Nikos from The Twin Dracula gives us his top ten punk rock influences.
1. THE CLASH They brought a huge legitimacy to punk rock at a time where it was a bit of a parody of itself. No mohawks, no studded leather jackets, no bullshit… just good music. Joe Strummer’s lyrics were insightful and poetic, and he’s truly missed.
2. ALEXISONFIRE Alexis came about
when there were so many shit emo bands around. They were a huge breath of fresh
air, and every album has been a banger. They managed to fuse modern punk rock
with great melody, and great songwriting. Huge influence!
3. ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT I’ve always found
RFTC absolutely fascinating. A rock band with a horn section… that don’t play
ska (thankfully)! They sound HUGE, have never been afraid to do stuff
differently, and have a great DIY ethos. John Reis’ label, Swami Records, is
also home to some great bands.
4. FAT WRECK CHORDS I could write 20
bands off the top of my head that are on this label that have been an influence
to both our band and to me personally, but I’ll just put them in as a
collective. Snuff, Lagwagon & Screeching Weasel were the first punk bands I
really heard from watching snowboarding videos as a kid.
5. MISFITS This band needs
absolutely no explanation other than to say Earth AD & Walk Among Us are 2
of my favourite punk records ever. If you don’t own them… beg, steal or borrow
them.
6. HOT WATER MUSIC There’s a ton of
things I love about Hot Water Music, but the dual vocals between Chris Wollard
& Chuck Ragan are definitely one of the standouts, the songwriting is next
level too. I’d love to see them back together again, if only they’d stop
writing terrible country music with their side projects…
7. THE RAMONES Imitated by many, duplicated
by none. Before they were a Primark t-shirt design, these four blokes smashed
the shit out of music and changed it for the better. The Ramones were the first
pop punk band, and they were amazing. They wanted to make great music out of
their love of rock n roll and 50’s love songs, and just kinda happened to
invent punk rock.
8. BELVEDERE This band
absolutely slays! I got into them quite late on, about a month before they
split, but luckily got to see them when they reformed at Groezrock. The
technical ability of Belvedere makes me salivate. So fast! Totally recommend
‘Fast Forward Eats The Tape’ if you’ve not heard them before.
9. THE FLATLINERS The thing I love
about The Flatliners is they constantly improve with every album without
sacrificing any of their sound. Their songs are just ridiculously good; the
melody, the raw aggression behind the melody, the lyrics… it’s all just fucking
flawless! In terms of a band that are an inspiration for me to keep writing
songs and playing in my band, you don’t need to look much further than these
guys.
10. THE HIVES They sound good,
they play good, they look good – for me, they’re one of the best live bands on
the planet. No question. I saw The Hives in 2002, and 2 minutes later formed my
first ‘proper’ band.
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