Source
r/punk•
misunderstood_lonerr

Anyone else really like the "non punk" albums from Redd Kross, 7 Seconds, T.S.O.L. ... etc?

I really love Redd Kross "non punk" albums... "Teen Babes from Monsanto," "Neurotica," "Third Eye," "Show World," and "Phaseshifter" are all excellent in my opinion. I also really enjoy 7 Seconds "Praise," "Ourselves" and (Especially) "Soulforce Revolution", as well as TSOL" Change Today," and "Revenge."

I actually enjoy when bands do something a little different. I remember when the Vandals put out "slippery When Ill," and I was probably the only person I know who actually liked it. There are some pretty solid country tunes on there, Such as: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqonGOCxmmw Matter of fact, I still have 2 copies of that album, both of which were given to me by people who bought and hated it. lol. Nowadays doing country on the side seems to be a pretty popular thing to do, and people really love when bands like Supersuckers do it, but back then it was considered pretty disgraceful.

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Posted Sep 3, 2023, 7:12 PM UTC

186
-Initium•

Redd Kross is awesome, my dad told me that there was this club in LA where him and his friend would sneak into when they were 18 and one of the nights they did that the McDonald brothers were there and they were buying my dad and his friend drinks all night and just hanging out

2
serabatsur•

blitz was better as they were transitioning into post-punk imo

1
Invisiblerobot13•

Second Empire Justice is amazing The Middle Class who some consider having the first hardcore record had a post punk album which is good Bad Religion - Into The Unlnown is legitimately good but suffers bad production

1
Acrobatic-Hat-9496•

Middle Class “Homeland” is a phenomenal album. I don’t like it more than the EP and comp tracks, but I don’t like it any less.

I prefer the first 12” and “Born Innocent” but agree the more psych, fuzz, trash rock Red Kross albums are good.

Meat Puppets have never put out a bad record although the first EP is still my favorite and and underrated hardcore record in my opinion; those songs are so manic and out of control.

Joy Divison got better and better the farther they strayed from the beginnings as Warsaw. “An Ideal For Living” is great but everything afterwards is just astonishing. I realize this is the majority view and not some radical position I am staking out, but still, I think the best example of a band that started with the impetus of punk and then went on to do amazing things outside the structures of punk rock.

1
BoschBattery•

The Warsaw 12” is better than anything in joy division’s catalog.

1
Acrobatic-Hat-9496•

I love those songs but and “They Walked In Line” in particular is a phenomenal song, but “Uknown Pleasures”, “Closer”, and the various singles surrounding those albums are some of the greatest music ever made to me. “Atmosphere” gives me goosebumps and a shiver down the spine every time I hear it. I would have that song played at my funeral. Different strokes for different folks though.

1
flohara•

Yes. I also do enjoy the more goth leaning goth songs from TSOL, The Damned etc too.

1
dontneedareason94•

Not really a fan at all of post punk era Blitz, but I love bands influenced by that sound.

1
rhinestoneknight•

I prefer the non punk albums by the Replacements if that counts.

1
Totschlag•

As much as I love punk, Let it Be and Pleased to Meet Me are just absolutely masterpieces.

I've probably cried to those albums a dozen times, they just pack an emotional and sonic punch. Punk era replacements never really stood a chance.

1
Germgi69•

Let it be is a post punk record so it’s still punk but it was pretty much the last punk record before they became a indie rock band

1
rhinestoneknight•

My favourite is Tim. Sure the production isn't great, but that's as good a selection of songs as any band ever put down on record. They're all great though. I also love All Shook Down and Don't Tell A Soul.

1
20yards•

Uh, not sure what about those 7 Seconds records isn't "punk."

They were definitely on a bit of U2 trip (but then again, so were, e.g., Minor Threat on the Salad Days 7"), and distributed by a major, but I saw them on the Ourselves and Soulforce Revolution tours and they were absolutely in their prime.

I guess they had some new wave-ier guitar tones and longer songs, but l still take it over punk bands that had nowhere to go but metal.

