the specials

“We’re the Interrupters! We’re from Los Angeles, California!” the young guitarist announces over a fanfare, as the camera pulls back and reveals a four-piece band, plus a singer, and a crush of throbbing humanity in a tiny space. “And this first song is a protest song, but it’s also a unity song. Because there’s no […]

Top 15 punk albums of 1998? You’d be forgiven for thinking that there weren’t any in the year the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal dominated the news. A quick perusal of Billboard’s Hot 100 singles of the year sees domination by several R&B (Destiny’s Child, Janet Jackson, Usher, Mariah Carey) or hip-hop (Puff Daddy, Master P, […]

Each month, AP Gallery takes a deep dive into visual culture. We explore music videos and photographs, as well as images that shape the world more broadly. Our discussions go backstage and on set, revealing the vision, the sudden inspiration or the snap decisions that helped to mold iconic images in music, skateboarding, sports and […]

This past March 5, the French punk label Guerilla Asso quietly slipped a genius album into the marketplace: Rocket To Kingston, credited to Bobby Ramone. The melding of the isolated vocal tracks from nine of Bob Marley’s most deathless classics to edited Ramones backing tracks, it sounds like a joke on paper. The cover even […]

Some promo copywriter at the Clash’s American label, Epic Records, came up with the questionable slogan “19 songs by the only band that matters” for the sticker that appeared on the face of 1980’s U.S. release of London Calling. While singer/guitarist Joe Strummer, lead guitarist Mick Jones, bassist Paul Simonon and drummer Topper Headon didn’t […]

Akron, Ohio born and bred Christine Ellen Hynde has led the Pretenders from the top of the charts since the band’s debut single, a 1979 rethink of Ray Davies’ “Stop Your Sobbing” that killed the Kinks’ 1964 Mersey Beat-ish original on contact. Sort of a spiritual big sister to Joan Jett, she led that gang […]

“Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!” Those words have rung out across American airwaves at roughly 10:35 p.m. every sabbath for 45 seasons. Saturday Night Live (fondly and culturally known today as SNL) which premiered under its original title of NBC’s Saturday Night Oct. 11, 1975, became one of history’s longest-running US TV series.  […]

Ska may be one of the most polarizing words in the English language. Many of its superfans have lived and died by the genre from the second they heard their first guitar upstroke, whereas some casual fans dug into it as a flavor of the week for a short amount of time and parted ways […]

From sea to shining sea, the U.S. is teeming with talented bands and musicians. Every state and region of the country has its own scene, with its own unique flavor, filled with undiscovered and unsigned artists worthy of a listen. In a time when most of us are stuck inside, take a virtual road trip […]

The 2003 documentary Afro-Punk lifted the lid on how many black musicians and fans were part of punk culture. Yet even today, there persists the idea that black participation in rock music is some sort of novelty or anomaly. That disregards, of course, mountains of evidence to the contrary, going back all the way to […]

By 1979, punk was firmly established. Seemingly, a million new bands formed weekly, releasing great singles seconds later. But some of the old guard were starting to feel constrained by angry teenage ramalama. Where else punk could go? These are the best punk-rock albums of 1979. As bands such as the Clash and the Damned […]

Punk Rock & Paintbrushes Holiday Art Show returns for a third year—plus, don’t miss Capsize’s new video for “Blind.” Check out the news you might have missed today below! 1. Marianas Trench announce U.S. tour dates, unveil new song Marianas Trench are heading on a 22-date headlining U.S. tour in the spring. The band are also […]

[Photos by: Vincent Haycock, RANKIN, Wikimedia Commons] Florence + The Machine and Oasis' Liam Gallagher are among the artists tapped to support the Rolling Stones on the legendary rock band's U.K. tour this spring. Catch the latest list of cities, dates and supporting acts right here. Read more: P!ATD fans are getting potatoes in the […]

John Bradbury, drummer for the legendary English two-tone ska band the Specials died last night at age 62. The band made the following announcement this morning via their official website: “It is with deepest regret that we have to announce the very sad news that our much loved husband and father John “Brad” Bradbury passed away on […]