My friend John at work told me that his favorite punk song is “We are the One” by The Avengers. I have just recently heard that, and I gotta say, it’s a good one.
Incidentally, John is in a pretty good band himself called protagonist. Check them out on youtube. Why is it that everyone I know in a band is inevitably named John?
What’s my favorite punk song? Hmmm, that’s pretty tough to narrow down, there’s a lot of good ones out there. A little while ago I posted a great one called “Television Addict,” and that’s a contender. If I had to name one song, I think I’d have to go with a classic from the Buzzcocks, once again an addiction is involved, but this time “…it’s a habit that sticks.”
“Orgasm Addict” has all of the attributes of a great punk song, pace, snarl, it’s a bit offensive, and it’s short. Yes, the Sex Pistols had some iconic songs, and there’s always The Ramones, but if I had to pick one song, this would be it.
Of course that opens up the question of what makes a punk song? When someone says “punk” as a genre, I inevitably think of mid to late 70’s British punk and the Ramones. Yes, there were predecessors, and there were American West Coast bands too, but I always come back to the Brits. They re-invented rock and roll, reminded us what it was supposed to be about. I tend to think of bands that came after them with a similar style as just rock groups. But if you want to call all groups with a “punk” style punk, then I have another contender.
The 90’s saw a handful of so-called riot girrrrl bands. They had a real edge to them, and usually had a combination of anger/feminism that fit into rock and roll perfectly. To me, the band that epitomized the sound of that movement was Bikini Kill. Here’s the best version of “Rebel Girl” that they made. Kathleen Hanna knocks the vocals out of the park and Joan Jett provides her signature guitar sound to make one ass kicking single.
I think you’ll agree that it shares some of the same attributes as my first pick. So what’s your favorite punk song?