The One Where I Endorse Most Of Rolling Stone's Modern Punk List (sigh)
I appreciate Rolling Stone more than many of my blogging contemporaries. I defended their Top 40 Punk list (twice) and instead of disparaging any inclusion I just asked all of my punk friends for 5 albums that they "would have included" on the list.
Rolling Stone has a tough job, the music industry is changing at a rapid rate and they are trying to remain relevant while continuing to remain good curators. I respect that, they could just wave the white flag like the rest of the world (and push nothing but Bieber, Grande, and Rihanna).
Yesterday, they put out another "Punk Rock" list. This one was called "10 Great Modern Punk Bands" which is an artful title in that they did not claim the list was (at all) comparative or had any authority. Best case, they are turning you on to a bunch of cool bands and worst case, they are not saying your favorite bands should not be included. Smart.
Click HERE for a link to the Rolling Stone list.
But if this were intended as an authoritative list, I would agree with much of it. I am shocked to say this myself. I have some small disagreements (I am not sure I consider Tacocat particularly punk and I am not that in love with La Dispute).
Anyway, here are my agreements, and a few bands that I would include as important Modern Punk bands (Just a few, I will put together a bigger list at another time - if I remember to do it).
The Era of Vast Agreement
Sure Rolling Stone A) Doesn't care about me at all and B) Are probably doing just fine without my defenses of their choices.
I have no illusions of my own importance, but I do know a bit about punk. And I have to tip my cap to some of their choices.
I do like to push bands that I think are important and interesting, and I want to endorse and support even those bands that Rolling Stone gets right. In this case, IMHO quite a few. In addition, if anyone discovers these bands who would never have seen the Rolling Stone piece then I am doing the bands a proper.
SHEER MAG
Sheer Mag is really great, kind of a Think Lizzie meets Television mash-up (nowhere near as precise or measured as Television but I still feel them in there). They also live a punk ethos and don't seem to care that much about fame (which is okay with me).
RVIVR
One of the disagreements I have with some of my Punk friends is that I don't mind what has been characterized as Pop-Punk. Don't get me wrong, at times I dislike it (not the biggest fan of Paramore or My Chemical Romance but I do appreciate Buzzcocks, Ramones, Rancid, and many of the other bands that include pop elements (Ramones vocals were highly influenced by the vocal harmonies of the girl groups of the 50's and 60's). While I was critical of Green Day's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I do like them. I like the Descendents and I don't hate Blink-182 (heresy I know).
Long story short, I like RVIVR, they are a good band and you should check them out.
G.L.O.S.S.I would assume you know I like G.L.O.S.S. (Girls Living Outside Societies Shit) because I have written about them before. In a sadly ironic twist, given that much of their music is about men being awful at adapting to gender issues, they were attacked in the press by another band because they didn't approve of G.L.O.S.S cross-dressing and having a Trans singer (Sadie Switchblade).
If you have not heard G.L.O.S.S. they are awesome, and this is arguably the most pure Punk choice on the list.
Destruction Unit
Again, might not need to say much here, I have included Destruction Unit on two of my Thursday playlists. Given that I have rarely included anyone twice in 26 playlists, that should stand for something.
DU makes what I would call Catharsis music, they just scream and let it all out.
Downtown Boys
The Twitter romance between Ilya (@IHeartNoise) and I started after he saw me post a push message for Downtown Boys "Full Communism" album. I am a huge fan of this Boston group.
In other words, what are you waiting for, they kick ass so listen already!
Guerilla Toss
The only thing that surprised me about the Rolling Stone take on GT is that they did not mention the Slits influence. Am I crazy here, I sure hear it in that sweet musical stew. As you probably know from my other posts on the subject, I don't believe in strict genre boundary rules.
This end of punk is more about musical adventure and fun, which is very okay with me!
My Additions
I could add a big list here, but I am going to just add three right now. I need to think through who I would include on a larger list, but since there are a few bands that have new albums coming out this week and one band that should be on ANY modern punk list IMHO.
La Misma
I am still 100% in love with La Misma, I have no idea why they don't get more press. This album is Punk greatness and they and G.L.O.S.S. are probably the most pure-punk goodness on this list (not that I think that matters).
I am just saying, this is the sound I fell in love with all those years ago. That feeling of barely remaining in control. That crazy bass, and that cool ass vocalist (she sings in Portugese).
Youth Code
I can really hear the Skinny Puppy influence in Youth Code. I loved Skinny Puppy back in the day because they, in my opinion, were a fusion of Punk with Industrial and hip-hop (pretty much my major areas of music love).
It is good to hear this sound reinvented in a new group. I am going to include both their new album and a link to their older (2013 I think) album.
Greys
This band is noisy and messy and fun. I appreciate that. They remind me a little bit of Tripping Daisy (in an odd way).
This album isn't out until the 22nd, but here is a sample, I am expecting it to be really great!
Well, that is the list, I feel like kind of a whore for Rolling Stone lately, which is pretty disturbing to me.
As much as it pains me, I have to admit that they have not been entirely nuts about their punk recommendations and lists lately.
What did you think of this list (for lack of a better term)? What bands would you have included? It would be really awesome if the comments section became a HUGE recommendation engine for other punk bands (I am always looking to hear new music), so leave a comment!