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PUNK ROCK
VA - Blank Generation Blank Generation (A Story Of U.S. & Canadian Punk & Its Aftershocks 1975-1981) [2023] (5 x CDs)
Punk didn’t arrive as a movement. It arrived as a rupture, a sudden tear in the fabric of American and Canadian music. Blank Generation traces that tear across five discs, beginning with the spark in New York and following the shockwaves as they spread through basements, art spaces, garages and small labels across the continent. The set opens with Richard Hell, Ramones, Television and Modern Lovers, capturing the moment when attitude, minimalism and raw energy became a new language. These tracks still feel like first strikes: fast, sharp, and determined to clear space for something different.
From there, the compilation widens. Cleveland’s Pere Ubu, Detroit’s Destroy All Monsters, San Francisco’s Crime, Vancouver’s Pointed Sticks and The Young Canadians, each scene shaped its own version of urgency. Some bands leaned toward art‑rock abstraction, others toward power‑pop brightness, others toward noise and confrontation. The sequencing makes the geography feel alive, showing how quickly ideas travelled and mutated.
By the later discs, the aftershocks take over. Hardcore beginnings, post‑punk experiments, synth‑driven minimalism, and early college‑rock textures appear beside the original punk core. Mission of Burma, Bush Tetras, Chrome, The Units, The Feelies, The Bongos, all pushing outward, proving that punk’s legacy was expansion rather than repetition.
What makes Blank Generation compelling is its sense of movement. It doesn’t treat punk as a fixed style. It treats it as a chain reaction: one band inspiring another, one city echoing another, one idea breaking open a dozen more. The box becomes a map of how North American punk grew, fractured and re‑formed between 1975 and 1981.
For collectors, it’s a rare chance to see these in one place. For listeners, it’s a reminder that punk’s greatest achievement wasn’t noise, it was possibility. (B)
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Track lists
CD1
01 Richard Hell & The Voidoids - (I Belong to The) Blank Generation 2:54
02 Ramones - Rockaway Beach 2:06
03 Television - Friction 4:45
04 Modern Lovers - Someone I Care About 3:39
05 Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers - Chinese Rocks 2:55
06 Dictators - (I Live For) Cars and Girls 3:54
07 Dead Boys - Sonic Reducer 3:09
08 Dogs - John Rock 3:09
09 Brats - Be A Man 2:53
10 Crime - Hot Wire My Heart 3:20
11 Poli Styrene Jass Band - Drano in Your Veins 1:49
12 Pere Ubu - Final Solution 4:59
13 Killer Kane Band - Mr Cool 4:11
14 Marbles - Red Lights 3:01
15 Sneakers - Condition Red 3:10
16 Blondie - Rip Her to Shreds 3:19
17 Suicide - Rocket USA 4:16
18 Suicide Commandos - Match/Mismatch 5:13
19 Patti Smith - Pissing in A River 4:51
20 Mirrors - Shirley 4:40
21 John Berenzy - Vice Verses 4:41
22 Residents - Satisfaction 4:00
CD2
01 Devo - Come Back Jonee 3:47
02 Destroy All Monsters - I'm Bored 3:57
03 Avengers - We Are The One 2:39
04 Twinkeyz - Aliens in Our Midst 3:20
05 Mumps - Crocodile Tears 2:09
06 Scruffs - My Mind 2:14
07 Tommy Hoehn - Blow Yourself Up 2:54
08 Randoms - Let's Get Rid of New York 2:42
09 Dils - Mr. Big 1:44
10 Chris Stamey & The DBs - (I Thought) You Wanted to Know 3:23
11 Quick - Pretty Please Me 4:31
12 Cigarettes - Gimme Cigarette 2:28
13 Electric Eels - Cyclotron 2:05
14 Mars - 3E 2:51
15 Howard Werth - Obsolete 2:27
16 Pointed Sticks - What Do You Want Me to Do? 2:17
17 Shock - This Generation on Vacation 1:46
18 Deadbeats - Let's Shoot Maria 2:20
19 Bags - Survive 2:47
20 Human Switchboard - No 1:40
21 Curtiss A - I Don't Wanna Be President 2:07
22 Alda Reserve - Cure Me 2:28
23 Young Canadians - Hawaii 1:53
24 Weirdos - We Got The Neutron Bomb 3:01
25 Last - She Don't Know Why I'm Here (Single Version) 3:26
26 Tom Verlaine - Breakin' My Heart 6:04
27 Pagans - Street Where Nobody Lives 1:37
CD3
01 Dickies - Fan Mail 3:04
02 DMZ - Bad Attitude 3:00
03 Germs - Lexicon Devil 2:05
04 Cramps - TV Set 3:12
05 Really Red - Corporate Settings 2:16
06 Swimming Pool Q's - Rat Bait 2:20
07 Richard Lloyd - Blue and Grey 3:34
07 Blow-Up - Tell it to The Judge 2:54
08 Nervus Rex - Don't Look (A Side Single) 3:51
09 Eyes - Topological Lies 1:34
10 Pylon - Cool 3:02
11 Zero Boys - I'm Bored 2:50
12 Bizarros - Quiana Girls 2:14
13 Smart Alex - Chitter Chat 4:06
14 Hits - All The Girls (Wanna Be in Gangs) 2:28
15 Dishrags - I Don't Love You 1:41
16 Black Randy & the Metrosquad - I Slept in an Arcade 2:30
17 Rhino 39 - Prolixin Stomp 1:54
18 Count Vertigo - I'm A Mutant 3:53
19 Testors - Time is Mine 2:37
20 Girls - Jeffrey I Hear You 5:37
21 Urinals - I'm a Bug 1:11
23 Sleepers - Seventh World 2:51
24 Stimulators - Loud Fast Rules 3:11
25 Next - Cheap Rewards 2:14
26 Mission of Burma - Academy Fight Song 3:09
27 Flyboys - Theme Song 2:11
CD4
01 Dow Jones & the Industrials - Can't Stand the Midwest 1:27
02 Haskels - Taking The City By Storm 2:15
03 Pure Hell - Noise Addicction 1:56
04 Suburban Lawns - Janitor 2:31
