The Dead Boys were one of the first punk bands to escalate the level of violence, nihilism, and pure ugliness of punk rock to extreme new levels. Although considered part of New York's mid-'70s CBGB's scene, all of its bandmembers originally hailed from Cleveland, OH. The group's roots lay in the early-'70s Cleveland cult band Rocket from the... [+] Read More

Yes No

While most of the early British punk bands spoke of working-class concerns -- primarily unemployment and the shrinking U.K. economy, which was leaving a generation with nothing to do and nowhere to go -- many of the pioneering groups had working-class credentials that were suspect at best; the Sex Pistols' career was being molded by a... [+] Read More

Yes No

A taut, explosive Belfast-based punk band, Stiff Little Fingers (named after a Vibrators song) had the dubious distinction of being referred to as "The Irish Clash." What must have seemed like a compliment at the time did little to help their career, only because it made comparisons between the two bands inevitable. Granted, there were many... [+] Read More

Yes No

A dusty 49 year old rawkin' guitarist crankin' out raunchy riffs on the windy desolate plains of Nebraska.

Yes No

In the early years of Los Angeles punk, one of the premiere hardcore bands was T.S.O.L., which stood for True Sounds of Liberty. Offering poppier music than many of their contemporaries and featuring an image that appealed to punks who wanted to dive deeper into the gothic subgenre already being offered by many British punk bands, T.S.O.L.... [+] Read More

Yes No

IMPORTANT UPDATE, MARCH 2007: The Impatiens have broken up! :-( Read this update posted by Emma-O at The Impatiens' MySpace page:
"A message from Emma-O: Goodbye, Impatiens.
Well it brings me much sadness to report that The Impatiens are no longer. I tried to save it, guys, I really did. I did not want it to end, believe me. I will... [+] Read More

Yes No

The Jam were the most popular band to emerge from the initial wave of British punk rock in 1977; along with the Sex Pistols, the Clash, and the Buzzcocks, the Jam had the most impact on pop music. While they could barely get noticed in America, the trio became genuine superstars in Britain, with an impressive string of Top Ten singles in the... [+] Read More

Yes No

Genuinely shocking or tasteless, campy fun? It was sometimes hard to tell which way the Misfits wanted to be taken, and the immense cult following that has grown up in the years after their actual existence (1977-1983) seems divided in its own assessment. It certainly wasn't the Misfits' musicianship -- which was as crude as the recording... [+] Read More

Yes No

The Ramones are the first punk rock band. Other bands, such as the Stooges and the New York Dolls, came before them and set the stage and aesthetic for punk, and bands that immediately followed, such as the Sex Pistols, made the latent violence of the music more explicit, but the Ramones crystallized the musical ideals of the genre. By cutting... [+] Read More

Yes No

Roaring out of Brisbane, Australia, in 1977 with the punk-era classic "(I'm) Stranded," the Saints, despite going through numerous incarnations, were a part of rock & roll for more than 20 years, thanks mainly to their indefatigable leader (and founder) Chris Bailey. Although they didn't play anything that passes for punk rock after about 1978,... [+] Read More

Yes No

The Stranglers formed as the Guildford Stranglers in the southern England village of Chiddington (near Guildford) in 1974, plowing a heavily Doors-influenced furrow through the local pub rock scene -- such as it was. Of the four founding members, only bassist Hugh Cornwall had any kind of recognizable historical pedigree, having played alongside... [+] Read More

Yes No

One of punk rock's longest running bands, the Vibrators emerged from the UK punk scene in 1976 and quickly found themselves sharing the stage with such notable acts as the Sex Pistols. Their initial releases were minor hits in England, and the band was able to weather frequent lineup changes, which started with bassist Pat Collier's exit in... [+] Read More

Yes No