love Will Travel" with the punky rawness of The Stooges. Except that this song is even more brutally groovy! And the group dress real nicely.

Mellowed out punk rock. A song about lost love.

rather obscure band. a good intro, sharply delivered lyrics, very catchy chorus. a kind of post-punk vibe.

Opening with a brat beating bass and melody that is scarily reminiscent of some late 70s euro disco pathos, it�s only when Brian James� raunchy guitar kicks in that you know you�re well away from the lights of that dance floor and in the grips of a very different master. A hedonistic web of Bators� beloved conspiracy theorizing, the logical successor to the Wanderers� paranoia-packed repertoire, �Open Your Eyes� previewed a closet of horrors that embraced organized religion, the impending World Tour of Pope John Paul II, Bolshevik plots and Ronald Reagan�s apparent rush towards nuclear Armageddon. With session man Matt Black�s synthesizers giving the whole thing a classic rock feel that merged edgily with the band�s own punkish sensibilities, it was, as always, Bators� viperous lyrics that brought the whole thing into the twilight zone of pre-Internet intrigue. The 80s politicking of Margaret Thatcher�s Britain and Reagan�s cold war America pretty much ensured that both sides were far happier not having to open their eyes. A gleeful Bators was there, though, to make sure they did.
(AMG)

This is by no means a new release, but I've recently gotten back in to it. Most people have a misconception about The Misfits. Yes they have recorded some very 'crap' songs, and the newly re-vised band and almost everything Danzig has done lately is complete garbage in my eyes, however the original Misfits early recordings, circa 1975-77 are simply amazing. 'Cough/ Cool' is a Hammond/ Fender Rhodes driven, atmospheric masterpiece. Danzig croons like Jim Morrison in this emotionally charged ballad(?). Granted, the lyrics are kind of dark, "scent of blood when you cough, cool, cool, cool, cough, cool ", and most of the other words are relatively indeciphrable, yet shockingly 'pretty'...at least in their tonal quality. The song is very scaled-down and under produced (organ, electric piano, bass and drums), but this is a good thing, it's part of its charm. The amount of reverb and slap-back echo on Glenn's voice is brilliant. So, I urge anyone who has never listened to The Misfits due to the forementioned reasons to get off their collective 'high horses' and give it a listen, they have some really great songs. Other good tracks from the same era include; "Return of The Fly", "She", "Hybrid Moments", "Come Back", "American Nightmare", etc...

"Don't you know that my hate is everlasting, baby?" The story of the Monks is the story of rock & roll...in an alternate reality, perhaps. Take a bunch of bored US servicemen stationed in Germany about to be discharged, put them in a band, and have them decide to freak out the establishment by dressing in black capes, shaving their heads into monk's tonsures and wearing nooses as neckties. Perhaps not so shocking in these days after punk rock, but this was 1965. Oh, and don't forget the electric banjo. What began as a fairly standard surf/beat combo called the Torquays mutated into this band, churning out some of the most nihilistic music you've ever heard, even by German standards.

Punk really was born in the sixties. This song, perhaps THE classic of its genre, oozes with energy and rage. The fuzz guitar sound is pure evil and when it comes in you just bless the stereophonic effect. Like The Velvet Underground, this song must've made a lot of people start a band.
The band wore black and had black instruments. They tuned their guitars a full step lower to make their sound more threatening. It worked. And all this back in '66.

OK, so the buzz around this song and band is a bit old and stale...I still can't get enough of them.

Neko Case puts her punk chops to work on this composition by Dan Bejar (also of Destroyer).

Great music, production, vocals and lyrics (check out Kurt Dahle behind the drum kit...the man has huge talent!) combine to create one of the great alt rock anthems of the last decade.

Rumour has it that the Pornographers will be back in the studio this fall!

This manages to have a late seventies punk spirit, yet still be a really well crafted guitar pop song. Always great to hear on the dancefloor.

Great Lost Punk Single #2

This is a really good poppy, punky love song. Like a butch-er version of the Undertones, or a more cheerful Pistols. Much like the Undertones in fact - also from Northern Ireland, but with not as many great songs. But this one is fantatic.

The finer elements of post -punk ,guitar effects ,hypnotic melody and the depth of a REAL song still provoking cover versions 30 years later.
Inhabiting that small territory betwen post punk and new romantic not unlike "Drowning in Berlin" by the Mobiles .its quality is in the song refusal to date

Perfect synthesizer punk rock.

