Rat Sound Systems is the original punk rock sound company. Started in LA in the early 80s, it was a stalwart of the early LA punk scene (posters: it did happen). Starting in the 1990s, Rat Sound has been supplying sound for some of rock's biggest acts. They even went corporate, with a client list including Paris Hilton. Since May 2006, founder Dave Rat, who mixes the Red Hot Chili Peppers for the audience, has been keeping a tour blog.
posted on Aug 29, 2008 - View this thread

Hawaii 70s-80s Punk Museum Back in the late '70s and early '80s, Honolulu had a small but close-knit punk scene. Poi Dog Pondering started out in Hawaii before relocating to Austin, then to Chicago. Two members of Boston's Dambuilders started out as the eXactones. Many other bands -- such as The Wrong and Cringer -- would relocate to the Mainland, hoping to seek an audience they couldn't quite find back home (embedded autoplay audio). Dave Carr was involved with a lot of these bands, and the Hawaii 70s-80s Punk Museum was curated from much of his own collection.
posted on Aug 19, 2008 - View this thread

What's Folk-Punk? Although celtic-punk groups like the Pogues, Flogging Molly, and the Dropkick Murphys may have been the first bands to combine punk rock with folk music, other groups have been crossing over folk music and punk rock for some time now.
posted on Jul 29, 2008 - View this thread

Punk band Neurotic and the PVCs perform with three discerning robots who pogo for punk. [Via]
posted on Jul 14, 2008 - View this thread

People have made some awesome animated videos for Ramones songs, and have uploaded them to Youtube for our viewing pleasure. I Don't Wanna Go To The Basement is probably my favorite. Commando comes in close second. Ramones as legos playing Spiderman wins on sheer novelty. The papercut animation in this video for Blitzkreig Bop is definitely worth a look. Finally, this snippet of the claymation Ramones playing Judy is a Punk is awesome, if painfully short.
posted on Jul 2, 2008 - View this thread

Death were a proto-punk trio of black Jehovah's Witnesses based out of Detroit back in 1974. They were almost signed to Columbia, but bailed on the label when Columbia wanted them to change their name. Instead, they self-released a 7" which is now quite a collector's item, influenced as it was by, “Iggy and Stooges, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper and The Who”. But the story doesn't end there. Recently, Bobby Hackney, whose father played in Death along with two of his uncles, learned of the band and, lo and behold, his dad found the master tapes for their unreleased full-length in his attic. Is a new chapter in punk rock history about to be written?
posted on Jun 11, 2008 - View this thread

Dan Treacy and his band Television Personalities have had a long and storied history. Here's a nice little documentary (part one, two, three, four) on 'em.
posted on May 20, 2008 - View this thread

A founding father of DIY indie rock, Will Rigby recounts the pilgrimages to locate underground rock legends Alex Chilton, (during his wry Americana deconstructo anarchy phase), and the 'McCartney' to Chilton's Big Star 'Lennon', the Brydsian Chris Bell. Blogs on bands may not seem to rate but cats with these sensibilities, unlike today, seemed incredibly uncommon then . Also mentioned, the Dbs, Little Diesel, and Mitch Easter. Free Mp3s of the rare 45s included.
posted on May 2, 2008 - View this thread

In the 1980s, some artists successfully managed the transition from punk rock to rap. Others, not so much.
posted on Jan 18, 2008 - View this thread

A guide to prison slang. Texas prison guards' guide to prison slang. Jim Goad's guide to prison slang.(He should know). More prison slang.
posted on Jan 2, 2008 - View this thread

Max's Kansas City closed 25 years ago this night. Although Hilly Kristal's CBGB's is more iconic and perhaps better known today, Mickey Ruskin's Max's Kansas City (and its infamous back room) was every bit as important to fostering the punk scene of the late 1970s and early 80s. Located a 213 Park Avenue South, just up the street from historic Union Square, Max's played host to the Heartbreakers, Bruce Springsteen, the Ramones, Wayne/Jayne County and the Fast, the New York Dolls, and quite a few others. What's standing there today? Why, the 213 Park Avenue South Deli, of course.
posted on Dec 31, 2007 - View this thread

New York No Wave Archive. "No Wave was a short-lived but influential music and art movement in downtown New York in the late 1970s and 1980s. The name was a reaction to the sanitized Punk Rock trading under the name 'New wave' for those people who wanted a sanitized version of punk." Also, outside of "No New York."
posted on Dec 17, 2007 - View this thread

