Five Friday Favourites: Punk

I like Punk music... or rather I like a lot of what Punk music I've heard. It's a period I still associate with the end of the 1970s and I think it can get caught up with a lot of other styles, New Wave and what would become Goth, and New Romantic. Often we present that as a linear thing, but I'm not convinced it was. I suspect that most of them were just there, bubbling away and coming up in a series of events. It is confusing. I love Tom Rollins Band's Power in the Darkness, and it appears on Punk anthologies... but it's not actually Punk.

Which is a pain, because I like the song (and sod it have Power as a freebie anyway because the rant is brilliant).



I've tried to avoid bands who became Goth later on, or American Punks (the latter simply because I don't like their music as much). It is difficult, there's a lot of crossover between scenes, something that makes me feel I may be being controversial by choosing a New Model Army track. UK Decay get listed as Punk, when I know Goths also lay claim to them (they performed in black because it hid the stains... and accidentally started a fashion trend).

I confess that though I like the Sex Pistols, I've steered clear of them. In part, that's because they feel like a cliche, but also because they were a boy band put together to sell clothes, and I'm not sure it's fair to include them. It seems pretty typical that a manufactured band is the one we mostly remember.


Splodgeness Abound: Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps

Bouncy, simple and fun, this is a great little track, that oozes energy and makes me want to dance about.




The Buzzcocks: Ever Fallen in Love (with Someone you shouldn't)

I love this track for its energy (yeah I know), and the vocals pop, pop, pop as it goes along.



New Model Army: Here Comes the War

This is one of those songs that I love... but I'm not sure if it's Punk. I'm not sure New Model Army are Punk... although they are listed as a Punk band on Wikipedia. They've been branded by many scenes and subcultures and they fit, and don't fit into all of them. This song just speaks to me, its anger feels so authentic, and it reminds us that it's okay to be angry, that we need to be angry at times, no matter what people in authority tell us.


The Vapors: Turning Japanese

Love, love, love this.

That's all.


The Passions: I'm in Love with a German Film Star

Again, I'm letting Wikipedia be my guide... probably foolishly so. I love this song, and I thought it was a good way to get a female musician onto what's a bit XY dominated so far. I do wonder if it's a bit too languid to be a Punk song and so falls into the 'fuck it' camp of choices.



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