The Descendents were the Buzzcocks‘ equivalent on the early American hardcore punk scene: they were a lot more melodic than their contemporaries, and they were fronted by a nerd. But they were much more than that. They invented melodic hardcore (or melodycore), paving the way for NOFX, No Use For a Name, and almost every popular punk band in the golden years of Epitaph and Fat Wreck. Continue reading
The great thing about punk was that finally even totally uncool weirdos like the guys from the Buzzcocks got a chance to form a band and get on stage. And they proved that losers write the best pop punk songs.
They formed in Bolton, near Manchester in 1976. Their early output featuring Howard Devoto on vocals was distinctly different (less pop, more punk) from their classic sound defined by the high-pitched, whiny vocals of Pete Shelley and the more gruff voice of fellow guitarist/songwriter Steve Diggle. Continue reading
The Stranglers were strikingly different from any other band on the ’77 British punk scene. They were older (Jet Black, the drummer was 39 years-old in 1977), they had a keyboard player who looked like a shepherd, and their karate freak bass player, JJ Burnel was beating up everybody who pissed him off. And it was quite easy to piss him off.
The same aggression defined the way Burnel played the bass. In his hands it wasn’t an instrument, it was a weapon. Fact is, nobody ever played the bass like him. No wonder he inspired legions of punk rock bass players, including the guy from Bankrupt. Continue reading
The Clash have always been a major inspiration for us. They were the coolest band on the ’77 British punk scene with their catchy melodies, smart lyrics, immense energy, and picture perfect urban guerilla image. They invented the punk version of reggae, so that 23 years later we could write a song called The Bridges Of Novi Sad. Just like Bankrupt, they also had two distinctive singers who complemented each other perfectly. Continue reading
This is gonna be a series of posts about punk rock bands that inspired us throughout the years. Who else could we start with if not the Ramones?
The Ramones were the first punk band ever, starting out in Queens, New York as early as 1974, and the mastermind was a Hungarian guy (Tommy Ramone). They influenced the whole ’77 British punk scene. (Sid Vicious always wanted to be Dee Dee, but he kinda overacted his role.) They were a major influence on every decent punk rock band ever since. That includes Bankrupt as well. It’s not just that we have songs like Listen or Cinderella which are obviously indebted to the Ramones, but we even wrote a tribute song to them, Farewell To The Cretins. Continue reading