| In response to iRy's FB post about 11 songs that made Joey Cape fall in love with punk:

This was way more work that I thought it would be, and so many of the songs are sort of cliche, but given they are the songs that made me fall in love with punk, I think they are right on.  Here's a link to a Groovshark playlist if you want to take a trip down my memory lane:

http://grooveshark.com/playlist/11+Songs/76741484

1. Filler - Minor Threat  This was the most punkest song I had ever heard at the time.  Raw, 'sloppy', strong, angry, direct, and catchy.

2. I Don't Need Society - DRI I was still into Metallica at the time and was absolutely blown away that something could be this bizarre, this crappy (at first listen), and this in your face.  I thought Metallica was tough.

3. Wasted - Black Flag/Circle Jerks Two versions of the same lyrics, by the same singer, in two different bands.  I first heard the CJ version at iZak's house, I think one of his friends was playing it, maybe iZion or iClint.  Either way, that was the music that older, tougher brothers listened to and I was totally, totally intrigued and enthralled, but I had no idea how to find this music, where to buy, what it was called...  Is there a better band logo than the 4 black bars in all the world?

4. Anything, Anything - Dramarama I never felt this song was indicative of what Dramarama sounded like, but this was the jammiest of jammy punk songs on a pretty terrible record.  It got mainstream airplay on KROQ (or maybe it didn't, but the song seemed to be everywhere) and it struck a chord with me.  This style of driving, catchy tune with a sort of angry vocal over it made a lot of sense to me.

5. Hope - Descendents  They sang about the stuff I was feeling and thinking, but wasn't doing or acting on.  The soundtrack band to my entire High School experience.  Every song spoke to me.  Totally helped that I ate at the same Weinerschnitzel they sang about and was taught english by the same teacher that taught iMilo at iCosta.

5a. Only of You - Green Day 1,039 Smoothed Out Slappy Hours was lyrically like a juvenile version of the Descendents.  Makes sense since Milo is 10 years older than Billy, and Billy is 3 years older than me, I saw Green Day lyrics about girls a lot more obvious and less clever, but the heart wants what it wants and they spoke to me.  Just another way to connect to a genre of music that became such a part of me.

6. Earth A.D. - Misfits After of course being introduced to The Misfits by the iconic grinning skull 'logo' tattoo on Cliff Burton's arm, I got a copy of Earth A.D. and the first song blew my mind.  Fast, thematic, dark, dirty, radicool.  All of Earth A.D. is an amazing wall of sound, and the artwork and black plastic tape combo made it an instant classic for me.

7. Skulls - Misfits Sort of a realization that aggressive music could be harmonious as well as dark.  It was like when I realized that my metal hair could be tamed in a ponytail and I was no less metal for doing so.

8. Bloodstains - Agent Orange A song that I found on an OOOLD mix tape that must have come from my cousin.  When I heard it a later in life, I knew all the songs and completely forgot how it got into my brain.  It must have been at a super young age and just laid dormant, slowly pushing me toward punk and metal without my knowledge.

9. Modern Man - Bad Religion Harmony, speed, brains, iconography, local - it all added up to an amazing transition in my musical tastes.  Took a large piece of what I was looking for an feeling in metal and made it more personal, worth while, and accessible.  Amazing song, amazing band.

10. Wouldn't It Be Nice - Pennynose I remember hating all the Pennynosers, and justifiably so, before I knew the music.  Then one day iRy gave me his Sony Sports walkman and said "listen to this".  It was the 'wise, and it was this song, and I was floored.  Aggressive, metal-ish, fast, clean, and harmonious, as much as I hate to admit it, The Wise was the right band at the right time for me.  Still think all the fans are douchebags, but you can't argue with their jams.

11. The Death of John Smith - NOFX iMarc at Theologian records blew my mind when he suggested this record to me.  I mean, it seems totally obvious given my age, where we lived, and sort of what was happening all around us, but this song immediately cemented NOFX and punk as what and where I wanted to be - total birth of the awareness of a sub-genre for me.  It was technical, musical, snotty, fast, harmonious, and awesome.  Never got to see them play it live, though.


Honorable Mention - New Direction - Gorilla Biscuits A sort of first introduction to NYC hardcore.  I knew about haadcooah from Anthrax, but this was sort of a first look at a new sound.  Positive, fast, and with these guys a nice mix of screamy/harmony which I think was a first example of the screamcore metal movement, really.