Good comments, and great mix.

i'm lovin' this

This looks pretty cool.

bad comments, good mix. Modern day punk rock is alive and well, there's just a greater amount of run-of-the-mill stuff out there. Don't be a snob and rule out all the good new stuff without a thought.

hmmm, well, yes, i've heard this 'punk is dead' song and dance a thousand times. are you going to be saying indie is dead in ten years? just listen to what you want to, and don't bother with personal politics and all that wasted breath.

no, punk is dead... or maybe not so much dead as in need of chemotherapy. the punk rock spirit is alive in some bands, but over all it is holding onto an outmoded belief. i went to a punk rock festival a month ago and saw a lot of folks who couldn't play their instruments or sing doing just that. punk was a flash in the pan movement that has now become an A&R wetdream. the bands represented here are a great cross section of the golden days of when punk was new and dangerous. the shit i hear on the radio, at shows, and in the music rags is not punk. it can be raw and intense, but lacks that certain something that made punk great. namely an issue... blink 182 has never written a song about anything that will make them legendary, same with green day or the offspring. indie rock is dead as well for the same reasons... hell rock & roll is dead, the doors "reunion" with ian asbury and stewart copeland is the apex of the rock & roll cliche. electronic and industrial music are the only subcultures that have made any big leaps in the last 10 yrs... and i hardly consider some of that "real" music. enough of my bullshit music slut rant, nice mix, wanna trade?

If you look at (or listen to) this mix closely (which is excellent btw), you'll see (hear) that punk is not a musical genre (i don't think Husker Du, Television & Minor Threat have that much in common musically, do you?). IMO the 'real punx' nowadays are such varied bands/artists as (for example) JSBX, Atari Teenage Riot, PJ Harvey, Chuck Palahniuk and....hey, let's move this to the discussion forum.

Well, perhaps it's all relative, or maybe a function of your age. There's no current "punk" that truly speaks to me in the way that many of these artists did. Of course, I was much younger then - buying that first Clash album in 9th grade was a pretty religious experience. These bands seemed so fresh and important to me then, and largely now. (I'd probably add Black Flag, DKs, as well). Maybe Blink 182 was is exciting to a 15 year old as the Gang of Four was to me. And ideally, it will encourage the adventurous listener to dig deeper. If nothing else, this mix clearly demonstrates the multitude of styles under the punk umbrella - jeezus, I sound like a rock journalist. Time to stop.

Punk is dead blah blah blah. What I see here is a romanticized vision of the past from an outsider perspective. How old were you when most of this came out? How involved were you in this punk rock scene when it was allegedly alive and kicking? This is only punk to you because you have been led to believe that this is what punk is supposed to be. Most of these bands were mass-marketed, major label (EMI, Chrysalis, WB), and radio-friendly...parallel in many ways to today's Blink 182, Jimmy Eat World, Rancid, and so on. Mainstream "punk" was co-opted rebellion then, and it's co-opted rebellion now. The real scene has always existed (and currently exists)below the media radar. Where is the English peace punk (Crass, Flux, the Mob)? Where is the American skate-punk (JFA, Big Boys)? Where is the Dutch hardcore punk (BGK, Poison Idea)? Where is the Scandinavian and Japanese D-beat (Mob-47, GISM, Anti-Cimex)? For the love of god, where the fuck is Discharge? All of this material came out in the late 1970s and early 80s, and is far more connected to the punk rock scene which exists today than most of the bands found on this compilation. Not to say that there aren't some great tracks on here (The Dicks, Wire, and Mission of Burma are amazing)...just that many of these bands are more a reflection of the late 70s/early 80s marketing of punk and new wave...not of the underground punk scene. You'll need to look a lot further than the radio, "punk rock festivals", or SPIN magazine to find the vibrant, multi-faceted punk community of today. As Filth so eloquently put it, "The List is Thousands Long." If punk was just a phase for you, please acknowledge it and move on. There's no shame in that. People's interests change. Whatever. There's no point in standing at the periphery making irrelevant observations. Refocus your energies elsewhere and move on. At least you got some good music out of it.