It was 30 years ago today that Elvis Costello and the Attractions appeared on Saturday Night Live. They'd wanted to play Radio Radio but SNL said no as it was thought to be 'anti-media.' So they started playing Less Than Zero, but stopped eight seconds in and played Radio Radio anyway, which led to them being banned from SNL for 12 years. Tip o' the hat to the Post Punk Progressive Pop Party.
posted on Dec 17, 2007 - View this thread

Punk Guitar Heroes - Television's Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd Television, and its guitar pas de deux between Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd, fit into the punk scene only because they are the ones basically responsible for CBGB becoming a punk rock club. Verlaine convinced Hilly Kristal to let them practice there and play shows, and the rest is history.
posted on Dec 17, 2007 - View this thread

The Big-Nosed Bastard from Barking has been very, very busy. In the past month, Billy Bragg has won the Classic Songwriter Award from Q, then collaborated with Beethoven (some of the B-Man's fans mutter darkly), and taken the hand of a small, matronly admirer before kindly giving it back to her, along with an autographed copy of the score. (He's prepared for the fallout: "I'll probably get struck off Morrissey's Christmas card list." )
posted on Oct 29, 2007 - View this thread

Paul Raven, bassist of seminal industrial post-punk outfit Killing Joke, has died after suffering from a heart attack at his home in Geneva, Switzerland.
posted on Oct 22, 2007 - View this thread

Deadlicious is an English language blog from France focusing on weird and kitschy art of all kinds. Online since May, the last few weeks alone have featured vintage monster model kits, Nazi sex paperback covers, lots of crazy comics (including King Kong) and bizarre action magazines, Hammer vampire posters, old motorbike helmets, Japanese plastic toys, UFO zines from the 1950s and 60s, French art from 1910 depicting the year 2000, as well as some pictures of famed Mexican masked wrestler Santo I'd never seen before. Plus there's over 300 more features in the archives.
posted on Oct 18, 2007 - View this thread

Control, the biopic covering the the life and untimely death of Joy Division's singer Ian Curtis, opens in the US today (on a limited release) [ trailer | fan site | on set interview ]. This is director Anton Corbijn's debut full length film [ interview ] and was co-produced by Tony Wilson (a giant in the Manchester and UK music scene, sadly missed. Check out 24 Hour Party People [trailer | clip]) . Control opened in the UK several days ago and the reviews are largely positive [ Guardian | Times Online | Independent | Channel 4 | Time Out | Manchester Evening News ].
posted on Oct 10, 2007 - View this thread

Live Loud Acts: archives and playlists for The Pat Duncan Show on WFMU. Hour upon hour of expertly curated punk rock radio. Pat's Myspace page has more info.
posted on Sep 26, 2007 - View this thread

NickCaveFilter: Fifty years ago this very day, Nicholas Edward Cave [previously] crawled from the womb and started to plot.  At 16 he formed his first band which evolved quickly into the Boys Next Door [Shivers].  This in turn mutated into the Birthday Party (1980) who terrorised the post-punk soundscape in Australia and the UK [Release the Bats | Nick the Stripper].  The Birthday Party relocated to England and in 1984 the band imploded in an orgy of drugs and booze.  Shortly after Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds were born [The Ship Song - video & solo live | The Mercy Seat - video & live | Where the Wild Roses Grow], and 23 years and 11 studio albums later (not to mention a best selling book, a great screenplay, some acting and several soundtrack projects) he is still going strong.  But, instead of sitting on his musical laurels he decided to get back to basics and, in 2006, grew a huge moustache and formed Grinderman – a four piece with a primeval hybrid Birthday Party/Bad Seeds sound [No Pussy Blues | Honey Bee].  Fellow Mefites, I ask you to raise a glass to Mr. Cave… And, especially if you are not familiar to his work, don’t forget to “look inside” for my primer on the enigma that is Nick Cave, one of the finest song-writers on the face of this miserable planet.
posted on Sep 22, 2007 - View this thread

Something to Hüsker : Bob Mould, Grant Hart and Greg Norton live with Joan Rivers on the Late Show. Also live versions of the Byrds' Eight Miles High, The Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill/I Apologize, Pink Turns to Blue, Every Everything, Makes no Sense at All, Ticket to Ride, New Day Rising, These Important Years, Every Everytime, and a video for Don't Want to Know if You Are Lonely.
posted on Sep 21, 2007 - View this thread

Afro-Punk - The Rock n Roll Nigger Experience.
posted on Sep 17, 2007 - View this thread

"When youth culture becomes monopolized by big business, what are the youth to do? I think we should destroy the bogus capitalist process that is destroying youth culture...the first step to do is destroy the record companies." 1991: The Year Punk Broke
posted on Sep 15, 2007 - View this thread

