I've had minor beefs with some of the omissions and inclusions, but I think your approach is the only one that works. In the mostly pre-internet days we all lived in our little isolated pockets within the subculture, and even if it was kind of close-minded and lacked a broader perspective, it's honest. It's hard to…

Outside of the CBGBs scene, which outside of the Ramones is mostly unrecognizable today as punk rock, hardcore and punk rock have been totally intertwined since the late seventies when Black Flag and Bad Brains released their early work. Music critics love going on about Richard Hell and Talking Heads and Television…

If Sleater-Kinney is your cup of tea, then sure, you would probably enjoy them more than the other bands mentioned in this article. But it's debatable whether they even belong in this article at all, apart from their historical connection to the punk scene through prior bands. It is a ridiculous statement to declare…

My tastes overlapped more with Jason's at the time (though I did like the Oblivians), but you're right, the whole garage thing that was going on the time was definitely significant and kind of got the shaft in these articles. I dunno about that Slayer covers record though, dude…

Some of my friends went to high school with Allison. She was best known for wearing the same pair of pants for a year. Discount ruled, I caught them on all three tours…it was funny watching her go from playing for (literally) 6 people in a basement to hanging out with Jack White and making awful indie rock. But good…

"Less Talk" was probably a best of genre album, as was "Today's Empires". It's pretty impressive that they are almost entirely different genres with barely any overlap. The name and lyrics and politics of the band were always kind of dumb and juvenile, so it isn't a huge surprise that the further they go up their own…

I don't think the Offspring registered at all in the punk subculture after 1991-92. They were a minor footnote as far as being a gateway band, but they may as well have not existed to punks. I vaguely remember the preppy/jock kids we used to call "white hats" being really into their major label work.

Nah, son.

Bivouac is far superior to Dear You. There is no such thing as the "Big 3". This is ridiculous.

Check out the Downfall album (unreleased but floating around on youtube). It was all of Op Ivy except the singer and recorded shortly after Op Ivy broke up. Jesse Michaels also did a one-off EP in a band called Big Rig. Both are closer to Op Ivy than Rancid. I also really like Classics of Love, Jesse Michael's new…

Dillinger Escape Plan were fucking bananas on their first tour. I stopped paying attention shortly after that and just heard the newest album recently…what the fuck happened?

Rick ta Life is kind of a crackhead now. That guy was hilarious. I saw Comin' Correct once and it was both the best and worst thing I'd ever seen.

When Deadguy broke up they claimed that it was because they'd had the foresight to trademark the name and sold it to a Japanese clothing company for a big payout. I don't know if it's true but it's a pretty awesome story.

@avclub-cb0e59b8f769a8698b9f7154dd8809b5:disqus I'm certainly not endorsing the viewpoint that street punks were actually an inferior species of punk, that was stupid. Just wanted to acknowledge that the hierarchy was a real thing. My personal experience with the Casulaties is limited but not good, and I'm inclined to…

Van Halen is fat and self-indulgent and disgusting. Totally nailed it.

"Robert plant was a slimy fuck/John Bonhman, man, he really sucked/Stairway to Heaven makes me see red/Bonzo's buried, only three more left/"

VOD usually veered a little further into metal than I cared for, but the Still EP was pretty awesome. I'm from CT and didn't realize that they were mostly a local thing, they were HUGE in the area. Deadguy is definitely underrated, they were heads and shoulders above the meathead Victory crowd they were lumped in with.

They probably didn't want to be near any large source of meat which could be thrown at them…

Avail, Inquisition, Algebra One, Strike Anywhere, Ann Beretta all registered up in New England. For some reason I used to always lump Born Against in with that scene but I guess they just played there a lot.

I can honestly admit, as one of the kids in a different clique (probably closer to Heller's), what @avclub-cb0e59b8f769a8698b9f7154dd8809b5:disqus is referring to as "actual punks" existed, but was definitely looked down upon as a lower form of punk in the hierarchy. I think the politest terms used for them were…