Sheena is a punk rocker now (and in the year 2875)
August 16, 2014 9:27 PM   Subscribe

Help me make a punk rock playlist for the distant future.

I'm working on a comic for Small Press Expo. It's short YA science fiction, about a bioengineered teenager who discovers punk rock. Here are a couple of the rough pages, to give you the gist.

I've got 20 pages of story, 2 of cover and one of credits, so I have a page going spare and I thought it would be fun to include a playlist of classic punk rock and riot grrl that my character would listen to.

Thisis what I've got so far. I need six more songs. Any suggestions?
posted by nonasuch to Media & Arts (31 answers total) 12 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: For real riot grrl era SK you need "i wanna be your joey ramone" or something else off Call the Doctor or self titled... That track which will play nicely with the Ramones track you already have.
Consider Bikini Kill as an alternative or additional.
Otherwise, I don't feel any classic punk name check is Complete without the Dead Kennedys. I've just thrown you to the discography there, because there's much to be had with their song titles alone.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 9:43 PM on August 16, 2014


Something from X's first 2 albums.
posted by brujita at 9:46 PM on August 16, 2014 [1 favorite]


Sex Pistols
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:53 PM on August 16, 2014


Best answer: Sex Pistols, No Feelings
Richard Hell & the Voidoids, Blank Generation
The Avengers, Amerikan in Me
Black Flag, Jealous Again
Damned, New Rose
Flipper, Sex Bomb

PS & FYI: It's "X-Ray Spex," not "The X-Ray Specs."
posted by scratch at 10:01 PM on August 16, 2014 [1 favorite]


Surely some Operation Ivy, probably Sound System.

OH GOD I AM LISTENING TO SO MUCH HIGH SCHOOL RIGHT NOW BECAUSE OF YOUR QUESTION. Thank you for making me rock out in my living room on a Saturday night.
posted by erst at 10:04 PM on August 16, 2014 [1 favorite]


Also, here you go, have a really effing excellent history of punk to pull from.
posted by erst at 10:05 PM on August 16, 2014 [1 favorite]


In addition to the classics, I'd throw in some early proto-punk, something from Pussy Riot (Russia! anti-authoritarianism! topical!), plus one or two fictional "fourth-wave neo-post-punk revival"-type tracks with fun near-future band/track names. Eight centuries hence, would a newly-minted mixtaper care which precise decade (or century) a given track came from as long as it's good?
posted by Rhaomi at 10:12 PM on August 16, 2014 [3 favorites]


Response by poster: Thanks guys! I know a decent number of the relevant bands, but the trouble is that I haven't listened to a ton of songs from any given one of them. So I'm trying to find songs with lyrics that are appropriate to the story, which i realize is difficult if you haven't read the story!

Basically: teenage girl is born bioengineered with gills; locked into a work contract with the corporation that owns most of her planet and paid for her mods; discovers classic punk and falls in love with it; stages clandestine concert that is busted by corporate security; story ends with her stowing away on a cargo ship to escape.

Rhaomi, I am way ahead of you.

(and thank you for the X-Ray Spex correction, I knew that and typed it that way anyway, sigh)
posted by nonasuch at 10:14 PM on August 16, 2014 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Okay, so in addition to the living room party my husband and I are having while listening to Op Ivy's Energy..

NOFX - Perfect Government
Fugazi - Waiting Room
Pennywise - Brohymn
posted by erst at 10:17 PM on August 16, 2014 [1 favorite]


.. and after reading your explanation, surely there are some Misfits or Cramps songs that your character would totally connect with.
posted by erst at 10:25 PM on August 16, 2014 [1 favorite]


Check out Subhumans - From the Cradle to the Grave

It's a bit long (16:51), but it seems like that might go relatively well with your story.
posted by smoq at 10:31 PM on August 16, 2014


Iggy Pop The Passenger
posted by jbenben at 10:32 PM on August 16, 2014


The Slits
posted by brujita at 10:36 PM on August 16, 2014 [2 favorites]


Best answer: Bad Religions 21st Century Digital Boy surely.
posted by fshgrl at 10:49 PM on August 16, 2014


