Simple Punk Rock Music Information Blog

The Vandals are punk rock band formed in 1980 in California and currently are under Kung Fu Records. They have released ten full-length studio albums and two live albums and have toured the world extensively, including performances on the Vans Warped Tour. They are well-known for their use of humor, preferring to use their music as a vehicle for entertainment and sarcasm rather than as a platform for more "serious" issues that is punk bands always do.

The band's lineup fluctuated significantly over their first nine years, though founding members Steven Ronald "Stevo" Jensen, guitarist Jan Nils Ackermann, and first consistent drummer Joe Escalante remained regular fixtures. Of the original members only Escalante has remained through all incarnations of the band. The current lineup of Escalante, Dave Quackenbush, Warren Fitzgerald, and Josh Freese has remained intact since 1990 and is considered by most fans to be far removed from the band's early 1980s incarnation. Since 2002 Escalante has released all of the band's albums through his Kung Fu Records label, with Fitzgerald generally producing. Joe Escalante is the one who produce Goldfinger's video.

The band quickly built a reputation in the Los Angeles and Orange County punk rock community which also included bands such as Bad Religion, Black Flag, TSOL, X, The Germs, Suicidal Tendencies and Social Distortion. The Vandals distinguished themselves in their scene by sticking to humorous subject matter rather than the typical social and political topics addressed by most punk bands of the time.

In 1982 the group became the first band (other than Bad Religion) signed to Epitaph Records, the Los Angeles label run by Bad Religion's Brett Gurewitz, who released their first EP, Peace Thru Vandalism. The record contained several songs that would become fan favorites and remain in the band's live set well into the 1990s, including "Urban Struggle," which became a local hit after receiving airplay like Rodney on the ROQ program. Most of the record's subject material was drawn directly from the band's own experiences in their local punk rock scene. The aforementioned "Urban Struggle" dealt with the constant fights that would occur between the punk rock fans who congregated at a Costa Mesa club called the Cuckoo's Nest and the country music fans who gathered at nearby Zubie's. "Anarchy Burger (Hold the Government)" approached the philosophy of anarchism, advocated by many early punk bands, from a humorous perspective and became one of the band's most popular songs throughout their career.

In 1984 the band appeared in the film Suburbia by invitation of director Penelope Spheeris, who had also directed the influential The Decline of Western Civilization. In a humorously ironic move they also played a benefit concert for the Cypress College Young Republicans, an action which prompted derision from the traditionally liberal and anarchic punk community. It would not be the last time the band's actions would draw criticism, although their music generally maintains a neutral political position.

They've played a song from Ramones called Sheena Is A Punk Rocker. I like the song covered by The Vandals than originally do by The Ramones.

The Vandals - My Girlfriend's Dead

The Ramones were a Seventies American punk band, whose straightforward, stripped–down sound became an archetype for the genre.Formed in 1974, and honed at the famous CBGB's venue in New York, the band created short, sharp songs delivered with energy, eschewing guitar solos for simple, direct power chords.

The band released 14 albums of mainly-original material until their split in 1996, starting with the eponymous release 'Ramones', and ending with 'Adios Amigos'. Several live and compilation albums were released, mostly during the last few years of the group. Unfortunately, the early 2000's saw the deaths of founder members Joey Ramone(vocals), Johnny Ramone(guitarist) and Dee Dee Ramone(bass). Tommy Ramone (drums) is the last surviving member of the original line-up.Other replacement and temporary members include Elvis (drums, real name Clem Burke of Blondie), Marky (drums), Richie (drums), and C.J. (bass). Tommy prefered to work in the studio, hence all the drummer replacements, and C.J. came in when Dee Dee took up his solo career as rap artist Dee Dee King.

Interestingly enough, even after Dee Dee had left, he continued to write songs for the group. At their musical peak in the late 1970s, they were largely ignored by the American music community, however they are now one of the most celebrated bands of the last 30 years. Johnny died in 2004 of prostate cancer. Eddie Vedder and John Frusciante were among those at his death bed.

The Sex Pistols may have only been together for two years in the late '70s, but they changed the face of popular music. Through their raw, nihilistic singles and violent performances, the band revolutionized the idea of what rock & roll could be ad also one of first punk band in the scenes. In England, this punk band was considered dangerous to the very fabric of society and were banned across the country; in America, they didn't have the same impact, but countless bands in both countries were inspired by the sheer sonic force of their music, while countless others were inspired by their independent, do-it-yourself ethics, like many punk do. Even if they didn't release any singles by themselves, there was an implicit independence in the way they played their music and handled their career. The band gave birth to the massive independent music underground in England and America that would soon include bands that didn't have a direct musical connection to the Sex Pistols' initial three-minute blasts of rage, but couldn't have existed without those singles.

Guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook were regulars at a boutique owned by their manager, Malcolm McLaren; bassist Glen Matlock worked at the store. Vocalist John Lydon, who would later perform under Johnny Rotten, met the rest of the group at the shop and was asked to join the band. While the band played simple rock & roll loudly and abrasively, Rotten arrogantly sang of anarchy, abortion, violence, fascism, and apathy; without Rotten, the band wouldn't have been threatening to England's government -- he provided the band's conceptual direction, calculated to be as confrontational and threatening as possible. The publicity caused by their caustic first single "Anarchy in the U.K." caused the band to be dropped by their record label, EMI. Matlock was fired before their next single "God Save the Queen," which was released on Virgin; it was banned by the BBC. Matlock's replacement was Sid Vicious, a street tough who, unlike the rest of the band, couldn't play his instrument.

thier style in playing music, dressing style is a role model for a many punker nowadays such as using punk stuff like safety pin jacket, batch, spike, keychain in neck and so on. It is influence so many bands to wear a sniffy shoes, old jeans in their syle. We could say that punk scene is nothing without Sex Pistols existence.