"Baby, just don't, 'cause we can't go back
My baby, hold your tongue 'cause it's worse like that
My baby, it was different 'cause we all did junk
Oh baby, lock those photos back inside of your trunk
My bittersweet memories
Remind me how we used to feel
All damn summer with our head full of pills"

The leadoff track of the Psychedelic Furs' 1980 self-titled debut LP takes the lead of Brian Eno's influential work with David Bowie and his own Roxy Music and merges it with the energy, attitude, and bombast of punk rock. After a stark and sublimely beautiful synthesizer-soundscape introduction, Vince Ely's drums abruptly pound in with echoing tom toms. The rest of the band launches into a one- or two-chord assault that gives little indication of the poppier direction the group would take on later records. But the power demonstrated here on "India" remained as an undercurrent of almost all of the band's later work, even if only implied at times. And if one listens closely, there is even a bit of melody amidst the Fall-like (and by extension, Stooges and Can-like) rhythmic pummeling. Producer Steve Lillywhite was already enjoying an early peak in his recording career with this album and U2's 1980 debut, Boy, forging a sound that bridged late-'70s punk with 1980s shine and texture.
(AMG)

This song is the definitive punk anthem. A two-minute head-banger that is about nothing but fun, fun, fun.

Acoustic/Punk Rock, I absolutely love this song because of the way it is starts so smooth and slow and then gradually erupts into an amazing finish. It also has great lyrics and a story to it.

Great Lost Punk Single #1

...well actually part of an E.P. called, I think, Wake Up Sleeping. I totally take on board what some other guy says about not just typing in the lyrics to songs, but these are too funny. It's a noisy, good humoured racket, 'though not very pc.

I wouldn't kiss Liam O'Maonlai,Guns & Roses or Muddy Waters.
I wouldn't kiss Brian WilsonOr his lovely yankee daughters.
And Shane McGowan is not my type Because his teeth are green and mangled
But Jesus Christ Almighty, I'd love to kiss the Bangles.

We got (still get) very little British music here in the States, even the top of the pops - I'm continually discovering great stuff that is decades old...

One of my all time faves is this Strangler's tune - beautiful imagery, some etherial background vocals, altogether a wonderful "mellow" tune from a band best known over here for punk.

�Something Better Change� was released in July of 1977 as the first single from The Stranglers upcoming second album No More Heroes which would appear in mid September. Along with the albums title track, �Something Better Change� would signal a move in a more overtly pop direction that was only hinted at on the group�s first album and would manage to peak at #9 on the U.K. singles chart. This is not to say that The Stranglers abandon their reputation as caustic agitators as No More Heroes was littered with politically contentious tracks such as �I Feel Like A Wog�, �Bring On The Nubiles� and �Bitching�, but the song�s infectious guitar riff and winning melody suggests a tenuous party rock atmosphere. It�s left to singer J.J. Burnel�s particularly gruff vocal performance to keep thing in the punk zone as he alternates between a gnarly throated delivery and a melodic toned timbre. Pumping organ and a buoyant mid-tempo rhythmic romp keep the energy high as he confronts the status quo with a tirade against stifling apathy, flaunting the punk new order with the taunting second verse, �Don�t you like the way I dance? / Does it bug you? / Don�t you like the cut of my clothes? / Don�t you like the way I seem to enjoy it? / Stick my finger right up your nose!� The bridge becomes a jubilant anthem where Burnel voices a punk battle cry to a flurry of organ runs and a growling bass line, �Something�s happening and it�s happening right now / You�re too blind to see it / Something�s happening and it�s happening right now / Ain�t got time to wait�. The chorus is a simple statement, Burnel demanding �Something better change!� with support from the boys in the band who join in for a group shout. Ironically, the arrangement also shows signs of classic rock moves, including a stinging guitar solo and an old school build up of the chorus late in the track.
(AMG)

At first listen unavoidably eighties with an earnest post punk sensibility,percussive beats,synthesisers,and saxaphone .The devil is in the detail however and the song is augmented with a gorgeous flute refrain which enables an otherwise plodding melody to float on air and grant much more space to the melody and lyrics ,Almost psychedelic in its overall feel if that was possible in a future obsessed U.k of 1982.

Progressive MOR Punk with hints of Steely Dan and Zappa influence anyone? Don't worry, give it a try, it's fun. not many songs contain the line 'Holy Sausages' sung a la the Beach Boys do they? The important thing here for me is that the whole never comes across as self conciously 'wacky'.

