Top 10 Favorite Punk Records

I discovered punk in junior high. Punk and skateboarding always went together for me. I used to sit around and watched skate and snowboarding videos set to a punk soundtrack and then go out and skate to my own punk soundtrack.

10. MxPx – Life in General

While Teenage Politics turned me onto MxPx, it wasn’t until Life in General that I really got into the band. The songs are catchy on Life in General. Its pop punk at it’s finest. Mike’s has always been a fantastic songwriter and Life in General holds as some of his best work. Middle Name, Do Your Feet Hurt, Doing Time, Freaking Chick Magnet! The lyrics are smart and catchy, and it’s a great record.



9. Face to Face – Face to Face

Face to Face’s self-titled third record has something different to it that stands out in their discography, and really is different from their first two records. I wouldn’t say it’s darker, but it has a darker tone. Face to Face’s sound is a sound I find a lot of the early 2000’s Tooth and Nail bands copying (Off the Record, Shorthanded, All Wound Up). I won’t Lie Down is such an amazing song and my favorite from Face to Face. A solid punk record.



8. Fugazi – Repeater + 3 Songs

Fugazi is as DC as the White House and the Redskins and being a part of the punk scene in DC not knowing about and listening to Fugazi is wrong. It was hard for me to pick a Fugazi record. I’m a big fan of their entire discography but Repeater is the one I find myself grabbing to listen to more then the others. Not that Fugazi’s later albums were polished by any means but Repeater has a different rawness and fury to it.



7. Dogwood – Through Thick and Thin

Dogwood might have been the first punk band I really loved. Maybe because they were connected to P.O.D. and NIV. I remember watching G-Rock and seeing the video for Preschool Days for the first time. While all of Dogwood’s records are solid, Through Thick and Thin is as catchy or polished as the albums they put out on Tooth and Nail. It’s just straightforward, play the songs fast, punk rock. Plus it has the great hardcore song at the end, Joy Through Movement.



6. Slick Shoes – Burn Out

While Slick Shoes hasn’t been a band I’ve been a huge fan of, Burn Out is an album I love. It teeters on being a catchy album but never crosses the line. The songs are solid pop punk songs and Burn Out is such an enjoyable listen that it’s a shame the songs never find a way to stick in your head.



5. Ghoti Hook – Banana Man

Is Banana Man universally everyone’s favorite Ghoti Hook record? I love Two Years to never but Banana Man can’t be beat. My Bike, The Box, Cowboy, Love By Numbers, At the Zoo… The whole record is amazing.



4. The Huntingtons – High School Rock

While the Huntingtons will always be called a Ramones rip-off band, and it might be a fair assessment, I’ve always loved the Huntingtons. I originally owned High School Rock on cassette and wore that tape out. The Huntingtons had the ability to write short, catchy punk songs. Often I will find myself singing their songs without know it. High School Rock is 16 songs, each one just as catchy and good as the last.



3. The Clash – London Calling

While it seems extremely cliché to have London Calling on this list and so high, that doesn’t make it less deserving. I didn’t even hear London Calling till much later in life, after most of my heavy punk listening days. Train in Vain and Brand New Cadillac are two of my favorite Clash songs. A classic.



2. Squad Five – O – Bombs Over Broadway

I was already a huge Squad Five-O fan when Bomb’s Over Broadway came out. While Bombs Over Broadway as an album are the best songs of SFO’s career, this album had to be experienced live and I saw them perform this album live 4 or 5 times. The speed and intensity on every song was jacked up and really made the songs so good. The album itself is almost a throwback to more glam rock then punk but the attitude is punk. Great songs, amazing album.



1.MxPx – Slowly Going the Way of the Buffalo

I know a lot of people see Slowly Going the Way of the Buffalo as the beginning of MxPx’s decline; I always viewed it as the beginning of their maturity. While Life in General was catchy and full of great songs, it’s also the last of the “teenage” MxPx records. The songs are Slowly Going the Way are more mature lyrically and the music compliments that nicely. The production on SGTWOTB was the best of their discography to that point and might be the best sounding record of their career to this day. While they’ve put out some great records since Slowly Going the Way of the Buffalo, I don’t think MxPx has come close to putting together a complete record as good as Slowly Going the Way was.