Ok I'm not gonna claim to know a lot about Punk or Scene music (even though I've been reading about it more and more), but I made this playlist/mixed CD that's purpose is to convey the evolution of "The Scene". I made two versions of the playlist both similar in nature one is on Spotify and the other is a mixed CD I mad on iTunes. The weird thing about the playlist/mixed CD is that it goes through the evolution of "The Scene" but ends with today's "scene music going from lightest (Emo/Pop-Punk) to the heaviest (Deathcore). To say so myself I think I did pretty good and I just wanted to explain the ordering/reasoning behind the songs.
First it starts off with MC5's "Kick out the Jams". I chose this song because after reading up on the history of punk I found that the scene started before the actual punk movement went full mainstream (and by that I mean before the late 70s pushed out Sex Pistols, The Ramones, The Clash, etc.)
The second song on the playlist is suppose to represent the Punk movement of the late 70s and thought there was no more perfect song than "Anarchy in the UK" by the Sex Pistols. This choice is simply because the Punk movement was basically started by this song. It is a touchy subject but I think it was the right call.
For the third track we escalate into Hardcore-Punk from the 1980s, I chose the song "Institutionalized" because it is my favorite of all hardcore songs that came out of the 80s it just captures all the angst and fury of the Punk scene so perfectly that I thought it was the obvious choice. Lets also not for get the bassist went on to join Metallica and whats more hardcore than that?!
After that we get into the early 90s and the big genre for "The Scene" then was Grunge. So for my fourth choice I obviously chose one of my all time favorite bands in the world, Nirvana. The song I chose by them was "In Bloom" because I think "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is pretty overplayed, and I wanted to still use a song with fast paced punk influence.
Number five on the playlist is "Linoleum" by NoFX. NoFX is one my favorite punk bands of all time. I chose this song because after Grunge there was a bit of rise in Punk again. I count this one as just regular 90s Punk music because it is a little bit more hardcore than SkatePunk.
Six is the when genres start to blend together, this track I chose "Basket Cast" by Green Day to portray the rise of popularity in SkatePunk since early Green Day is a mix between 90s Punk and SkatePunk.
Next for track seven I went with "What's my age again" by Blink-182 because they are a SkatePunk/Pop-Punk blend and were key in pioneering what I call "The Warped Kids" because that is when Warped Tour started.
Track eight is "Hit or Miss" by New Found Glory, these guys are pure Pop-Punk and I thought were a great representation of the ending 90s alternative music revolution and beginning of 2000s.
The ninth track was suppose to represent the rise of Alternative Rock in the early 2000s, the kind of stuff that "Warped Kids" more or less grew up on, and in my opinion no other band says early 2000s Alt. Rock like Jimmy Eat World, so I chose there song "Sweetness" since "The Middle" is a little over played.
Number ten is "Cute Without the 'E' (Cut from the Team)" by Taking Back Sunday. There were a lot of bands that I could have used to represent the growing popularity of Emo music but I thought Taking Back Sunday really seemed like the best choice for early 2000s Emo.
Emo music continues to leak into the Playlist with "Sugar, We're Goin Down" by Fall Out Boy as the eleventh track. This is when the Emo scene started to blend with other genres like Pop-Punk (new Fall Out Boy is just shitty pop music and would never make it on this list in a million years).
Nearing the end of the Emo phase we have "Can't Be Saved" by Sense Fail as the twelfth track, a notable example of how Emo music began to blend with Punk as well.
Now with the thirteenth track we start getting a little mixed chronologically. I chose "My Last Semester" by The Wonder Years. First thing about this song is that it is another mixture of Emo and Pop-Punk but its what I like to call New-Age Pop-Punk or more specifically Sad Pop-Punk which is why I say its mixed with Emo. The Second thing is that this is where the playlist starts with today's "Scene" music starting light and progressively getting heavier.
For track fourteen I chose "Quicksand" by The Story So Far as another example of New Age Pop-Punk, but the thing about this is that it is more upbeat and not that depressing like The Wonder Years, Man Overboard, or Real Friends are, Also by being more upbeat it sort of makes the music sound heavier.
Track fifteen is "Prepare to Be Digitally Manipulated" by Four Year Strong. Four Year Strong pioneered what is known as Easycore a different version of Pop-Punk that is a little heavier than what you would normally hear but it probably kicks way more ass.
Track Sixteen is "I'm Made Of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made Of?" by A Day To Remeber. Let me preface this I think that A Day To Remember is super overplayed but I don't mind certain songs sometimes this is one of those songs. The reason I placed them after Four Year Strong is because they are (or were) a little heavier than Easycore but not really Hardcore more like a Mediumcore.
The next genre is Post-Hardcore, a genre generally only listened to by annoying 15 year-old girls but one band stands out from all the other stupid Post-Hardcore bands, Pierce the Veil. Pierce the Veil is awesome live and have great stage presence more importantly none of the band members are douchebags. That's why "Bulls in the Bronx" is track number seventeen
For number eighteen we have my all time favorite band Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!. Their music is an awesome blend between Pop-Punk and Metalcore. I put there song "Haters Gonna Hate" after Pierce the Veil because C!NCC! isn't exactly heavy enough to be full Metalcore since they blend with Pop-Punk but they are definitely heavier than Post-Hardcore (and better).
Now we get into the really heavy stuff with number nineteen being "I Have a Problem" by Beartooth. I love the shit out of Beartooth they are so hardcore and fast-paced every song I can't help but think "FUCK YEAH!". Their music falls under a blend between Metalcore and Hardcore-Punk. This song I chose specifically because no matter what my hat will always come flying off my head from headbanging so hard to the breakdown.
For the twentieth song I chose "Mariana's Trench" by August Burns Red. These guys are straight up Metalcore and I chose these guys over all the other Metalcore band because they represent the heavier and furious side of Metalcore.
The Twenty-first and final song on the Playlist is "Cauterizer" by The Acadia Strain. I don't listen to a lot of Deathcore but I think The Acadia Strain sounds a lot better than certain bands that call themselves Deathcore.
And thats it I guess here is the link to the playlist so you can listen to it. PEACE!
https://play.spotify.com/user/129742072/playlist/2aMbADlnNipUh3N4G4KWGn?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open
