pukegreenpinto

924 Gilman St. in West Berkley is a community driven space that showcased (mostly hardcore) punk during the late 80s. It was immortalized by the mighty Op Ivy following a series of gigs in 1988. By and throughout the early 90s it became a famed hub for a many young bands following in their footsteps and acclaimed label, Lookout! Records. A lot of great outfits materialized from this scene ~ American Steel was one of the last ones but they flew the flag with pride. Pushing the ska punk / hardcore crossover sound to new and exciting places with a 1-2 vocal punch, politically charged themes and working class ideals. They're sound would eventually become much more melodic, refined and then re-defined. So much so that they added keyboardist Cory Gowan and changed their name to Communiqué. They wrote new music, toured, released a few EPs and an album, then reverted back to American Steel and a more straight ahead punk sound several years later. They don't do a whole lot these days a...

Plenty of beatings and bashings, more than a few close calls and near death experiences in past decades, yet here we are ... Punk perseveres! 50(something) and as strong as ever. Born of necessity and it's never not been necessary since. More so now, than perhaps ever. Beit in the name of protest, awareness, community or catharsis, punk provides a place for us all. To quote my dear departed friend Todd, "It's my one true love and favorite place to go". I can recall doing similar such projects to this for Punk's 15th, 20th, 25th, 30th and 40th anniversaries. Those first few were done on cassette no less, long before it was hip or kitschy. Whilst most lovingly compile their fav's from the years prior to these milestone markers, I really like to examine more current sounds. Not to say entirely new bands, in fact this collection features artists and outfits from all five generations of the genre. Rather Be Birding is largely street punk and oi!, though there'...

I'm gonna do my best not to gush like a little school girl here but it won't be easy. I don't make a habit of keeping score but I'd be full of shit if I didn't acknowledge SNUFF as one of my favorite bands of all time. Few bands -- let alone punk ones -- are as multi-faceted and diverse as this one. Drawing just as much influence from punk luminaries No Means No and contemporaries Leatherface as they do from The Bangles, Marvin Gaye, Slayer, European folk music, British telly adverts, and nearly everything else under the sun. Which also makes them one of the coolest cover bands in the business, hands down. They started out in 1986, releasing their first of more than fifteen full-lengths in 1989 and though they broke up twice, chief arranger, songwriter, singer, and drummer, Duncan Redmonds, gifted us with well received similar side projects in the interim. Guns N Wankers filled the void for their short split in 1993-95, then after the split in 2004 he formed Billy ...

Fairly sure the first few times I heard Smogtown was late 90s / early 00s via Duane Peters' Disaster CD compilations, definitely sure that I didn't like it ... at least not those selections, or at that time I guess. It wasn't until they'd announced their split in 04/05 that I really became acquainted with them. My bud Barry was a big fan and lent me their modest stack of records after ripping them one afternoon. So very glad I got a second chance with these lads. It was refreshing to hear an Orange County outfit channeling the local sounds of yesteryear (early TSOL / Vandals vibes) but with enough of their own bravado and brandished edge to distinguish themselves in a scene swamped with pretenders. I was gassed when they reformed a couple years later, releasing an EP on TKO Records with announcements of an album soon to come but sadly by "soon", they meant nearly 5 years, at which point many fans had already written them off. However, during that stretch and ...

It now seems only appropriate to kick off this little endeavor with the aforementioned Peter & The Test Tube Babies . Still gigging in 2026 and led by the same core pair that started the group back in Peacehaven, East Sussex circa 1978. Most people categorize the Test Tube Babies as punk pathetique and in all fairness, they have a great deal of material (including more recent recordings) to support that classification. However, they really are just a multi-faceted band with a strong sense of self, a wild sense of humor and see no sense in limiting, labeling or censoring themselves. I think they're just punk AF ~ always have been, always will be! I've been a fan almost 40 years to the day and I still can't make it through a week without a dose. Peter & The Test Tube Babies - Never Made It [Anthology 1979-2025] (PukeGreenPinto 2X-PGPR-002) 101 - Peter & The Test Tube Babies - 1991 - The Gardener 102 - Peter & The Test Tube Babies - 2011 - Youth Of Today 103 - ...