Reading through Please Kill Me, there’s a lot of talk in the book about American Punk Rock vs British Punk Rock, both in terms on sound and attitude, and it got me thinking. Now I’ll preface this by saying I think it’s stupid to pick sides when talking about anything related to music or art in general, but I thought it would be fun to talk about American Punk vs British Punk in a if-you-could-only-pick-one-for-the-rest-of-your-life kind of way.
I’m specifically talking about punk from the late 70’s to early 80’s here, not proto punk like The Stooges (which definitely trumps over any other band I mention just because of innovation itself).
In the book they mention how the best thing about American punk is that it’s based on blues and old rock and roll, while British punk is more industrial sounding. But to me that’s precisely what made British punk stick out for me. Now don’t get me wrong, I like blues and old rock and roll (I in fact went through a rockabilly phase when I was younger). I think bands like Senders are amazing, and I, of course, appreciate some songs by The Heartbreakers and The Cramps, but I’ll never forget the first time I heard that sound from London Calling or Anarchy in the UK (even if The Clash is a 50/50 for me and I think the Pistols are a bit overrated). Also, that first The Damned album and G.B.H. On one side you had old rock from the 50’s disguised with a new attitude, poetry based rock, and New Wave; and on the other hand, you had this amazing new sound. Now I think there’s a key player for America here, and that’s the Ramones, who still blow my mind after multiple hearings of that first album. Another thing that makes reconsider my stance is hardcore, which, while it can be annoying and repetitive at times, it also brought us some of the best punk bands of all time in my opinion, such as Germs, Testors, Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, Bad Brains, etc.
So, I really don’t know, but I’m curious to know what you guys think.
I’m specifically talking about punk from the late 70’s to early 80’s here, not proto punk like The Stooges (which definitely trumps over any other band I mention just because of innovation itself).
In the book they mention how the best thing about American punk is that it’s based on blues and old rock and roll, while British punk is more industrial sounding. But to me that’s precisely what made British punk stick out for me. Now don’t get me wrong, I like blues and old rock and roll (I in fact went through a rockabilly phase when I was younger). I think bands like Senders are amazing, and I, of course, appreciate some songs by The Heartbreakers and The Cramps, but I’ll never forget the first time I heard that sound from London Calling or Anarchy in the UK (even if The Clash is a 50/50 for me and I think the Pistols are a bit overrated). Also, that first The Damned album and G.B.H. On one side you had old rock from the 50’s disguised with a new attitude, poetry based rock, and New Wave; and on the other hand, you had this amazing new sound. Now I think there’s a key player for America here, and that’s the Ramones, who still blow my mind after multiple hearings of that first album. Another thing that makes reconsider my stance is hardcore, which, while it can be annoying and repetitive at times, it also brought us some of the best punk bands of all time in my opinion, such as Germs, Testors, Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, Bad Brains, etc.
So, I really don’t know, but I’m curious to know what you guys think.