NOFX
Ever since I first heard White Trash, Two Heebs And A Bean I’ve been in love with NOFX. Being 13 and getting into punk was fun, I spent about a year listening to the Sex Pistols and other such 70s bands then I heard White Trash… and Punk in Drublic on the same cassette tape. I didn’t realise you could have fun with punk, NOFX taught me that.
The Beastie Boys
The best/most punk album I owned when I was 14 was Aglio E Olio. The greatest album of all time is Paul Boutique. The videos they made were funny, plus their cover of Minor Threat's Screaming At A Wall is amazing! The Beasties are better at everything musically than anyone else, ever!
Crass
When I was 13 I heard Crass and my young Roman Catholic head exploded. I didn’t really understand 95% of it, but I totally got what the song So What was on about. I really dug the dirty bass and drum sounds and they made me feel like I could write a punk song and that it was easy. All you need to do is shout and sound Cockney!
Snuff
All the early Fat Wreck comps were amazing, but Snuff really stood out to me. They filled the music out with Hammond organs and trumpets, they did stupid covers and made me laugh a lot. They didn’t seem to care everyone else was trying to be serious, they carried on regardless. All the Snuff spin off bands are great too, Guns n Wankers, Your Mum, Billy No Mates etc. but I still remember listening to a copy of Potatoes And Melons with Mr Royales (Guitarist in The Crash Mats) aged 13/14 and wanting to do my own punk version of Magic Moments and trying to figure out which TV adverts would make a good punk cover.
The Toy Dolls
OLGA IS THE GREATEST GUITARISIT THAT EVER LIVED!!
Sublime
I smoke weed, and I like punk and ska… do I need to explain this one any more? I didn’t really get into them until the early 2000s but just wow. 40 Oz To Freedom is just so smooth. It flows from track to track, everything fits, nothing stands out as odd or an album track. Just pure gold.
Rich Kids On LSD/RKL
I first heard these guys on a compilation from Epitaph years ago, then I forgot about them. Then later on in life I got back into buying vinyl and re-discovered RKL. Everything about this band is amazing, from the bass and vocals, to the mental backstory of the guys in the band. I love all eras of RKL, from the early Mystic stuff to the later Epitaph albums, they just inspire me to want to sound better musically. I’ve still yet to hear better vocals on a record than Jason Sears.
Dead Kennedys
I used to love looking through the album artwork for a DK album, the dark humour really stood out to me. The sound of the band was pretty damn cool too. I had no idea what they looked like from being 13 to about 15 when I saw a video of a live set in San Fransisco. It wasn’t until I saw East Bay Ray and Klaus Flouride playing that I understood just how damn good they were.
Wesley Willis
If you make me laugh I will love you forever, Wesley Willis is punk rock. Rock over London, rock over Chicago, Wheaties the breakfast of champions.
Frank Sidebottom
Laughing at your own jokes whilst other people stare at you in befuddlement is the best feeling in the world sometimes. Frank scared me as a kid, but as I grew up I realised just how funny he was. Also just how controversial he was to people as well. I’ve only ever been told to turn off two records by my mum, one was Crass and the other was Frank Sidebottom. Stuff like that makes people stick in your mind and I’ve probably stolen more from Frank Sidebottom than anyone else. I don’t think many people “get him” but that is their problem. You know it is, it really is!
Check out The Crash Mats here and here.
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