Lauren Utter‘s frenzied, raw, fluid drawings of punk kids partying and hanging out feel like a few house parties or shows you’ve probably been to. You can taste the cheap beer, smell the smoke, and feel the bodies being crushed against your own in her pictures. The New Jersey-born artist’s work is influenced by her own experiences panhandling in New York’s Lower East Side, hopping freight trains, and living in some interesting places. Her fringe characters all have stories to tell, and like the found materials she works with, Utter won’t let people discard them easily — even the ones about “barfday.” Click through for more of Utter’s drawings. … Read More
Punk Rock
See The Ramones’ Hilarious Original Bio from 1975
“The Ramones are not an oldies group, they are not a glitter group, they don’t play boogie music and they don’t play blues.” This is the first sentence of the band’s original one-sheet, and in retrospect it seems genius that then-manager Tome Erdelyi (also known as drummer Tommy Ramone) led not with what they were, but what they were rebelling against. This yellowed page contains no shortage of great snippets — Joey is “an arch villain,” Dee Dee is “the acknowledged handsome one,” kids from their home neighborhood of Forest Hills “either became musicians, degenerates or dentists.” Click through to see this historical document, which comes straight from CBGB’s Facebook page. … Read More
What’s On at Flavorpill: The Links That Made the Rounds In Our Office
Today at Flavorpill, we confirmed that cats are more popular than Jesus. We feared the bacon sundae. We browsed a celebrity Barbie gallery in honor of her birthday. (She’s 52!) We listened to John Cleese talk about making our lives more creative. We found out why the price of… Read More
10 Great Female-Fronted Punk Bands You Should Know
A couple of years back, we stumbled across something called A Reference Of Female-Fronted Punk Rock — a wonderful, exhaustive compilation of old school female-fronted punk bands from 1979-1989. (You can find it here if you’re interested.) But as much as we love all the bands featured, we got to thinking recently: well, what about their contemporary counterparts? We’ve been amusing ourselves putting together a selection, and with the new Screaming Females record, Ugly, out this week, it seems a good time to break out some of our favorites. Suggestions are, as ever, welcome — if we get enough we might do a Volume II! … Read More
Punk Rock Posters, Remixed Swiss Modernist-Style
The very best band that broke up last year, Double Dagger, had a great song called “Punk Rock vs. Swiss Modernism” — a tension that, as graphic designers and hardcore musicians, they understood well. It isn’t clear whether their fellow designer, Mike Joyce of Stereotype Design, had the song in mind when he embarked upon his Swissted posters, but they certainly serve as an apt companion piece. The series uses Swiss modernist typography to reimagine real flyers from ’70s-’90s punk shows, with results we wouldn’t mind displaying on our wall. (Seriously, Mike, how do we buy these?) See a selection of our favorites after the jump, and then visit Swissted to check out the entire, enormous project. … Read More
The Wonderful Rock ‘n’ Roll Photography of David Arnoff
David Arnoff’s photography explores the inner emotions of some of the most legendary musicians during the post-punk era. While his images have previously appeared in a variety of publications, including NME, Melody Maker and more, he is now looking for a publisher to make his photos into a book. Looking at his body of work, it’s amazing that he hasn’t been published in book form already. We’ll certainly order a few copies when the book does get released. In the meanwhile, here are a few of our favorite rock and roll portraits taken by Arnoff. … Read More
What Your Favorite Punk Band Says About You
We have been cracking up over John Peck’s brilliant piece, “What Your Favorite Classic Rock Band Says About You,” since McSweeney’s posted it last Friday. And since imitation is the highest form of flattery, we’ve put together an homage that more closely aligns with our interests: What Your Favorite Punk Band Says About You. You’ll find a few new-school bands in there, but for the most part, we’ve stuck to the classics. Try not to take it too seriously, and add your favorite punk-rock stereotypes in the comments. Oh, and if this devolves into a self-congratulatory pissing contest about who is or isn’t punk? We won’t hesitate to sic Henry Rollins on you. … Read More
Comic: Every Child Is a Punk Rocker
The violent debut. The shouting. The manic energy. The anti-establishment rhetoric. And, of course, breaking shit is obligatory. All of these are elements of punk rock — but couldn’t they just as easily apply to children? Grant Snider of Incidental Comics draws the parallel in this wonderful strip. If the kids are united, they can never be forced to go to sleep at 8pm! … Read More
10 Must-See Films for Aspiring Punk Rock Girls Everywhere
All the hype surrounding Floria Sigismondi’s new film The Runaways has us fretting over girls on film — and particularly girls of the non-mainstream variety. While Joan Jett and Cherie Currie are tough as nails, we worry that most of today’s filmic alternachicks fall squarely into the manic pixie dream girl category. The stock Natalie Portman or Zooey Deschanel character is cute, wacky, artsy-fartsy, charmingly damaged, and ultimately empty-headed: the kind of waif that has more to do with male screenwriters’ fantasies than actual women.
This annoying trend makes us long for the punk-rock movie heroines of yore. Sure, they weren’t perfect. Hell, some of them were even certifiably insane. But at least they made us more likely to start bands than pine for some geeky dude who, frankly, doesn’t deserve us. So, to indulge our own nostalgia — and hopefully help inspire a new generation of ass-kicking ladies — we’re counting down 10 essential films for the aspiring lady punk in your life. … Read More
Recent Features
-
8h
Hannibal Bluth, Kanye’s Inner Lucille, and Russell Brand Gets Cheeky: Links You Need To See
- 9h
- 10h
- 10h
- 10h
- 10h
-
11h
Beyond James Turrell: 10 More Great Artists Who Use Light as a Medium
- 12h
- 12h
- 13h
Popular Posts
- 12h
- 1d
Actors and Directors Who Trashed the Remakes of Their Classic Movies - 1d
- 2d
- 4d
The 50 Books Everyone Needs to Read, 1963-2013
The 50 Greatest Summer Albums, 1963-2013
5 Great Novels That Will Mess With Your Mind
The Wedding Photos of 25 Musicians in Love
