Genre
Punk Rock
44 bands in the Top 500 carry Punk Rock as a primary or secondary tag.
- 44 bands
- 1970s dominant era
- 6 countries
- #017 The Clash
Punk's most musically expansive band, fusing reggae, dub, and rockabilly.
- #018 Sex Pistols
Detonators of UK punk whose brief career rewired popular music.
- #019 The Ramones
Queens four-piece who invented the blueprint for fast, simple punk.
- #034 Green Day
Bay Area trio who reignited mainstream punk and wrote a punk-rock opera.
- #141 Black Flag
L.A. hardcore touring monsters whose DIY ethic shaped American punk.
- #142 Dead Kennedys
Bay Area satirists turning punk into political theatre.
- #143 Bad Brains
D.C. Black hardcore innovators who fused reggae and lightning-fast punk.
- #144 Minor Threat
D.C. straight-edge hardcore short-timers whose influence vastly outsizes their run.
- #146 At the Drive-In
El Paso post-hardcore band whose 'Relationship of Command' is a touchstone.
- #148 Bad Religion
L.A. melodic-punk academy who proved punk could be erudite.
- #149 NOFX
Bay Area skate-punk lifers and indie-label standard-bearers.
- #150 Rancid
Bay Area street-punk torchbearers carrying the Clash's spirit forward.
- #151 The Offspring
Orange County punks whose 'Smash' is the best-selling indie record ever.
- #152 Blink-182
San Diego trio synonymous with 2000s mainstream pop punk.
- #153 Sum 41
Ajax, Ontario pop-punks who later embraced harder metal sounds.
- #156 New Found Glory
Florida pop-punks of consistent hooks and breakdowns.
- #203 Blondie
CBGB-bred New Yorkers who fused punk, disco, and hip hop into pop hits.
- #204 Television
New York post-punks whose 'Marquee Moon' rewired guitar interplay.
- #205 The Stooges
Iggy Pop's Detroit band, proto-punk torchbearers of confrontational rock.
- #207 New York Dolls
Trashy NYC glam pioneers whose sleaze inspired both punk and metal.
- #208 The Modern Lovers
Jonathan Richman's proto-punk songbook of wide-eyed everyday Americana.
- #209 Patti Smith Group
NYC poet-rocker collective whose 'Horses' is punk's literary cornerstone.
- #213 Buzzcocks
Manchester punks who bottled tuneful angst into perfect three-minute songs.
- #214 The Jam
Paul Weller's mod-punk band who topped UK charts in three short years.
- #215 The Damned
London punks who released the first British punk single, then evolved into goth.
- #216 Stiff Little Fingers
Belfast punks whose 'Inflammable Material' chronicled the Troubles.
- #224 The Pogues
Shane MacGowan's Anglo-Irish band fusing trad music with punk attitude.
- #279 Téléphone
Paris band that became France's biggest 80s rock act.
- #312 The Living End
Melbourne psychobilly-punk trio of upright-bass-driven anthems.
- #316 The Saints
Brisbane band whose '(I'm) Stranded' was the first non-American/British punk single.
- #339 Billy Talent
Mississauga melodic-punk-rockers and a Canadian rock radio mainstay.
- #351 Propagandhi
Winnipeg progressive punk-rockers known for political fire and metallic chops.
- #359 Elastica
London band fusing Wire-leaning post-punk with Britpop crunch.
- #363 The Libertines
London band of Doherty-Barât chaos and Albion-tinged tabloid notoriety.
- #364 Babyshambles
Pete Doherty's post-Libertines vehicle of rambling indie poetry.
- #377 IDLES
Bristol post-punks of anti-toxic-masculinity rage and cathartic noise.
- #384 Sleaford Mods
Nottingham duo of stripped-down beats and Jason Williamson rants.
- #405 Sleater-Kinney
Olympia riot-grrrl trio whose post-punk crackle defined a feminist indie generation.
- #406 Bikini Kill
Olympia band who launched the riot grrrl movement.
- #407 L7
L.A. all-women punk-grunge band whose 'Bricks Are Heavy' is a 90s classic.
- #411 Sublime
Long Beach band whose ska-punk-reggae stew became a SoCal staple.
- #413 Reel Big Fish
Huntington Beach third-wave-ska mainstays.
- #415 The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Boston ska-core veterans behind 'The Impression That I Get'.
- #482 The Boomtown Rats
Dublin band fronted by Bob Geldof, behind 'I Don't Like Mondays'.