Favorite Punk Guitar Riffs

Someone I follow on Instagram asked for favorite punk guitar riffs. I had opinions. This isn't exhaustive, but it's what came to mind at the moment I saw it:


The Ramones - Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment
The Damned - New Rose
Rancid - Avenues and Alleyways
Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen in Love
Television - See No Evil
Misfits - Last Caress
Dead Boys - Sonic Reducer
The Saints - Stranded
Sex Pistols - Anarchy in the UK
The Undertones - Gotta Getta



With some more thought I'd have included:

The Dead Kennedys - Holiday in Cambodia
The Clash - Should I Stay or Should I Go
The Blue Hearts - Owaranai Uta

and of course, the song this blog is named for:

The Dictators - Who Will Save Rock and Roll?

Rancid @ Punk Rock Bowling 5/28/2023

The internet comes through again - I couldn't go to Punk Rock Bowling, but someone recorded and posted Rancid's whole set.



For when the music hits, I feel no pain at all.

Rancid - Spirit of '87

This is a particularly slamming song on a pretty slamming album - Indestructable.

The video is all footage from their tour with GBH in Japan. Home is where the heart is, and for me, home is Japan. I can't wait to be there again and the video for this song - and thus the song - pull me back there every time I hear it.


Here's to me being home again soon.

Rancid - Alleyways & Avenues - Live 2016

Times are gonna change, change or step aside.

Rancid - If the Kids are United (Sham 69 cover)

Thanks to Dylan for reminding me about this cover by Rancid:



I'd forgotten about this, because someone had borrowed all of my Give 'Em The Boot CDs a long time back and never gave them back. So I need to track them down again.

And of course, because Matt Freeman, they kicked up the bass line a lot on this one.

Rancid - Live at Randall's Island, 1998

This is most of Rancid's set from July 1st, 1998, at the Vans Warped Tour.

I'm out there, somewhere, off to stage left (and to the back left of that VANS tent. I was up against a barrier, and basically got ground against it during that big circular mosh pit during "St. Mary."

It was a brutally hot, dry, and dusty day. I was literally sneezing out and coughing up dust for days after this . . . we'd laughed at the people we saw wearing masks. Next outdoor show I go to on a dry field, I'm bringing a dust mask and a hat that covers my ears. I spent the day in the sun and dust and drove us all home exhuasted and dehydrated, for this one little set.

Still worth it. I don't regret going. It was the first time I heard "Hooligans" live, and the first time I heard them cover Jimmy Cliff's "The Harder they Come," ever. I hadn't heard "The Brothels," either, but subsequently tracked it down.



Not great video, not great sound quality, but I've never seen any other footage of this set. Sadly it cuts off while Tim climbs up the amps on stage left.

Rush - Tom Sawyer (Exit Stage Left)

This is the first video I saw from Rush, back when I was a teen watching MTV:



I'm sure it's the first Rush song I heard, too, followed soon by Limelight. I liked them ever since then. One of my close friends was a huge Rush fan. Thanks to him I ended up with cassette copies of A Farewell to Kings and Moving Pictures. I went on to buy a bunch more Rush on vinyl and later on CD.

We lost Neil Peart, but as the Rancid song says, "through our music, we will live forever."

Rancid - Bloodclot

A great song to start off "Life Won't Wait" by Rancid.

I played the living hell out of that album. Every once in a while, I need to hear the whole thing track from track from the intro to the very end. This song really kicks it off. It's great live, too.

H2O - What Happened

I met a guy at work today. He came into the gym wearing a sleeveless t-shirt that said H2O on the front. On the back was the NYHC - New York Hardcore - logo. I didn't get a chance to speak to him at first, but then I saw him on his way out.

I said, "H2O, as in the band?"

Yep.

I mean, I knew that, but I didn't feel like leading with, "I love your shirt!" - I wanted to talk to the man, not just hear, "Thanks! Bye!"

We talked hardcore, punk, and so on for a few minutes about H2O, Rancid, The Offspring, and even The Criminals. A co-worker that I'm pretty tight with heard us, and it turns out he's a big fan of bands like Face-to-Face, Lagwagon, NOFX, and so on. I told him about seeing them on the second show ever at the Roseland and not again until they opened for Rancid again at Terminal 5.

