Lars Frederiksen (guitar), Brett Reed (drums), Matt Freeman (bass) and Tim Armstrong (25 November 1966, Oakland, California, USA; vocals/guitar) provide street-level punk with their ideas informed and inspired by a youth of blue-collar poverty in Albany, California, USA. Armstrong and Freeman (often under the alias Matt McCall) had formed their first band, Operation Ivy, in
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This Hermosa Beach, California, USA-based band was fated to be the perpetual bridesmaid of the punk revival. While Green Day and Offspring were enjoying huge commercial success in the mid- to late 90s, Pennywise struggled to overcome well-publicised internal problems which ultimately led to the suicide of Jason Thirsk in 1996. The band was formed in 1988 by Thirsk (25 Decemb
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This US hardcore band was formed in 1980 in the suburbs of north Los Angeles, California. Their first incarnation comprised Greg Graffin (Gregory Walter Graffin III, 6 November 1964, Racine, Wisconsin, USA; vocals), Brett Gurewitz (b. 12 May 1962, Los Angeles, California, USA; guitar), Jay Ziskrout (drums) and Jay Bentley (b. 6 June 1964, Wichita, Kansas, USA; bass), with th
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The archetypal southern California pop punk band, Orange County veterans the Vandals have maintained an irreverent position over their lifetime and while being avowedly anti-political, they nonetheless aim continuous pot shots at likely targets such as self-important punks, domestic violence, social inadequacy, the MTV generation, and the Rollins Band.
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Punk pop was popularized in the mid- to late 90s by chart-topping US bands such as Green Day, the Offspring, and Blink-182, as they mixed sophomoric humour with reckless yet anthemic rock. Other bands had been around for just as long mining the same territory, such as the Huntington Beach, California-based outfit, Guttermouth.
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Of the multitude of pop punk bands that emerged during the 90s, the majority seemed to come from the west coast of the USA, but there was a number of east coast counterparts during this era, such as the New Brunswick, New Jersey-based Bouncing Souls. The band has been going strong in one form or another since 1989, when Greg Attonitoi (vocals), Pete Steinkopf (guitar), Bryan Ki
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Goldfinger sprang from a new wave of ska punk bands formed in California, USA, in the wake of Green Day and the Offsprings international breakthrough. Based in Los Angeles, Goldfinger blend elements of ska and punk (à la Rancid and Reel Big Fish) with emocore (as pioneered by Guy Piccolotos pre- Fugazi group, Rites Of Spring). The band was formed in 1994 by J
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This ska/punk outfit was formed in Detroit, Michigan, USA in 1990 by Jason Navarro (2 April 1973; vocals), Dan Lukacinsky (b. 26 April 1970, USA; guitar/vocals), Jason Brake (bass), and Stefan (drums). Originally called the Uglies, and then Jack Kevorkian And The Suicide Machines!, the band originally featured Navarro on bass, before Jason Brake was brought into the line-up.
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Los Angeles, California, USA punk band, formed in 1978, whose first stage of development was as a three-piece. Frank Navetta (vocals/guitar), Tony Lombardo (vocals/bass) and Bill Stevenson (drums) played power pop along the lines of the Buzzcocks. It was this line-up that recorded the debut Ride The Wild single, and they collaborated with singer Cecilia for some six
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