Throwback Tracks -- September 21, 2017
David R. Smith
Ahoy! Welcome to week 3 of our journey through punk music. This week we're going to stray from traditional punk, per se and go with more of the 90s acts that were considered punk, but only kind of sort of. Bands that while technically could fall into the punk "genre," they almost were too mainstream to be punk. Although, one could argue some of the bands I highlighted last week could also be considered mainstream eventually. If you're famous enough to be playing the national anthem at a marquee Bruins game, sometime tells me you're no longer underground...
Anyway. I digress. Here we go!
The Guys From do not hold the rights to any of these songs, it is more our hope to expose our readers to new (*cough*) and different retro music, or re-expose them to things they may have forgotten about.
At the top of each section, will be the song name, followed by the artists' name linked to their website (if possible...which is totally hit and miss with oldies), so you can fall down the rabbit hole, finding and supporting what you dig.
Gone Away - The Offspring
I just heard this song on the radio a couple days ago. I had always planned on putting them in here somewhere, but wasn't sure which song it would be. I figured it might be something off of Americana, because The Kids Aren't Alright is a terrific song. But you know what song is even better? This one.
I once talked about how sometimes sometimes the heavy songs don't sound like they should be sad. (The '59 Sound by Gaslight Anthem is a great example.) This is another prime example. This song screams of heartache but it almost doesn't feel like it should. I dunno. It's weird but that's how I feel...
Welcome To Paradise - Green Day
Great tune. This album is pretty solid beginning to end. Everybody knows Basket Case and When I Come Around, but I would say this is my favourite single from the album. It gets less airplay than the other two and I think it's got a better sound.
Green Day have done a great job making it big time. They were featured in the Simpsons Movie, they have their own musical... it's pretty impressive for a band whose albums have titles like Dookie and Nimrod.
While not my favourite of all pop-punk type bands, I do dig some of their stuff and this song is no exception.
Dammit - Blink 182
Man. Do you ever wonder what actually happened to the the drummer that Blink 182 had before they got Travis Barker? Do you think he regrets not being a part of them anymore? Do you think they would be where they are today if they had this guy instead of the other guy? Who's to say??
This song is a nice combination of pop and punk. It's got that bubble gum feel to it, but Mark Hoppus still kind of scream sings in it and gives it a bit more punk feeling to it. Some of their later stuff had a lot more pop feel. But their earlier stuff like this song harkens be back to a better time. Or something. What do you want from me?
Sunday Morning - No Doubt
Okay, this is definitely not "punk" but No Doubt, particularly early No Doubt is considered Ska and that's kind of an off-shoot of punk. Besides. there is a decided lack of female representation this month, and Gwen, before she got all Hollywood and annoying, was a totally badass lady with attitude. She could kick ass and take names, and you were happy about it. Mid-90s Gwen was awesome. I don't know what happened...
Anyway, Tragic Kingdom is one of the best albums of the 90s. So many classic songs, so many terrific singles. I loved this album. I haven't listened to it in a long time. It might be time to revisit it... I think you should too. Thanks Throwback Tracks for making me remember the good old days.
Smoke Two Joints - Sublime
Okay, now I'm really reaching. But I don't even care. This song is great. It could also kind of be considered ska, but only a little bit. But whatever. There's only so much you can do when you're trying to get pop-punk in here. But whatever, when I first started this month's topic, I knew it wouldn't be only punk.
I know that I just put Sublime on here a couple months ago but who cares? This song is, arguably, their best one. There are a couple others I might rank higher, but this one is... top 3 for sure. It makes me miss the old grad school days... Enough said.
We're slowly getting to the end of the month and that means that punk month is coming to an end. We've got one more week. I may round this out with just a grab-bag of random punk music. We'll see what next week holds in store for you! Until we meet again, my friends! Also, as per usual, here are all the old Throwback Track playlists, including the August Throwback Track playlists for both Apple Music and Spotify.
2017
July 2017 TBT Playlist (and the July Spotify List), June 2017 TBT Playlist (and the June Spotify List), May 2017 TBT Playlist, April 2017 TBT Playlist, March 2017 TBT Playlist , February 2017 TBT Playlist
2016
Throwback Playlist for Dec 16/Jan 17, October 2016 Throwback Playlist, September 2016 Throwback Playlist, August 2016 Throwback Playlist, July 2016 Throwback Playlist, June 2016 Throwback Playlist, May 2016 Throwback Playlist, April 2016 Throwback Playlist
-D (@davidronn)