Green Day was part of the California punk scene. Childhood friends Billie Joe Armstrong (guitar, vocals) and Mike Dirnt (bass; born Mike Pritchard) formed their first band, Sweet Children, in Rodeo, California when they were 14 years old. By 1989, the group had added drummer Al Sobrante and changed their name to Green Day. That year, the band independently released their first EP, 1,000 Hours, which was well-received in the punk scene. Soon, the group had signed a contract with the local independent label, Lookout! Records. 39/Smooth, Green Day's first album, was released later that year. Shortly after its release, the band replaced Kiftmeyer with Tre Cool (born Frank Edwin Wright, III); Tre Cool became the band's permanent drummer. it is nowadays like Green Day stand as one of influential punk rock band with their massive lyrics.

Green Day printed a fictional letter purporting to be from I.R.S. Records that claimed the label had made an attempt to sign them. In a mock reply to the fictional letter, the band made it clear that they were loyal to Lookout! Records, saying that I.R.S. was a cheesy and washed-up label.They recorded two more EPs later that year: Slappy and Sweet Children, the latter of which included some older songs for the Minneapolis, Minnesota indie label Skene! Records. In 1991, Lookout! Records released 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours, a compilation of the 39/Smooth, Slappy, and 1,000 Hours EPs. In late 1990, shortly after the band's first nationwide tour, Sobrante moved to Arcata, California to attend college. Lookouts drummer Tré Cool began filling in as a temporary replacement, and when it became clear that Sobrante did not plan on committing to the band full time, Tré Cool's position as Green Day's drummer became fixed. The band went on tour for most of 1992 and 1993, and played a stretch of shows overseas in Europe. They headlined a gig at the Hollywood Palamino club in 1992 with Jughead's Revenge and Strung Out, a show that would become legendary among the band's following. Kerplunk sold about 50,000 copies in the U.S. which was considered quite a large amount for the independent punk scene in 1992. It eventually sold over 2 million albums worldwide.

Green Day's sound is often compared to first wave punk and old punk bands such as The Ramones, The Clash, and the Buzzcocks. The majority of their song catalog is composed of distorted guitar, fast, manic drums, and low, heavy bass. Most of their songs are fast-paced and under the average song length of four minutes (4:00). Billie Joe Armstrong has however said his biggest influences are seminal alternative rock bands The Replacements, and that their influence is particularly noted in the band's chord changes in songs. Armstrong's lyrics describe alienation, ("Jesus of Suburbia", "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", "Reject"), hysteria ("Basket Case", "Panic Song"), girls ("She", "80"), the effects of doing drugs ("Geek Stink Breath", "Green Day"), alienation ("Outsider", "Something To Believe In"), girls ("I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend", "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker"), and drugs ("Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue"), Green Day covered their song Outsider on the tribute album We're a Happy Family and they have also covered the Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop." Green Day's style also closely resembles that of other alternative and punk rock bands based around the 924 Gilman Street scene in the late 1980's and early 1990's, such as Screeching Weasel, and The Mr. T Experience.

source: Wikipedia

Goldfinger is a ska punk band that formed in 1994. It is largely believed that the band is named after the James Bond film, Goldfinger. They were founded by John Feldmann on vocals and guitar, Simon Williams on bass, Darrin Pfeiffer on drums, and Charlie Paulson on guitar. Before they were signed to a major label, they released an EP titled Richter. Many of the songs on Richter are demo versions of songs on their full length debut, Goldfinger, which was released in 1996 and was a hit on college radio. Their biggest single was "Here in Your Bedroom". Though their second album, Hang-Ups, was less successful, the band still maintained a devoted fanbase in the hardcore community. Their third studio LP was Stomping Ground, which sold poorly in the US but was a modest hit in some European Countries, thanks to a cover of 99 Red Balloons, sung partly in German. 2002's Open Your Eyes was the first for their new record label, Jive/Zomba.
Frontman John Feldmann has produced records for Mest, The Used and Story of the Year. He also produced Good Charlotte's single "The Anthem", which was originally named "Oracle of Elcaro". Since the band began, Feldmann has become a vegan and animal rights supporter, as can be seen briefly in the music video for "Open Your Eyes". In early 2005, they released their first album for their new label, Maverick Records, titled "Disconnection Notice". It featured the single "Wasted". The CD was less well received compared to former Goldfinger albums. Former band members include founding bassist Simon Williams, who left the band following Hang-Ups, and Brian Arthur, who left the band following Disconnection Notice.
"99 Red Balloons" also featured in Not Another Teen Movie along with Eurotrip, and their cover of The Spiral Starecase's "More Today Than Yesterday" plays during the ending credits of The Waterboy. "Superman" was also featured in the comedy Kingpin
Goldfinger's song "I want" from their album Disconnection Notice is featured in Burnout Revenge on the Playstation 2, Xbox, and Xbox 360, and the song "My Everything" is also on the same album but is instead from EA Games "SSX On Tour"
2006 saw Alternative Press Magazine list the self titled Goldfinger CD as one "10 albums that shaped 1996" along side No Doubt, Weezer and others.
After the band member Brian Arthur resigned, Goldfinger announced that their old guitarist Charlie Paulson would return. An article is posted on their myspace account and they returned to their old logo. A new web page is in the process of being updated and a new album will be released in the first half of 2007, which Paulson states will sound like "old school Goldfinger." The new record will be released on the independent record lable Side One Dummy.
Darrin Pfeiffer has recently told fans on their myspace page that "I'm thinking a late summer release date; June...July, maybe....who knows", stateing that it is a mix between Iron Maiden and Celine Dion.

Source: Wikipedia