Early punk from Irland . The vocals sounds as much sixties as they sound punk-ish , a nasal enthusiastic whine that is just bound to put u in a good mood . It also sounds very naive and its full of energy , usually that can be quite irritating (newer bands like The Offspring comes to mind ) but this is just impossible to not like.

They sound like if Death Cab for Cutie went punk. Traditional punk riffs, with elaborately written lyrics and a tendency for the listener to start tapping his/her shoe to the rhythm

Vulnerable, moving and heartbreaking. Karen O reigns in her vocals, and the band cuts out the noise leaving behind an incredible post-punk love song that will blow your mind. The best and most understated track on an amazing debut album.

The most snarling piece of the most amateurish punk rock. The guitars shreds through you, and when she sings "I'll beat you down 'til you are dead," I believe it!

"Understanding in a Car Crash" is the song that brought me to love Thursday, a hardcore emo rock band from the New Jersey area. Emo (for "emo"-tional) is a genre that encompasses deep and tenderly obscure lyrics with raw, impassioned screams and hard rock riffs. Thursday is probably the best emo band out there. This is a great song about wasted time and wanted love, so listen to it! You might discover an emo-punker inside of you that you never knew existed!

The innocent punky charm of Teenage Kicks was a distant memory by the time this yearning gentle beatbox ballad was recorded ,a sad summer song to lost love and playground nostalgia with a beguiling maturity not often assciated with The Undertones .

This is a song from the punk band Useless I.D. One of the reasons I like the song so much is because it talks about something that almost everyone has to deal with after a relationship. The song also flows really well, and I think the only problem that I have with the song is that it ends so quickly.

This is my favorite song and is very close to a Christmas carol,especially "Walking in the air"
It appeared on the Indie charts in early 1983 peaking at No.5,sharing the chart with no end of punks.
Virginia Astley had little to do with Rock,never mind Punk

First of all I had to ask myself whether the real reason I really like this song is because the title is cribbed from a movie I love. (An ace bit of film noir from 1950, starring Joan Crawford, that I can't recommend strongly enough.) And yeah, it is rather "Fade to Grey"- Part II, (though I think the melody/mood/dynamics are stronger here.) And yeah, lyrically it�s all a bit John Foxx-light - images of European ennui and dissipation minus the inspiration. And yeah, I'm the first to admit Visage is to great post-punk-electro what Baccara is to prime 1970's disco, but I love "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie" and I love "The Damned Don't Cry" - damn it!

We had a good time in the eighties,we really did.Unemployment,strikes,kids inculcated with the Thatcher mantra of making money which has depoliticized the youth of today.Fortunately the hypocrisy of Blair has encouraged a few students to tear themselves away from their business studies and take to the streets.Revolution revives art;it happened in the late 50's and 60's when teenagers rebelled against the staidness of post war England,
and again in the bleak mid 70's when youth rebelled against the poor prospects on offer.Fashion,music and literature are never healthier than when faced with intransigence.
In 1981 the post punk landscape was a glorious directionless quagmire.Record labels littered the nation,some only managing a few releases.Lowther International was home to the Vital Disorders who were angry but not too angry to write a great tune.
The Prams EP contains three slices of political pop,domestic and general.Prams is a scream of feminist outrage,of how women have their dreams ruptured,trapped by the drudgery of daily life,the omnipotent cry of the tyrannical baby squashing their ambitions.

"Lets talk about prams and washing machines,
Lets talk about the end of childhood dreams".

That is the chorus,sung with increasing vitriol as the song progresses,until you can almost feel the phlegm hit your face,as Tina Pilchards spits out those words one final time.Sizzling.

I love the WCPAEB, they really seem to encapsulate Psychedelia perfectly. Light, blurred and dreamy. And unlike many of their contemporaries seem completely untouched by Garage authenticity. Not that theres anything wrong with garage punk per se, but it means that theres none of blundering of 'talk about girls' to fray those tinted moods.

Oh, it has loud guitars and harmonies right enough, but the whole thing is pitched just right to lift the dregs of any mood enhancers you may have floating around in your bloodstream and send them spinning into your brain.

The finest moment of a legendary 80s UK indie label which fused a post-punk spirit with the best elements of 60s pop style - bossa nova, light psychedelia, girl groups. And pre-empted the lounge/easy listening revival by about 10 years. The Would Be-Goods were two sisters, Jessica and Miranda, who couldn�t sing and did so beautifully. The �l catalogue is being re-issued on CD by Cherry Red Records. Well worth checking out.