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When Crass declared punk dead in 1978, they showed just how short-sighted even the genre’s most progressive forces could be. Almost five decades later, we’ve seen the genre enjoy both boom and bust periods that have shaped the modern music pantheon, from the rise of hardcore and UK82 to the dominance of pop-punk in the mid-90s and early 2000s all the way through to modern successes like Turnstile and Amyl And The Sniffers this past decade.
That in mind, we’ve assembled a list of some of the finest punk records from the past ten years that illustrate just how vibrant – and sonically diverse – the scene continues to be.
Against Me! – Transgender Dysphoria Blues (2014)
Queercore had already existed for almost two decades by the time Against Me! released Transgender Dysphoria Blues in 2014, but the album was still a massive leap forward for trans visibility when frontwoman Laura Jane Grace came out as transgender in 2012.
Against Me!’s sixth album was an autobiographical account of Grace’s experiences with dysphoria, taking the anthemic bent the band had perfected on 2011’s White Crosses and turning it into a joyous and liberating call for recognition and love. Bounding forth on some of the biggest hooks of Against Me!’s career, …Blues reaffirmed the band’s status as one of the best punk bands of the 21st Century.
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The Menzingers – After The Party (2017)
If punk is the sound of an inflamed youth, what happens when the punks age out? That’s more or less the question presented up top on The Menzingers’ fifth record, Tellin’ Lies leaning hard on the refrain “Where are we gonna go now that our twenties are over?”
The Scranton group had already found a niche in mixing punk energy, emo introspection and the anthemia of heartland rock on previous albums. After The Party perfected the mix by exploring a more mature side to punk that better reflected the personal and societal anxieties facing a generation of listeners who were certainly no longer kids, but didn’t quite feel like adults yet either.
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IDLES – Joy As An Act Of Resistance (2018)
As much a response to a near-decade of austerity under British Conservative governments as classic 80s punks were to both Thatcher’s Britain and Reagan’s America, Joy As An Act Of Resistance proved the perfect title for a record that found kernels of triumph amidst a seemingly ceaseless culture war that had dragged Britain’s politics into the dumpster.
The elements had all been present on IDLES debut 12 months earlier; furious breakouts, massive choruses and lyrics that took aim at social issues facing modern Britain. But Joy… stepped things up in every sense for the Bristol band, turning them into breakout stars and even putting them into arena-sized venues when they headlined Alexandra Palace in December 2019. It was a staging ground for a new breed of socially-and-politically astute crop of bands to arise, IDLES topping the pack as unlikely – and often, unwilling – spokesmen for this generation of punks who found joy amidst the throes of defeat.
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Drug Church – Cheer (2018)
Melding the chunky heft of hardcore, the nostalgic tones of 90s alt rock and the slacker angst of pop punk, Drug Church’s third full-length bounded forth to show that punk’s more melodic side needn’t always be beholden to the SoCal template set by Bad Religion, Descendents etc. in the 80s and 90s.
Across 10 songs and 32 minutes Drug Church tapped into the same kind of cross-genre pollination that would make Turnstile so massive with Time And Space that same year. While they didn’t get the same kind of breakthrough success, Cheer is nonetheless a triumph with anthems for the disillusioned in the likes of Strong References, Unlicensed Guidance Counselor and Weed Pin.
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Mannequin Pussy – Patience (2019)
Modern punk paints in so many more shades than just mere anger. So it was proved on Mannequin Pussy’s third album, Patience building on the alt rock and indie sensibilities that had become entwined with punk in the 21st Century to create a record that felt as joyous as it did rebellious.
That doesn’t mean MP are mellowed out on Patience, however: Cream turns a scornful eye inwards on self-destructive tendencies, while the short sharp blast of Drunk I rages against societal expectations of women, Missy Dabice snarling “What kind of woman would you rather I be? Docile and waiting to breed?” Balanced with some genuinely sublime and serene melodic compositions, Patience showed that punk had evolved beyond the shock’n’awe of its early days whilst still retaining its spikes.
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The Muslims – Gentrified Chicken (2020)
While punk’s flirtations with headline-grabbing shock and controversy have largely died down since the 80s, those fires still burn bright in The Muslims. Formed in 2017, the American three-piece’s second record tackled identity politics and racial stereotyping with the kind of irreverent humour beloved by bands like Dead Kennedys and The Dead Milkmen.
