Five perfect albums that should be in every new punk rock fan's starter kit

The Clash - The Clash (1977)

I could, of course, have gone with possibly the Clash's most well-known album, London Calling, and that would not have been wrong. But that record has some punk sounds but is a wonderful mish-mash of lots of different influences. London Calling is more of a rock record than a punk one, and that is OK. It is well-respected because of its greatness, not because of its punkness.

But the band's debut album is terrific from start to finish even though the group recorded the songs in just a little over two weeks and the album was released about two months later. The first four tracks alone - "Janie Jones," "Remote Control," "I'm So Bored with the USA", and "White Riot" - are still staples of punk but listing them does a disservice to the rest of this must-have record.

Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols (1977)

This is probably the most obvious album in this article. I almost decided against adding it simply because I only have five slots and literally anyone interested in punk knows this record (and likely owns it) which has almost in a way turned the Sex Pistols only studio album more poppy. The argument can be made that if something is so well-received by the general public that thing stops having punk motifs.

Still, at the time the record and the band were groundbreaking in their fearlessness to be disruptive and a complete mess. This album actually came out after the Clash's debut album, but that just goes to prove what a special year 1977 was. Somehow songs such as "God Save the Queen," "Anarchy in the U.K." and "Pretty Vacant" still sound fresh today even with a low-end recording process. Just goes to show great music will overcome anything.