He had to run, but I can't wait to talk to him more. I'm not a huge hardcore fan, but H2O puts on a great show.

Rancid - Collision Course, Honor is All We Know, Evil's My Friend

I still remember when this video of this trio of songs from "Honor is All We Know" came out. That album, along with Rancid (2000) and Troublemaker, never leave the easy-grab pile of CDs in my car.



Typical simple Rancid video - cameras, band, snarl, and rock.

Rancid - Live in AT&T Park

Someone posted up the video of Rancid's live set during the benefit for fire-stricken California:



Good set of mostly their early stuff, but also a track off of Trouble Maker (in my opinion, their finest album.)

Rancid - Christmas Eve (She Got Up and Left Me)

Rancid Christmas song:

Jimmy Cliff - Ruby Soho (Rancid)

Here is another cover of Ruby Soho, by Rancid. This time covered by the legendary Jimmy Cliff.



It's produced by Tim Armstrong, but it's very cool to see an old-school Reggae original covering a band that draws a lot from old-school Reggae.

Vampire Weekend - "Ruby Soho" (Rancid)

I was just talking to one of my friends about this today:



It's a really interesting cover. It plays like a Vampire Weekend original, but retains the lyrics and pace that make it one of Rancid's best tracks.

Rest in Peace Malcom Young

If you haven't heard, we lost Malcom Young of AC/DC today.

Here is my hands-down favorite AC/DC song, by way of tribute:


Warning: Lip Syncing.

AC/DC is a band where you just hear that power chord, that lead guitar magic of Angus Young. People say it's just simple, one-riff one-idea music.

They're wrong.

AC/DC songs are just as complex as they need to be. No more, no less. They don't waste any chords and they don't over-play their hand. If listen closely, you can hear all of the pieces coming togther oh so well. Listen to Let Their Be Rock live in 1978. It's not a simple song - it's just no more complicated than it needs to. Malcom's steady rhythm guitar is part of the underlying base on which it all lays.

I saw this little eulogy on Instagram from one of my favorite musicians:

Lost another legend today. He was the sole reason I wanted to be a rhythm guitar player. He was the man. No one could hold down the fort like this guy or hold a candle to him. Simply the best. I could only dream of being as good. (RIP)

A post shared by Lars Frederiksen (@larsfrederiksen) on Nov 18, 2017 at 9:28am PST

Rest in peace, Malcom. Thanks for all of the music.

Rancid - Ghost of a Chance (Live on Conan)

Rancid played on Conan O'Brien's show last night:



Short, loud, and awesome.

Rancid - I Kept a Promise - all I hear is Ramones

Ramones much?

I know the guys in Rancid love The Ramones. You can hear the influence on their song "The Brothels." They were on the stage for the last Ramones show ever, and did 53rd and 3rd with them for fuck's sake. But they generally don't sound very Ramones-y to me. But then comes along a track like this:



I just hear about five different Ramones songs in that one, not the least of which is I Wanna Be Sedated.

The Armstrongs - If There Was Ever a Time

So this took long enough - Tim Armstrong (Operation Ivy, Rancid, The Transplants, Tim Timebomb & Friends) and Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day, Foxboro Hot Tubs, etc.) and two other guys last-named Armstrong that I'm less familiar with formed a band.



It's a fund-raising track for 924 Gillman Street. I've never been there, but my friend Jesse (The Criminals) has long been involved in keeping it going.

Green Day w/Tim Armstrong - Knowledge / Radio

Here is a good-quality sound video of Green Day featuring Tim Armstrong of Rancid, aka Lint of Operation Ivy. They cover Knowledge by Op Ivy, and then play Radio by Rancid. I can't really say "cover" here because Billie Joe Armstrong co-wrote Radio - he's got songwriting credits on it along with Tim and Matt Freeman.



It's a nice image - Tim and Billy Joe sitting on a porch writing, with no idea of their respective, successful, futures ahead.

Rancid - Trouble Maker

The new Rancid album Trouble Maker kind of fits the bill. I put the CD in my CD player in my car when I got it, oh, a week or so ago. It hasn't been ejected since. I've been playing it straight through over and over alternated with brief bits of skipping around randomly through the tracks.

If you'd like to hear it all the way through, here it is.



Great stuff, once of their best. Right up there with . . . And Out Come the Wolves and Rancid (2000) in my book.