Punk Rock

Karaoke Opportunities: Punk Rock Singalong at Minna Gallery 12/6

Peter Hook Q&A

Klaus Flouride Splits From the Dead Kennedys

Last Night: NOFX at Slim's

NOFX February 15th, 2009 Slim'sWords and images by Brian MossBetter Than: Soda can pot pipes and Safeway parking lot skate sessions.Oh, where does the time go? This month, longstanding California punks NOFX celebrate 25 years of existence. Alas, it doesn't seem like that long ago that I was sitting ... More >>

You Brut!

NOFX February 15th, 2009 Slim'sWords and images by Brian MossBetter Than: Soda can pot pipes and Safeway parking lot skate sessions.Oh, where does the time go? This month, longstanding California punks NOFX celebrate 25 years of existence. Alas, it doesn't seem like that long ago that I was sitting ... More >>

Last Night: Green Day's Last-Minute Show at the Independent

Phil MucciGreen Day April 7, 2009The IndependentReview by Ross DrakeBetter Than: Standing on the sidewalk in the rain, openly pining for Green Day tickets Arriving at the Independent quite unexpectedly for a surprise, sold-out show announced just hours beforehand, Green Day was everything you'd exp ... More >>

Get "Fat," build your empire: Michael Burkett's punk legacy

Phil MucciGreen Day April 7, 2009The IndependentReview by Ross DrakeBetter Than: Standing on the sidewalk in the rain, openly pining for Green Day tickets Arriving at the Independent quite unexpectedly for a surprise, sold-out show announced just hours beforehand, Green Day was everything you'd exp ... More >>

Breaking the Mould

Phil MucciGreen Day April 7, 2009The IndependentReview by Ross DrakeBetter Than: Standing on the sidewalk in the rain, openly pining for Green Day tickets Arriving at the Independent quite unexpectedly for a surprise, sold-out show announced just hours beforehand, Green Day was everything you'd exp ... More >>

Rock Ness Monster

Phil MucciGreen Day April 7, 2009The IndependentReview by Ross DrakeBetter Than: Standing on the sidewalk in the rain, openly pining for Green Day tickets Arriving at the Independent quite unexpectedly for a surprise, sold-out show announced just hours beforehand, Green Day was everything you'd exp ... More >>

Legendary memories of Mission of Burma

Phil MucciGreen Day April 7, 2009The IndependentReview by Ross DrakeBetter Than: Standing on the sidewalk in the rain, openly pining for Green Day tickets Arriving at the Independent quite unexpectedly for a surprise, sold-out show announced just hours beforehand, Green Day was everything you'd exp ... More >>

[Expletive Deleted]

Phil MucciGreen Day April 7, 2009The IndependentReview by Ross DrakeBetter Than: Standing on the sidewalk in the rain, openly pining for Green Day tickets Arriving at the Independent quite unexpectedly for a surprise, sold-out show announced just hours beforehand, Green Day was everything you'd exp ... More >>

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes

Have Another Ball! (Fat Wreck Chords)

Abe Vigoda and No Age: weird guitar warriors

Have Another Ball! (Fat Wreck Chords)

No Age

Nouns (Sub Pop)

Underwater sirens stir local act Kitka to song

Nouns (Sub Pop)

Green Day Featured in New York Times

Jim Wilson/New York TimesIn the(ir) DNA: Green Day We've still got a few days to go before Green Day's new album, 21st Century Breakdown, drops (on May 15, if you're wondering). And Bay Area audiences might be sick of the pop-punk superstars already, after a recent frenzy of live shows at mostly sm ... More >>

Green Day's 21st-century political opera

Jim Wilson/New York TimesIn the(ir) DNA: Green Day We've still got a few days to go before Green Day's new album, 21st Century Breakdown, drops (on May 15, if you're wondering). And Bay Area audiences might be sick of the pop-punk superstars already, after a recent frenzy of live shows at mostly sm ... More >>

Everything Must Go Play Pyrate Punx Party

EKAphotographyAnti-Flag: Everything Must Go I have seen the future and its name is Everything Must Go. The Oakland quartet, fronted by the irascible Jake Hout, is quite possibly the Bay Area punk rock's scene's next breakout act-proud heirs to the legacy of such legendary groups as the Dead Kennedy ... More >>

Last Night: Pissed Jeans at Bottom of the Hill

​Pissed Jeans, Mi Ami, Hissing WoundTuesday, Aug. 18, 2009Bottom of the HillBetter than: Yer typical '90s nostalgia.On record, Allentown, PA's Pissed Jeans are feral. Frontman Matt Korvette could be singing about getting a massage ("Request for Masseuse") and the tension in his voice could hammer ... More >>

New Bay Area punk oral history unearths dead babies, stinky roadies, and strong community networks

​Pissed Jeans, Mi Ami, Hissing WoundTuesday, Aug. 18, 2009Bottom of the HillBetter than: Yer typical '90s nostalgia.On record, Allentown, PA's Pissed Jeans are feral. Frontman Matt Korvette could be singing about getting a massage ("Request for Masseuse") and the tension in his voice could hammer ... More >>

