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Chapter 129: Blank Generation

American punk

American punk didn’t have the instant impact of British punk - instead, it inspired an emerging underground scene, and bands that didn’t sound like The Dead Kennedys but kept punk’s anti-commercial values. Every band from the nerds in Devo to the party animals in the B-52s to the greasers in The Ramones set the template for whole punk & indie subgenres. Not everything has aged well (two N-word drops don’t fly even when the message is anti-racist), but these songs still hold primal power; you’ll bang your head like a reflex.
1. X

Los Angeles

2. Ramones

Rockaway Beach

3. Devo

Uncontrollable Urge

4. New York Dolls

Personality Crisis

5. The Dickies

Fan Mail

6. Richard Hell & The Voidoids

Blank Generation

7. Dead Kennedys

Holiday In Cambodia

8. Ramones

Judy Is a Punk

9. Germs

Lexicon Devil

10. The B-52s

Rock Lobster