Although their 2021 follow-up Fuck These Fuckin’ Fascists took a more overt stand against fascism and the far-right, it was Gentrified Chicken that laid the seeds, songs like Punch A Nazi stating their point plain and clear while the almost grindcore-like Death Cab For Bootie and parody-style cover Blink 9-11 (What’s My Race Again?) weaponised bleak humour amidst shrieking, spiky punk.
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Turnstile – Glow On (2021)
Given the sheer abundance of hardcore breaking through into the mainstream this past decade, it would have been easy to populate this list entirely from that side of the punk sphere. Instead, we’re limiting ourselves to one band – and nobody can deny the sheer enormity of Turnstile’s success.
By 2018’s Time & Space, Turnstile had already become crossover stars, but it was follow-up Glow On that showed just how massive they’d become. Landing at number 30 on the Billboard 200, Glow On netted Turnstile a Grammy nomination and saw them play massive events like Glastonbury and Coachella, while the record itself continued to show how Turnstile were pushing hardcore punk boundaries, adding shoegaze-like ambient elements and hip-hop alongside more straight punk anthems to produce something that felt truly contemporary.
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Amyl And The Sniffers – Comfort To Me (2021)
As much as Britain and the US have dominated the conversation around punk rock over the decades, its always worth pointing out that Australia has always enjoyed its own scene with bands stretching all the way back to Radio Birdman in the 70s. Amyl And The Sniffers continue the proud traditions of no-nonsense punk at pub level, their second album blending some of the ultra-aggro speed of 80s hardcore with the irrepressible energy of the 70s.
“I’m not looking for trouble, I’m looking for love!” crows vocalist Amy Taylor on Security, a track that exemplifies Amyl And The Sniffers’ true-to-life lyrical observations, while the refrain “I am still a smart girl/if I’m dressing slutty” on Laughing takes a swing at sexism. Each of Comfort To Me’s 13 tracks fly by in a blitzkrieg of broken bottles, yelping choruses and a healthy dose of bawdiness on the likes of Don’t Need A Cunt (Like You To Love Me) to show that the pure heart of garage rock-inspired, oi-adjacent punk still beats down under.
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Bob Vylan – …Presents The Price Of Life (2022)
When Bob Vylan burst forth with We Live Here in 2020, they presented an all-new vision of punk updated for the 21st Century. Choppy riffs and snarled slogans were still massive parts of their toolkit, but Vylan added a grime and hip hop twist that decidedly updated punk’s sonic topography, while their furious, direct lyrics dealt with issues ranging from xenophobia and racism to political corruption.
By the time follow-up Bob Vylan Presents The Price Of Life arrived in 2022, the band’s anger hadn’t quite abated, but had become funnelled in new directions. Price… laid out a social-polticial manifesto that dealt with drug abuse (Big Man), dietary habits (Health Is Wealth), gun crime (He Sold Guns) antd complacency (Pretty Songs, Turn Off The Radio) with a characteristic venom that still made no secret of the band’s views, Vylan acting as spokesmen for Britain’s impoverished and underprivileged youths.
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Meryl Streek – Songs For The Deceased (2024)
Ireland’s Meryl Streek emerged as a venomous and vital new voice in punk with his 2022 debut 796, mixing avant garde hip hop styling, Irish folk melodies and punk invective to decry everything from the housing crisis to abuse in the Catholic church. His 2024 follow-up takes things a step further, painting a bleak picture of societal decay with clips of news reports and strong lyrical narratives making it feel like 2024’s answer to Discharge’s landmark See Nothing, Hear Nothing, Say Nothing.
Streek’s furious delivery remains the chief point for injecting the venom, the music often fading into the background against furious tirades that lead each song. The folk punk stylings of If This Is Life collide with more traditional punk ragers like Counting Sheep and Gambling Death while a track like Dogs – a collaboration with London punks The Chisel – turns the avant garde stylings up to 11 as Streek snarls over jazzy sax and dance like high notes. Amidst the injustices – both historical and contemporary – comes Paddy, a tribute to Streek’s late uncle that captures a humanism at the heart of everything he does, glimpses of light amidst the darkness that show Streek is only raging to get to a better place.
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