We’ve got about 13 weeks until Riot Fest, and there’s a lot of music to catch up on. We’re kicking it off with our bread and butter, punk. Here’re three punk bands, one old school, one not quite as old but super influential, and one carrying the banner now.
The Descendents deserve to be in the shotgun spot for the countdown. They perfectly segue from Surf City Blitz to Riot Fest (and would be a shoe-in for the next SCB). We saw them at Coachella 2013 and they were excellent. They’re from SoCal and formed in the late 70s/early 80s akin to Bad Religion and Social D and The Offspring. And they have a freaking genius with a PHD for a lead singer…like The Offspring and Bad Relgion. The Descendents have followed an interesting path going on hiatus numerous times, usually because Milo, their singer, wants to be a scientist (he even worked for DuPont at one point). Their drummer even played with Henry Rollins in Black Flag for a while. And the band absent Milo formed the band “All”. These guys are called out as one of the firsts that brought melody to punk. As usual with Riot Fest, there are a number of bands that influenced the rest of the lineup. You’d be hard pressed to find a band that influenced more of the rest of the lineup than the Decendents (Patti Smith indirectly as an exception). Gotta be super stoked to see them. One of my top 5 must sees at Riot Fest. If you can, check out the documentary “Filmage” about them (streaming free on Tubitv.com). Good stuff.
Cock Sparrer are old school punk. They’ve been around since the seventies. And most of their lineup are originals, which is super impressive considering their age. Widely considered “Oi Punk” (with chants of “Oi, Oi, Oi!!) along with our friends from UK Subs. I’m really looking forward to seeing one of the acts that helped kick start a lot of music we’ll see at Riot Fest. One of my top 5 must sees at Riot Fest. Hoping for an aftershow.
While they’ve been around for 20+ years, it seems like Anti-Flag is carrying the mantle for the politically charged hardcore punk acts of today. Kinda like Bad Religion with an even harder edge. I’m a little embarrassed to say that I am late to the Anti-Flag party. They are the next generation’s Dead Kennedys (without the shock factor). From Pittsburgh and they definitely feel like an East Coast hardcore band contrasting the West Coast punk of our Surf City Blitz friends. One of my top 5 must see acts at Riot Fest.
Excellent start to the countdown!