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misunderstood_lonerrOP•

When "Praise" came out as the followup to "Walk Together, Rock Together," people were PISSED! lol. I think that people were a lot more "punk only" back then, and a lot of people were done with them, especially when "ourselves" came out and was more of the same.

1
________TVOD________•

I think New Wind received more hate than Praise and is the true follow up to Walk Together… Still not that bad.

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misunderstood_lonerrOP•

Yeah, "New Wind" slipped my mind for a sec., and amongst the people I knew at the time, some weren't fond of it, but the "I hate those guys" stuff was really cemented by "Ourselves..." "Soulforce Revolution" started to bring some people back around though, when I could actually get people to listen to it.

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________TVOD________•

100%. I observed the same pattern back them. I liked Ourselves at the time. I had left pure HC and was more into melodic stuff. Anything form All to REM. I also liked Field Day by Dag Nasty. I think Ourselves is the 2nd or 3rd CD i bought. Now I’m back to vinyl (never really left, actually) and don’t really care about anything past The Crew, lol.

1
BoschBattery•

I said it up there - if you were a hardcore kid in 1989-1990 and you saw 7 seconds you were pretty fucking bummed.

1
IdRatherDTaPoaBF•

I was a hardcore kid who saw them for the first time in ‘91 and it was pretty fucking incredible.

1
ResidentComplaint19•

So jealous that you got to see 7 seconds in their prime

1
20yards•

I consider myself super lucky, but I'd would argue that their recent shows are about as high-quality as they get. There's just something special when you're discovering this whole new world of punk rock, it's all new (to you) and amazing.

1
ResidentComplaint19•

I saw them in 2004 and they blew me away. Still one of the greatest shows of my life.

1
BoschBattery•

I saw them with quicksand at a pretty young age and was very bummed that they did not just play the crew straight through. It was 1990. Nobody I knew considered soulforce revolution a punk record. No one I knew would call the crew a punk record either.

That’s skeeno hardcore dude. Skinheads, brains, guts.

1
Chance-Ad-6083•

I bought 7 Seconds “Ourselves” from a record store not to long ago, first press. Wasn’t familiar with the album, and thought I just found some gem or something. Got home, put it on and turned it off. Haven’t played it since. Just not my taste 🤷‍♂️

1
HoffaHugh•

I love Phaseshifter

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misunderstood_lonerrOP•

Have you ever checked out "Neurotica?" I've seen it being credited as a huge influence on grunge quite a few times. It's hard to understand the impact something had, and how it sounded in context with the time it was released, since we've heard everything that came out after it.... I was in my mid teens when it came out, and it kinda blew my mind.

I would love to have heard Ramones in 1976, but I was 2 years old, and by the time I actually started getting into them, they seemed pretty pedestrian to me, (I was embarassingly late to the Ramones party.) bc I had heard so much "harder" music before hearing them.

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HoffaHugh•

Thanks I put it on last night I like it just never grabbed me the same way Phaseshifter did. I’ve given it a few tries. Same age as you so maybe had I heard it before I heard grunge it would’ve had more impact. When “what they say came on” I had to check if the album was done and Spotify started paying the MC5 so that was cool. Probably helped that Phaseshifter was stuck in my Firefly’s car stereo for a year around ‘94 and that I hadn’t properly discovered Cheap Trick yet.

1
misunderstood_lonerrOP•

I get more of a Kiss vibe from "What They Say,"(the singing, not necessarily the music.) lol. Dude's doing a pretty good Paul Stanley, then the "I don't beleive it" Gene style.

1
HoffaHugh•

Yeah I hear that now and I’m sure Kiss would of been a formative band for them

1
20yards•

That's true- I knew people who hated New Wind. But, like the Ramones, they never missed a step live, even if the quality of the current record was a little below par.

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misunderstood_lonerrOP•

Oops "New Wind" was between "Walk" and " Praise" I drew a blank on that one, But you are correct, that album kinda started the "Where are they going with this?," questions, and the next 2 cemented it. I like them all. :)

1
20yards•

My first time in the pit I was 15, seeing them on the Ourselves tour, my second punk show ever- I love them so much.