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Throwdown have a message to impart. [One Link YouTube Post, NSFW Language.]
posted on Sep 14, 2007 - View this thread

Hilly Kristal has died at age 75. First the club, now the man.
posted on Aug 29, 2007 - View this thread

This video is a welcome conclusion to the previous post regarding the arrest of Germ's drummer Don Bolles for possession of "GHB" in the form of Dr. Bronner's soap. In the video David Bronner, President of Dr. Bronner's demonstrates how drug field test kits return false positive results for any true natural soap.
posted on Aug 3, 2007 - View this thread

Fanboifilter: Bad Brains have a new album out balled Build a Nation. Some people like it, some people kind of like it. The Onion link has one song up, their myspace page has four more, along with a pic of smiling album producer Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys (interview).
posted on Jun 27, 2007 - View this thread

Bored of her (award-nominated) years as the glamourpuss of "Family Affairs", thanks to a chance encounter with Rat Scabies, Ebony's found her new calling as the Grace Jones of nu clash, a figurehead for blavers, M.I.A.-meets-Lil Kim-meets-Peaches, "Harry Potter with a vagina". For all those reared on Esg, Bow Wow Wow, Nina Hagen and Delta 5 who weren't able to catch her headlining the Flaming Love Palace at Glastonbury this past weekend: have a read, a look and a listen to the as-yet unsigned Ebony Bones (no, not these). Personal favorites: Don't Fart On My Heart (video) - I'm Ur Future X Wife remix - No Blacks, No Irish, No Dogs at 3:08 of Don't Dance So Fast.
posted on Jun 26, 2007 - View this thread

Flashback to some '80s punk scene shit.In true punk demeanor this is just an excuse to post some (mike watt) U-Tube.
posted on Jun 22, 2007 - View this thread

The site French New-Wave isn't what you think it is. Neither dedicated to the film movement nor the band Nouvelle Vague it instead catalogs French new wave music from the 1980's. It has interviews and much other information, but the real treasure is the media section which includes a photo gallery, streaming radio and, most importantly, links to sites where you can listen to French new wave songs (unfortunately, some of the links don't work).
posted on Jun 12, 2007 - View this thread

Gogol Bordello describe their music as "Gypsy Punk." Formerly the Bela Bartoks, singer Eugene Hutz was in the movie Everything Is Illuminated, as was their song Start Wearing Purple.
posted on May 31, 2007 - View this thread

Filmmaker Julien Temple chronicles the life of Joe Strummer in his new film titled The Future Is Unwritten.
posted on May 25, 2007 - View this thread

Read classic punk 'zines, without the inky fingers! Too young to have read the first issue of Flipside? Need confirmation that Maximum Rock 'N' Roll was just as boring (does/did anyone actually read those MRR Scene Reports?) and elitist back then as it is now? Do you find it hard to believe that Soul Asylum used to be credible enough to be interviewed by Suburban Voice? Or maybe you just want to marvel/feel-sad-for the obviously painstaking effort someone went through to scan every single page of these 'zines (including HeartattaCk) into PDFs? Well here 'ya go.
posted on May 23, 2007 - View this thread

"I sometimes wonder if anyone still reads this stuff." Here's an unique perspective for the self-styled brash, anarchist, punkrocker turned maturing, computer-geeky, old git in all of us, or at least those of us who remember John Coltrane's version of My Favorite Things. WrecklessEric dot com contains the words of a man filled with faux passion and finite jest, whose composed some good music and written some good lyrics to go with them. For those of you not that old, Wreckless Eric wrote the song Whole Wide World which is what Will Ferrell sings to Maggie Gyllenhaal in that movie before she jumps his bones. It was just last year. You might have seen it. Eric's done some other things too. I bring this to the blue cuz I happen to be fascinated by the wry, personable, unapologetic, self-referential, egotistical and occasionally self-loathing way the guy writes in his website, and cuz I'm a sucker for the history of punk, cuz I'm a geeky old git who used to fancy himself a shoegazing punk enthusiast. ...and cuz I'm bored.
posted on May 13, 2007 - View this thread

Fugazi on the web: Instrument excerpts, "Suggestion," "Waiting Room," "Shut the Door," "Reclamation," "Long Division," and much more. (previously 1, 2)
posted on Apr 29, 2007 - View this thread

Ladies and Gentlemen The Fabulous Stains!
posted on Apr 10, 2007 - View this thread

Punk Rock For the People States love symbols. Colorado has the Stegosaurus as its state fossil. New York has the Sugar Maple as its state tree. And every state has an official song. But what about an official punk rock song? Connecticut is leading the way. [warning: youtube / wikipedia / websites that were designed in frontpage 95 ]
posted on Apr 9, 2007 - View this thread

