Five perfect albums that should be in every new punk rock fan's starter kit
By Lee Vowell
Punk is an interesting genre of music because there is no one way of describing it. One might say that bands playing with untrained musicians and screaming vocalists or trying to agitate is true punk. But there is more to the genre; an attitude.
Sure, there's some type of veracity to each punk album. Patti Smith's Horses is a classic album of the genre but Smith sounds completely different from Black Flag. Both are punk, however.
What follows is just a sampling. If you are truly ready to dive into the genre's excellence, you will find loads of other albums to love. But I promise, you will not be disappointed by the next five records.
Five perfect punk albums
Dead Kennedy - Frankenchrist (1985)
Some might argue that there are better Dead Kennedys albums. Maybe there are and maybe that argument is not valid. On Frankenchrist, which caused the band to be sued (more on that in just a minute), the band appears to tune their guitars to the key of the Munsters and it works excellently. But what makes this record really go is Jello Biafra's lyrics. This is also the first record that Biafra kind of sings instead of yodel-blurts (not that that was bad either).
No conservative group or money-making entity is safe on this album. Biafra takes down redneck bullies on "Goons of Hazzard," destroys MTV (when MTV still mattered) on "M.T.V. - Get off the Air," and punishes the entire right-wing establishment on "Stars and Stripes of Corruption." Even if one is a conservative they might find the logic in Biafra's arguments even if not fully agreeing with them. The words are just so brilliant.
About the lawsuit. As part of the original vinyl was an H.R. Giger painting called Landscape #XX. The painting was sexually elaborate. Due to that, the band was sued by a conservation group for distributing harmful matter to minors but there was no conviction. However, the record label Alternative Tentacles was also bankrupt by the suit and stayed alive from the support of fans.