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misunderstood_lonerrOP•

One of the shows I will always remember as just being great, and just a positive atmosphere was 7 Seconds at the Country Club in Reseda, probably just before "Ourselves." The pit was fun, nobody trying to hurt anyone, instant pick-ups if anyone fell, and the bouncers were actually allowing stage diving! Back then bouncers, , were pretty much known fo looking for reasons to rough people up.

And there were no nazis there that I recall, and this was around the time that they were always showing up to every punk show in L.A. Nobody knew where they came from, or where they were the rest of the time, but they sure loved to ruin shows.

1
thewaybaseballgoOld dude•

Agreed. 7 Seconds still puts on one of the best live shows ever.

1
Aegis-Heptapod-9732•

Redd Kross was an alive band in the 80s, saw them a couple times and they were great. Teen Babes and Born Innocent were both fantastic trashy fun.

1
petseminary•

They're still great love!

1
gacoug•

My favorite TSOL song is on Change Today.

1
misunderstood_lonerrOP•

Which one?

1
gacoug•

Flowers by the Door

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misunderstood_lonerrOP•

That is a great song. I was watching an interview with Joe Wood on Youtube the other day, and found out some pretty intersting things... He was married to Jack Grisham's sister!

and also, he said Mike Roche is the one who was pushing them in the hair metal direction, and he just went along for the ride at that point, and now really hates the changes that were made to some of his songs to push them into that genre. I kinda believe him, because you could always tell he's one of those rock dudes that was going to get more and more into the blues as they got older, as so many do... lol

1
wimpyroy•

Joe Wood and the Lonely Ones! I hope to see them live

1
misunderstood_lonerrOP•

Enigma Variations. I remember that one.

1
gacoug•

Lots of great songs on it. Naked prey had an awesome track on there, so did the jet black berries, plasticland, Scott Goddard, the pandiras, I wrote that album out.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enigma_Variations_(album)

1
Ralewing•

I still have that. The EV version is so good.

1
EmoGothPunk•

That was the second T.S.O.L. song I heard, loved it just as the title track to "Dance with Me".

(I didn't hear "Code Blue" until I bought the Punk & Nasty comp in high school).

1
Superb_Health9413•

I have loved every iteration of the band. My friend Jason Shapiro is their current guitarist. He previously played lead for Celebrity Skin (they had the name before Hole used it).

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-m&sca_esv=562386629&q=celebrity+skin+band&tbm=vid&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiG7au2qo-BAxWWJ0QIHS0FBroQ0pQJegQICBAB&biw=414&bih=718&dpr=3#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:ed3a6f96,vid:fDBUqTIXvoY

Suggest you also check out the movies “Desperate Teenage Lovedolls” and the sequel “Lovedolls Superstar” . The soundtracks are really good.

1
misunderstood_lonerrOP•

I have the Lovedolls movies on VHS! lol. Celebrity Skin were fantastic! I sing "Dot Dot" to myself all the time.

1
Superb_Health9413•

Love so76 . With David Cassidy and “Heinz Asshole”

1
Queasy-Adeptness14•

The first JFA record I got was “Nowhere Blossoms”, and I still think it’s a solid record.

1
blackjacktarr•

Been listening to TSOL's Hit and Run lately after decades away from it. It's closer to hair metal than punk, but it's fucking great! I understand the backlash from the punks, but I heard this stuff way before hearing their early material. I can't be a hater.

1
misunderstood_lonerrOP•

Have you heard "Changer today" and "Revenge?" Same line up.. The one after "Hit and Run," entitled "Strange Love" goes even more into "hair" territory, but those first 2 of the Joe Wood era are solid rock albums.

1
blackjacktarr•

Totally on board. Revenge was my introduction, but somehow only Hit and Run made it into my collection. Of those you've listed, Revenge is my fave. It's a little grittier. The production is better on Hit and Run, but Revenge has better songs and a bit more of that mid-80s "Enigma vibe" that I enjoy.