Don Bolles arrested for soap possession? Germs drummer Don Bolles likes Dr. Bronner's Soap. Or maybe that should be past tense, as Orange County police have arrested him for drug possession, apparently over the hemp oil in his soap bottle. Friends are rallying to raise his bail, and asking sympathetic souls to spread the word.
posted on Apr 6, 2007 - View this thread

That's pretty underground. (video)
posted on Mar 30, 2007 - View this thread

The Punk Years, "A definitive history of the music that shook the world, looking at the origins and development of the punk rock movement as a social, historical, political and musical force. Achieved a record audience for Play UK on Saturday July 13th 2002." Parts 1: Wham Bam Thank You Glam [1,2,3] | 2: Year Zero [1,2,3] | 3: 1977 Never Get To Heaven [1,2,3] | 4: Take Three Chords [1,2,3] | 5: A Riot Of Your Own [1,2,3] | 6: Typical Girls [1,2,3] | 7: Ridicule Is Nothing To Be Scared Of [1,2,3] | 8: Punx Not Dead [1,2,3] | 9: Independents Days [1,2,3] | 10: California Uber Alles [1,2,3]. (via)
posted on Mar 27, 2007 - View this thread

Punk Love “If you weren’t up for being a quarterback or going to a Fleetwood Mac concert, then this was your alternative." A collection of images from the D.C. punk scene of the early '80s, captured by Susie J. Horgans, with commentary from Fugazi's Ian MacKaye and (former Häagen-Dazs manager) Henry Rollins.
posted on Mar 23, 2007 - View this thread

Antique Keyboard is the newest work from SteamPunk Labs.
posted on Feb 22, 2007 - View this thread

Yanka (Янка) Dyagileva (1966-1991) was one of the foremost members of the former USSR's magnitizdat circuit. Albeit overshadowed in time by the likes of Vysotsky, she (along with longtime collaborators Grazhdanskaya Oborona [Civil Defence]) played a mixture of folk and punk: raw, unrelenting and angry. Sadly, the greatest memorial to her on the web is entirely in Russian, but offers interest to even those that do not speak the language: her complete discography is available for download, a bevy of photographs providing an inside look into the late 80's underground music scene in the USSR (...and the penalties for participating in it), and some tablatures if you ever just want to play along. She's even got a Myspace profile.
posted on Feb 22, 2007 - View this thread

New York Magazine published an article about the hardcore punk scene back in May of 1986, written by future best-selling author Peter Blauner. It was the story of two girls. One, 16-year old Becca, rose from the gutter to be near the stars. The other, Natalie, a grizzled veteran at 20, had to fight to keep her status as punk queen. Like with everything else in those days, it ended up on Donahue (clips from the episode, not the whole show). The band most featured in the article, Murphy's Law, is still a pogoing concern.
posted on Jan 31, 2007 - View this thread

Als die Welt noch echt in Ordnung war... Large and growing collection of photos of German punks, most from the late 70s and early 80s, including pics from the infamously violent Chaos Days, along with the first German punk photo love story. [via Paperholic]
posted on Jan 21, 2007 - View this thread

To commemorate their 25th anniversary, Thrasher Magazine has posted their first 12 issues! Tons of skater nostalgia here.
posted on Jan 3, 2007 - View this thread

"Punk rock today is like Happy Days or Civil War re-enactment.” LA Weekly is sponsoring "14 and Shooting," an exhibit of west coast punk photos taken by Jennifer Finch, former bassist for L7.
posted on Nov 9, 2006 - View this thread

CBGB is closing at the end of the month. Yeah, newsfilter, NYCfilter, say what you will, and the club hasn't "mattered" in decades, but anyone who cares about punk rock will feel the pang. This should probably have been posted by jonmc, but I wanted to do it so I could highlight this excellent piece by Paul Collins; besides the inevitable "I played CBs" anecdote, there's some wonderful history of the site. [Quote inside.]
posted on Oct 13, 2006 - View this thread

Capitol of Punk, a walking tour and online documentary about the Washington DC hardcore punk scene.
posted on Sep 19, 2006 - View this thread

That's Punksploitation!! Can punk rock episodes of old TV shows kill? Check out punk episodes from Quincy, CHiPs (Part 1 and Part 2), 21 Jump Street (Part 1 and Part 2), as well as the appearance of the Dickies on the Don Rickles sitcom, CPO Sharkey. Other prime vintage examples of media cluelessness on punk rock include a fashion show and a scaremongering Time magazine article, although a recent cookie commercial may revive the punksploitation genre.
posted on Aug 30, 2006 - View this thread