Fair enough. I've heard most of those other bands - they're FINE. JFA, Poison Idea, Crass,... those were phases for me. I don't think they hold up as well compared to most of the acts on this mix. But you're clearly right - it's about opinion and interest. It's true that most of the band members on here are older than I am, probably by 5-10 years. I'm not sure how that matters, but I played in my share of punk bands, some of whom had the opportunity to play with a few of these artists. There's an extent to which SOME acts are below the media radar simply because they suck. Generally speaking, none of these bands ever sucked. I don't think I understand your "mass-marketed" and "radio friendly" comments, though - I'm pushing 40 and I really don't remember hearing any of these acts regularly on the radio, unless it was college radio. But hey, I'm as prone to nostalgia as the next person.

regardless of what your personal opinion is, the music on this cd is awesome. I actually learned about many of these bands from an older co-worker of mine when I was in high school. (for those of you keeping score, that was 81-85) and my life was changed by hearing it. I was listening to Judas Priest & Iron Maiden at the time. Guess what? I still listen to them. I listen to alot of music - all sorts. Does it really matter when you listened to it, or if you came into the "scene" late? No. Just look at my mixes, and you'll see quite a cross section of music - although recently, I've posted garage mixes. Eventually I'll move on to some other type of music. That's the fun of having a large music collection. Now it seems like I'm rambling, so it's time to stop. I guess I never was good at debate :)

I agree with a lot of what Azathoth has to say. As for that Fruitbat character, you are dumb. The way you talk about music, it sounds like nothing will ever be good ever again. As for you mr Paperdrums, sorry to start such a ruckus in your feedback section, but I can't stand musical snobbishness.

i think there's a difference between musical snobbishness and simply having an opinion. just because i don't believe punk doesn't exist anymore doesn't mean i'm asking you to think the same way. in the words of new editions: "cool it now... you're going to lose control."

new edition*, rather.

cool

I believe that punk is as varied now, or even more so, than whenever people claim it first "broke." In fact I believe that punk has grown to the point where it has infiltrated many different aspects of our more widespread popular culture while ever branching outward into new, uncharted territories of art and expression. There are, of course, all the obvious suspects like riot grrl, oi, rockabilly and even alot of the new "alt. country," blah, blah, blah. Punk aesthetics extends way outside of popular music as well into movies, publishing and yes, even the internet (this sight, if anything, is indicative of both a strong DIY ethic as well promoting dialogue and exchange). Gee, I ramble, so back to the mix: It is true that many of these bands & songs typically fill out most people's idea of what a punk canon should be; I'm re-reading Roger Sabin's collection of punk-related essays, called *Punk Rock: So what?* and this mix almost comes across as a check- list for what the various authors cite as important punk moments--however while sidetracking some of the more obvious cuts, say by the Sex Pistols or the Clash--so good job there. And yes, people are entitled to their own opinions but they should also own up to them responsibly: meaning you can't say provocative things and then expect people to roll over and take it without giving something back. So I kind of agree with what you do more than what you say. I think I'll shut up now and go make *my* punk mix now. (p.s. this is the longest comment I have ever made)

It's nice to see a mix that gets people saying things other than "The white stripes on right after the Strokes, how predictable." Any mix that gets people talking is alright in my book. Only one thing bothers me though, where is Gang Green?

Punk today is easily as varied as it ever was. Maybe it's not as original as it was, but how can any form of music still be original sounding 20 years after it originated. Anyway, original or not, I think the bands of today sound great. The sounds of past great US hardcore bands like Minor Threat & Negative Approach etc. are still carried on today with great bands like Tragedy & Rambo. The great Jap bands that Azathoth (aren't you in Emporer?) mentioned like Gism & Mob 47, continued through the 80s with Deathside, Lip Cream etc., and continue today with Paintbox, Chainsaw and just about anything on the Six Weeks label. Bands like Kill the Hippies keep the Devo-esque punk alive, the Epoxies brought back new wave, but do it better than their influences. The fastcore scene is still kicking, keeping the legacy of Infest and Seige alive. The list of great punk modern punk bands is overwhelming. Check out The Lost Sounds, Phantom Limbs, The Distraction, Radio 4, Tragedy, Tear it Up blah blah blah. It's all out there. It's all better than ever. The only reason you're saying punk isn't as diverse as it was is because you're not exploring the underground.