What To Do? Tonight's Pick: Punk Rock Sideshow

​Punk Rock Slideshow at the Hemlock "You can blame Al Gore for the dearth of quality punk rock in the jukeboxes of America:he had to go and invent the internet. What a bum! Even dives with great jukes are phasing out their custom mixes in favor of those hateful touch-screen Toxic Boxes. The solu ... More >>

The Slits continue giving wild women a place in punk

​Punk Rock Slideshow at the Hemlock "You can blame Al Gore for the dearth of quality punk rock in the jukeboxes of America:he had to go and invent the internet. What a bum! Even dives with great jukes are phasing out their custom mixes in favor of those hateful touch-screen Toxic Boxes. The solu ... More >>

What To Do? Tuesday's Pick: Joe Sib @ Punch Line

​Joe Sib @ Punch Line Like a Northern California Henry Rollins, Joe Sib has turned his fully loaded treasure chest of punk-rock memories into a spoken-word event. Sib is the cofounder of SideOneDummy Records who has fronted bands for the past 26 years, most notably Wax, which gained attention in ... More >>

Vinyl's Hidden Messages Unmasked

Photo by Qsysue for Public Collectors​Public Collectors is working on a really cool project that spotlights a small detail of what's being lost amongst so many invisible MP3s. The site is making a list of the messages bands have "pressed into the matrix of their vinyl" over the years. Apparently t ... More >>

Malcolm McLaren, R.I.P.

In his 2008 interview with the Enough Rope program, former Sex Pistols manager, Sex shop co-owner, and counter-cultural icon Malcolm McLaren admitted, "Somehow or other, I remain permanently cool" when asked what he actually does for a living. McLaren died of cancer today at a Swiss hospital at ag ... More >>

Q & A w/ Ecoli

Emily Rose Epstein​The Bay Area has a long history of punk rock debauchery. From punk's beginnings in the seventies to the nineties, Northern California boasted some of the loudest, rudest acts in America strutting their stuff at legendary clubs like the Mab. But these days, the punk rock scene i ... More >>

Riot Grrrls Return

Dum Dum Girls and the new wave of feminist punk.

Blondie: Show Preview

Dum Dum Girls and the new wave of feminist punk.

Wednesday's Pick: Blondie at the Fillmore

Blondie​The Fillmore8 p.m., $55Decades after Blondie's '70s breakthrough, the band's New Wave music is still vital: frontwoman Debbie Harry's 2007 single "Two Times Blue" delighted more than just a Today Show audience, and 2004's The Curse of Blondie was a credible impression of electroclash. Sinc ... More >>

Blondie at the Fillmore

​Blondie August 4, 2010 @ The FillmoreBetter than: forever wondering what it would be like.  Way back in the late '70s and early '80s, Blondie singer Debbie Harry was every boy's masturbation fantasy. Whenever her pouty lips, high cheekbones, and perfect hair to match her perfe ... More >>

Monday's Pick: Punk Rock Sideshow

​Punk Rock SideshowHemlock Tavern10 p.m., freeYou can blame Al Gore for the dearth of quality punk rock in the jukeboxes of America. Not because of his li'l censor-happy P.M.R.C. wife (who's done plenty of damage, no doubt), but because Al had to go and invent the internet. What a bum! Even dives ... More >>

Love Doesn't Actually Kill

​Punk Rock SideshowHemlock Tavern10 p.m., freeYou can blame Al Gore for the dearth of quality punk rock in the jukeboxes of America. Not because of his li'l censor-happy P.M.R.C. wife (who's done plenty of damage, no doubt), but because Al had to go and invent the internet. What a bum! Even dives ... More >>

Green Day's Tour Homecoming Hits Shoreline Amphitheatre

Christopher Victorio​Green Day AFI Shoreline Amphitheatre September 4, 2010 (Far) better than: A skeptical old Green Day fan would expect. "HOME! HOME! I'M FUCKING HOME!" erupted Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong at Shoreline Amphitheatre on Saturday, his first words after ... More >>

"Fuck You All": Glen Friedman's punk and hip-hop photos are meant to inspire

Christopher Victorio​Green Day AFI Shoreline Amphitheatre September 4, 2010 (Far) better than: A skeptical old Green Day fan would expect. "HOME! HOME! I'M FUCKING HOME!" erupted Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong at Shoreline Amphitheatre on Saturday, his first words after ... More >>

In Print: Fuck You All, and the Persistent Fireball That Is Marnie Stern

Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys in a photo by Glen Friedman​Punk and hip-hop photographer Glen Friedman: Glen Friedman grew up on the front lines of the West Coast punk rock, skateboarding, and rap scenes. Photographs he shot in the 1970s and '80s are considered to be the definitive portrai ... More >>