05 Non Compos Mentis - Ultimate Orgasm 2:57
06 Method Actors - Do The Method 5:12
07 Modernettes - Barbra 1:58
08 Bureaucrats - Feel The Pain 3:21
09 Bush Tetras - Snakes Crawl 3:36
10 Chrome - New Age 3:10
11 Cosmopolitans - (how to keep your) Husband Happy 2:46
12 Customs - Long Gone 2:26
13 Epicycle - You're Not Gonna Get It 1:39
14 Colors - Rave it Up 2:17
15 Gizmos - Bible Belt Baby 1:56
16 Demics - New York City (Talk's Cheap EP 1978) 4:32
17 Units - Work 2:23
18 Suburbs - World War III 2:59
19 Chandra - Kate 5:49
20 Suspects - Talking Loud 2:22
21 Feelies - Raised Eyebrows 3:01
22 Bongos - Telephoto Lens 2:03
23 Martin Rev - Mari 4:22
24 Embarrassment - Sex Drive 5:04
25 Necessaries - Detroit Tonight 3:03
26 MX-80 Sound - Someday You'll Be King 3:19
CD5
01 Polyrock - Romantic Me 3:14
02 Unknowns - Dream Sequence 3:17
03 Pell Mell - Spy vs. Spy 3:02
04 Lyres - Buried Alive 3:07
04 Gun Club - She's like heroin to me 2:38
05 Justin Trouble - Ponytail 2:06
06 Speedies - Time 2:37
07 Anemic Boyfriends - Fake ID 2:42
09 Slickee Boys - Here to Stay 4:14
10 Salvation Army - Mind Gardens 2:50
11 New Math - They Walk Among You 3:26
12 Jetsons - Genetically Stupid 2:21
13 Dream Syndicate - When You Smile (Down There EP Version) 3:09
14 Oil Tasters - That's When The Brick Goes Through The Window 2:36
15 Redd Kross - Clorox Girls 1:01
16 Middle Class - Last Touch 2:04
17 Wall of Voodoo - Call Box 2:34
18 CHIEFS - Blues 2:47
19 X - White Girl (Single Mix) 3:29
20 Crash Course in Science - Cardboard Lamb 2:30
21 Adolescents - Amoeba 3:06
22 Flesh Eaters - Version nation 1:53
23 Replacements - I'm in Trouble 2:09
24 Sport of Kings - This City in Darkness 3:10
25 Get Smart! - This is Style 2:43
26 Dead Kennedys - Holiday in Cambodia (single version) 3:46
27 Romeo Void - Not Safe 3:53
28 Minor Threat - Minor Threat 1:27
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Music weaves itself into the fabric of our emotions, dances through the corridors of memory, and whispers to the soul of who we are. Sharing these stories deepens the connection, turning the experience into something timeless and profound.
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Thank you for this great collections. 50 years on and the energy of the first wave of D.I.Y. just remains as inspiring as then. I can see that K's nor BB's hands were into making these. The most influential of all bands is shamelessly absent.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a young the bands had copies of copies of adresses where you could play and sleep. After a few years I learned that BLACK FLAG was distribuing the list D.O.A. had compiled. These two bands made the whole network available and somehow never got the credit they deserve.
Other absent greats Electric Chairs with the born-again-woman Jayne County or The Dicks, The Misfits, Hüsker Dü, The Minutemen with D.Boon R.I.P.
How can one come up with the line "the WHOLE arc" Despite it's 5cd's full of beautiful music, Cherry Red tries to rewrite history, selling punk by the pound Stand up and spit
Hi Richard,
DeleteThank you for such a sharp, passionate response, it’s exactly the kind of perspective that keeps these conversations honest. You’re right, the first wave of D.I.Y. was built on energy, nerve, and a network held together by photocopied lists, floor‑space hospitality, and bands helping bands. Black Flag and D.O.A. were absolutely central to that infrastructure. Without their touring routes, shared contacts, and sheer stubbornness, half the continent wouldn’t have had a functioning punk circuit. They deserve far more credit than they usually get.
Cherry Red’s framing smooths out the rough edges. Those bands you mention weren’t just participants, they were structural beams. Their absence changes the shape of the story.
Still, as you say, the music collected here is strong and inspiring, even if the historical sweep is incomplete. Your comment brings the missing context back into view, and that’s invaluable.
Cheers.
Hi Richard, I agree with you about the difficulty labels face—whether small or major—in putting together comprehensive compilations, usually due to rights issues. The results are often patchy and laughable. That said, a few observations: Hüsker Dü’s first album was in January 1982, so they fall outside the timeframe for this compilation; I’d say the Minutemen’s "artistic" peak was really 1983–1985, not much before that—same goes for The Dicks (?). But I do agree with you regarding Jayne/Wayne.
DeleteThank you for this, BB! It takes me back to the days when every lightpole in downtown Manhattan was covered with mimeographed and xeroxed black & white flyers for bands and clubs.
ReplyDeleteHi Gummo,
DeleteThanks for sharing that vivid memory What a great memory. Those flyers were the city’s pulse. Layers of flyers stapled over each other until the poles looked like living collages. Every band, every basement, every night advertised in stark black and white, offering all types of possibility. I’m glad this set brought that world back for you.
Cheers.
Thank you. Love it
ReplyDelete