1
Catharsis_Cat•

I listened to Hit and Run the other day and honestly I feel like it's a bit weird in that it's sort of trying to be Hair Metal, but kind of also sounds like The Cult. You can still hear a bit of of their sound from Revenge in some of the tracks as well, which I find to be the better ones. I don't think TSOL is particularly good at doing Hair Metal, it's kind of shame they went in that direction when the earlier stuff with Joe Wood was really good.

1
blackjacktarr•

The Cult. Yeah, good comparison. The Cult's sound sorta drifted into hair metal territory around Sonic Temple. TSOL were maybe too smart to fully embrace metal, but not The Cult. The Cult can naturally be as stupid as is necessary.

Also, to help clarify: I know hair metal/80s metal isn't really "METAL" by today's standards, but we had a different frame of reference back then. Thrash and speed had not yet become standards. Death had not been invented. We called all of it 'metal," even what's more considered "hard rock" in 2023.

1
misunderstood_lonerrOP•

To be fair, anything coming after "Electric" was gonna have a hard time. One of the greatest R&R albums ever imo. Brilliant in it's simplicity, like AC/DC.

1
blackjacktarr•

Rick Rubin introduces The Cult to beer.

1
BurningVinyl71•

I hadn’t heard TSOL before hearing Revenge in 1987. Then went and found Change Today and loved it. So, I associated them with Joe Wood. A year later when I finally heard the early stuff with Jack Grisham, it didn’t hit me the same way.

1
misunderstood_lonerrOP•

Joe Wood is apparently playing hie era TSOL songs live with a new band called "Change Today." I was listening to an interview with him on Youtube, and he said he believed for quite some time that nobody wanted to hear his TSOL songs because of all the "old TSOL are better" stuff you hear all the time... But he learned that people DO want to hear those songs.

You can see evidence of that here, as every time TSOL come up, you always see people who love those albums, and are willing to face downvotes for saying it! lol

3
Chamuco777•

Face to Face - Ignorance is Bliss. In my opinion their best album to date. Unfortunately hated by the fanbase that wanted another generic F2F record.

1
chaz0723•

Redd Kross is one of those bands that should be way, way bigger than they are.

1
misunderstood_lonerrOP•

I feel like they were more popular in Europe than here. I remember always seeing a ton of singles and such at Tower Records in the import section. Some of those import cds came with the funny Doc Martens parody "hair cushioned sound" stickers in them too!

1
DrunkenGerbils•

I really dig the T.S.O.L metal stuff. I’m a massive Alice Cooper fan and you can really hear the AC influence all over their metal records.

1
misunderstood_lonerrOP•

Have you heard of a band from Norway called Turbonegro? They REALLY love Alice Cooper, and they wear it on their sleeves. They were around for a long time, and have a lot of albums, but the ones you would likele enjoy the most are (in this order. lol) 1: "Apocalypse Dudes" and 2: "Scandinavian Leather."

Check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH9WY3YtV4g

1
DrChunderpound•

I thought everyone has heard of Turbonegro, or maybe it’s a generation gap thing. I’m old as fuck and have always thought of them as one of the bigger bands out there.

1
LtHughMann•

I thought that too. I've always though of them as a hugely famous band with a cult like following. I see cunts wearing denim jackets with turbonegro back patches at most gigs I've been to.

1
FrenzalStarkGeordie Punk Bastard•

Yeah, they played PRB in 2018 and there was an insane amount of people with basically identical denim vests with Turbonegro back patches. Very strange behaviour.

1
DominicRo•

I love Redd Kross.

1
alaskantuxedo•

Change today is in my top 5 albums, so yes

1
misunderstood_lonerrOP•

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjVGHIw5rJ4

Check this out, I think you'll enjoy it.

1
merfjeeblskitz•

I like when Youth Brigade put out a pop album as “The Brigade”.

Oh and I like the Damned’s late 80s stuff.

1
DrChunderpound•

First 7 Seconds album I bought was Out The Shizzy after hearing earlier stuff and damn I was bummed. I can tolerate it now but don’t recommend starting with it.

1