10 Albums That Got Me Into Punk

With the announcement of Warped Tour and the excitement going around I figured I'd leave today a post of what albums got me into punk rock music.

I don't listen to a lot of new music. I don't listen to the radio, or to a lot of new punk music. I don't listen to a lot of anything really. I write my own songs, and listen to those, but other than that, the only other thing I listen to are songs from the bands I'm in and songs from the bands that gave me structure, songs from about 10-15 years ago that got me into punk rock in the first place.

Now granted, I have entire 500GB hard drives fucking brimmed with discographies from bands, (thank you LimeWire, for all of your memories, scares and viruses on my old PC.) Anyways, my point is, everyone has that one band, or that couple core group of records that got them into a certain genre. Well here's mine.

The Casualties: On The Frontline

I'm not fucking around straight out of the gate with this list. This band kicked my ass the first time I saw them and the first time I heard them. My friends went and saw them at Warped Tour and after hearing their experience of lead singer Jorge spitting into the crowd with a 2 foot orange mohawk, I was instantly fascinated. I immediately went out and got this record, and that was it.

AFI: Sing The Sorrow

Two versions of this album were releaased, I had the red version. I remember this album happening right when video streaming online just started to take off and the "Girl's Not Grey" video being creepy as fuck with Rabbits following a girl around a tree. I think they were trying to make fun of the Stone Temple Pilots "Sour Girl" in that video, whatever. With only 4 guys there's so much solid sound and lead singer Davey Havok does just that, sing, so guitar and bass cover a lot of ground to make things sound so full and awesome. Every track on that album though is fucking killer, everyone remembers it most for "The Leaving Song Pt. 2". This record alone got me into AFI, which took me a few steps in the past and got me into The Cure.

Green Day: American Idiot

Some of you may be thinking "are you fucking kidding why so high on the god damned countdown asshole where's Dookie?!". Well because I was already well into punk rock when this record came out, and this record just fueled me. I love Green Day, and Dookie came out in 94' I would've been well into the the genre and/or band by then if relying entirely on just that one record. I loved American Idiot though, every track telling an amazing story, enough to be put on broadway. Green Day has always been able to reinvent theirselves the 9 1/2 minute Jesus of Subrbia & Homecoming told that. The slow drawn out Give Me Novicane, & Are We The Waiting, take things down a notch for the listener, and of course all of singles were etched into our brains forever.

The Used: Self Titled

I first heard of The Used while watching The Osbournes and seeing Burt on there dating Kelly. Then I heard them, and was completely sucked in. From the second the first track plays the entire record explodes with Burts screams and beautiful voice. Like AFI there's only 1 bass and 1 guitarist in the band, and there is a lot of damage done during these songs, with a lot of melody. I remember hearing Buried Myself Alive and The Taste of Ink back in high school and wondering how the fuck to scream, because that didn't exist then, not with singing at least, only bands like Slipknot did that.

NOFX: The War on Errorism

It's evident that punk rock played a giant part during the 2nd presidential election with the youth. Campaigns like "Rock Against Bush" were made through Fat Mike's record label, and they NOFX was very public about their position on Bush's policies, I mean just look at the album cover. The War On Errorism was a record that had all to do with just that. I didn't rush out and buy this record immediately. NOFX was a band that grew on me. I didn't like them all at once. But I did however like this album because of my views on Bush. Franco Un-American was a funny track about Bush, and the song Mattersville was a great track about a retirement home for punk rockers. No matter what Fat Mike writes it's always clever and intellegant in some way.

Descendents: Somery

WIthout the Descendents there would be no modern pop punk as we know it, period. These guys are the founders of pop punk at its roots. While other bands were talking about politics and the government these guys were talking about girls and skating. I first listened to "I don't wanna grow up" after hearing Travis from blink-182 had that tattooed on his leg. The bass riff was awesome, and then I found out it was on this record which happens to be a sort of "greatest hits record." Every track on this album is awesome, you can hear where bands got their roots "Suburban Home", "Hope", "Too Cool To Be You" "Silly Girl" every single track at some point some pop punk band has talked about or covered.

MxPx: Panic

I was first introduced to MxPx around 11th grade in high school when I saw them at Warped Tour. Lead singer Mike, did this crazy bass toss thing in between songs and everything was fast as hell, the harmonies were tight, and I was hooked. I bought Panic later that year and loved every track off of it. I practically force fed it down every one of my friend's throats. "Heard That Sound" is a fucking amazing song about music in general. "Wrecking Hotel Rooms" is a romantic track about a stalker, seriously a stalker, and it's produced with backing harmonies by none other than Mark Hoppus. After hearing Panic, I found myself loving every record from the band and eventually meeting them a few times, becoming a friend of sorts with the guys & getting Mike to lend his voice on my band's record (haha shameless plug).

Operation Ivy: Energy

If you're a punk and you don't know this record, you've been missing the fuck out. My buddy Andy hung out with douchebags that called people posers, myself included, then he stopped and said "no man he's just misinformed, you were all in his shoes once too." He handed me a copy of Operation Ivy's Energy and that was the first time I heard any music outside of mainstream. I was a musician when I heard that record the first time and everything was fast and obnixious and out of tune and nobody could sing but for some reason it was good to me and I needed more. I found out that Billie Joe from Green Day helped write Knowledge which they use in their set. A punk band with horns fascinated me so hearing a band cover "sound system was awesome.

Rancid: ...And Out Come The Wolves

You should've seen this one coming at some point. You can't have Op Ivy with out Rancid. This record is synonymous with the punk community world wide. I first got a taste of this record on Dave Mirra's BMX with Maxwell Murder and hated it, I was 10 at the time. Later on I hated it again as a bassist trying to learn the fucking bass solo. There isn't one song on that record that I hate no though. This album for me has to be top 5 of all time. From Ruby Soho to Time Bomb, 3/4 of Rancid's set is comprised of this album and most any Rancid fans favorite album is typically this one.

blink-182: Take Off Your Pants & Jacket

Without this album I wouldn't be who I am today. That's a strong statement to make, but it's true. My grandma took me to a K-Mart to buy this album after I saw blink dancing naked on TV. That was the moment when I knew that I liked them. The album was unedited, when I took it in the car I played it all the way through, she was in the car with me, remind you, it's unedited. Track 4 comes on, she's mortified and wonders why these people want to cum in socks and people are shitting their pants, my day is made and that solidifies for me enough reason to find more blink songs. I got my bass playing chops on this record, and every record they put out. Flat out if it wasn't for this record I wouldn't be in bands or who I am today, this is the record that defined me, made me sought out other bands similar, and change my entire perspective on life.

There were a lot more records that could've made the list, these are the ones that I can relate to the most that I have the most stories with, and can draw the most nostalgia with.

What albums enspire you?

What was your defining album or band?

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