Watch the Sex Pistols' Entire Final Concert -- San Francisco, 1978

​Without a doubt the most important punk band ever, the Sex Pistols, played their last show at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, 1978. While some called the show a flop, it sure doesn't sound like that on the recordings I've heard. And now, you can watch the last show the Sex Pistols ... More >>

"Fuck You All": Glen Friedman's punk and hip-hop photos are meant to inspire

​Without a doubt the most important punk band ever, the Sex Pistols, played their last show at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, 1978. While some called the show a flop, it sure doesn't sound like that on the recordings I've heard. And now, you can watch the last show the Sex Pistols ... More >>

Friday Night: Joy Division's Peter Hook Performs Unknown Pleasures at Mezzanine

Peter Hook at Mezzanine Friday. Pics by Kirsty.​Peter Hook and The Light perform Unknown Pleasures December 10, 2010 @ Mezzanine Better than: You'd expect a nostalgia-themed show to be. There aren't many live performers that can make even the most cynical, jaded reporter a bit misty eyed. But th ... More >>

Social Distortion: Show Preview

Peter Hook at Mezzanine Friday. Pics by Kirsty.​Peter Hook and The Light perform Unknown Pleasures December 10, 2010 @ Mezzanine Better than: You'd expect a nostalgia-themed show to be. There aren't many live performers that can make even the most cynical, jaded reporter a bit misty eyed. But th ... More >>

The Frustrators Fire Up

With Green Day on pause, Mike Dirnt's other band hits the punk dive circuit.

Seven Things You Probably Didn't Know About Green Day Before Billie Joe Armstrong Got Twitter

.bbpBox38303523376594940 {background:url(http://a2.twimg.com/a/1297809080/images/themes/theme14/bg.gif) #131516;padding:20px;} p.bbpTweet{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border- ... More >>

R.I.P. Poly Styrene, X-Ray Spex Singer and Punk Pioneer

Fabrizio RamoneR.I.P. Poly Styrene​ Legendary punk pioneer and X-Ray Spex frontwoman Poly Styrene, born Marianne Elliott Said, passed away last night from breast cancer at the age of 53. In an unfortunate coincidence with the passing last week of TV on the Radio's Gerard Smith, her new solo al ... More >>

Friday Night: Buzzcocks Beat it -- Eventually -- at Slims

Romana MachadoBuzzcocks​Buzzcocks Images June 10, 2011 Slim'sBetter than: Beating your meat to pulp. First off, there were way too many women for what purist old geezers up-and-down swear is orthodox for an old-skool punk show. Many of the early arrivals milling before the stage at S ... More >>

Something to Dü

Romana MachadoBuzzcocks​Buzzcocks Images June 10, 2011 Slim'sBetter than: Beating your meat to pulp. First off, there were way too many women for what purist old geezers up-and-down swear is orthodox for an old-skool punk show. Many of the early arrivals milling before the stage at S ... More >>

The Soviettes: Show Preview

Romana MachadoBuzzcocks​Buzzcocks Images June 10, 2011 Slim'sBetter than: Beating your meat to pulp. First off, there were way too many women for what purist old geezers up-and-down swear is orthodox for an old-skool punk show. Many of the early arrivals milling before the stage at S ... More >>

Why Punk Rockers Make Great Parents

​This fall, an exciting documentary is hitting movie theaters. It's called The Other F Word, and it's about punk rock; it's about family; and it's about a plethora of life's awkward questions including: "Should I have tattooed my forehead?" and "Daddy, what's a dominatrix?" It features NOFX's Fat ... More >>

Lagwagon: Show Preview

​This fall, an exciting documentary is hitting movie theaters. It's called The Other F Word, and it's about punk rock; it's about family; and it's about a plethora of life's awkward questions including: "Should I have tattooed my forehead?" and "Daddy, what's a dominatrix?" It features NOFX's Fat ... More >>

The Nuns' Jennifer Miro: An Appreciation By Jack Boulware

Jennifer 'Miro' Anderson, 1957-2011.​ By JACK BOULWARE [Editor's note: Jack Boulware is the co-author, with Silke Tudor, of Gimme Something Better: The Profound, Progressive, and Occasionally Pointless History of Bay Area Punk from Dead Kennedys to Green Day.] If we're talking the birth of B ... More >>

Goodbye, Lookout! Records: A Tribute in 10 Songs

You may have heard over the last few days that Berkeley's Lookout! Records -- one of the world's most treasured punk rock labels, and the place that Green Day got its start -- is closing for good, back catalog and all. If you were a punk rocker in the '90s, this news feels a little bit like losing a ... More >>

NOFX's Fat Mike on Taking Drugs, Being a Father, and Joining the Mile High Club

NOFX, with Fat Mike second from left.​ You may not have been alive in 1983, when punk rock icon NOFX was started in Berkeley. That was nearly 30 years ago, after all, and the world was a very different place: Ronald Reagan was president, "big" East Bay punk bands like Rancid or Green Day didn' ... More >>