Would 2875-era post-punk punkness elide the essential question of whether something is punk enough? Because Camper's The Day Lassie Went to the Moon is lyrically apropos. ish.
posted by mumkin at 11:15 PM on August 16, 2014


I would put on something that everyone knows isn't punk rock, like My Sharona, because as subcultures get translated through generations, there are always mistakes and mutations that become part of the canon.
posted by layceepee at 12:01 AM on August 17, 2014


Joan Jett.
posted by divabat at 12:24 AM on August 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


Stooges: 1970 or No Fun, maybe
Buzzcocks: Noise Annoys or Orgasm Addict or Ever Fallen in Love?
MC5: Kick Out the Jams
posted by Pink Frost at 12:32 AM on August 17, 2014


There are lots of punk compilations for different areas that pretty much do this for you. The rhino comps are pretty good start. If you want to get real you can use some stuff off of one of the seminal underground comps like Welcome to 1984, P.e.a.c.e./War or Not so quiet on the western front

Though I do have to wonder why someone who doesn't know all this stuff already is writing about discovering punk rock?
posted by miles at 12:59 AM on August 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


London Calling by The Clash
posted by Canageek at 1:05 AM on August 17, 2014


Earthbeat by The Slits in particular.
posted by goo at 1:19 AM on August 17, 2014


Best answer: The Slits - FM or Number One Enemy
Iggy Pop - Lust for Life
Bikini Kill - Rebel Girl
Hole - Pretty on the Inside
Bikini Kill - Rebel Girl
X-Ray Spex - Oh Bondage Up Yours

Also, please enjoy this reference of female-fronted punk rock.
posted by bile and syntax at 2:47 AM on August 17, 2014 [4 favorites]


L7 - Wargasm or Runnin' From the Law
Joy Division - Disorder
Mudhoney - Flat out Fucked or Hate the Police
Patti Smith - Gloria in Excelcis Deo
Circle Jerks - Coup d'Etat
Black Flag - My War
Blondie - X offender
Dead Kennedys - Too Drunk to Fuck
Iggy & the Stooges - Raw Power
posted by miss tea at 3:34 AM on August 17, 2014


PUNKS NOT DEAD: put some Death Grips on that piece.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 4:10 AM on August 17, 2014


I know you already have a Clash song, but when I read your update my first thought was "Career Opportunities."
posted by Room 641-A at 6:07 AM on August 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


While they aren't in the punk rock canon like the other suggestions, the songs of the A Frames seem specifically addressed to bio-engineered children of the future. e.g, "Test Tube Baby", "Futureworld", "Experiment"
posted by bendybendy at 6:59 AM on August 17, 2014


Early (pre-dookie) Green Day. Some. Screeching Weasel for sure (maybe Totally? Something off Anthem For A New Tomorrow?). Descendants - I don't wanna grow up.

7Seconds - Walk Together, Rock Together. I agree with Sound System by OpIv. Maybe some Propogandhi? Avail? Big Black?

I need to go digging through my records.
posted by bibliogrrl at 8:18 AM on August 17, 2014 [1 favorite]




If it's 2875 you should include some songs/bands that don't exist yet.
posted by The Hamms Bear at 9:30 AM on August 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: Wow, thanks guys! I think I've got a list-- does this look good? Also now I've got SO MUCH fun stuff to listen to while I draw, oh man.

For the record, miles, my music knowledge is not super deep in general, but from high school onward a good chunk of my social circle has been people who are in punk bands and otherwise involved in the scene. I guess I'm... punk-adjacent, if that's a thing? So, like, I table at DC Zinefest every year, but all my zines are SF fanzines and I don't have any tattoos.

I am more a geek than a punk, but I am enough of both that I thought a story where science fiction intersects with punk (and not with steam-, cyber-, etc appended to it) would be interesting.

(Actually, if anyone here would like to take a look at the roughs for the comic and tell me if I'm Getting Punk Wrong anywhere, I would appreciate it!)
posted by nonasuch at 10:26 AM on August 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


I think the list looks great, but as an old punk I don't know anyone whose favorite Clash song is London Calling. I'd go with Death or Glory
posted by InfidelZombie at 12:55 PM on August 18, 2014


« Older Can I make it in the Boston IT job market?   |   Living Artfully in Berlin Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.