It is said that punk rock was a very British thing, when the fact is that they were all inspired by The Ramones, a New York band. But never mind; punk rock really got its political, and some might say defining, characteristics from English bands The Sex Pistols and The Clash. And if you like that stuff, boy are you going to like Oberkampf! They sound like a cross between early Sex Pistols and Clash stuff, only singing in French, so you can’t understand it either, but for a different reason. Here’s a great song by Oberkampf I still remember from my college days, since I had a Parisian friend:
A cleaner sounding recording with a dumb band photo is here:
And if you like it a little harder (like, say, X-Ray Spex-style), then try this out for size:
The best songs are at 3:10 and 6:00, but they’re all pretty good. This is a band called “Electric Deads”. Can you tell English isn’t their first language? If the band name doesn’t tell you, try listening to their lyrics, which are in Danish (I think).
And then there’s this, from the next year (1984. The last one was from 1983, and the first from 1981.), by the band Frites Modern:
Their album is available for streaming on Amazon.com. Buy it if you like it and support great artists! It’s never too late to tell them they mattered!
I love punk rock. It’s probably my favorite kind of music. The best thing about punk rock is the energy and the do-it-yourself-ness of it. Anybody can play punk rock. You don’t have to be good on an instrument, you just have to do it, and then see if your songs are good. But the best thing about punk rock is probably that even he worst punk bands are agreeable to people who like punk rock, so it’s rarely disappointing. But certainly some bands stand above the rest. Like so:
That’s The Germs. Buy their CD: It’s great! Okay, so it’s not European Punk Rock, but it’s about the best there is. And Darby Crash has been to London, so it kinda counts. Right?
