100 Proof – 88 Fingers Louie (Best Punk Rock Songs 13/13)

I was browsing through my MP3 archive a while ago and put together a nice little playlist to cheer me up while doing the chores 😉 And while browsing the folders on my hard drive I wondered, whether I could name the top 10 Punk Rock songs I like the most. It turned out that this was a very hard task to do.

Over the years I’ve listened to quite a few Punk Rock bands from mostly unknown underground bands (like Propagandhi) to almost main stream stars (like Rise Against). And they all had really good songs – otherwise I wouldn’t have listened to them 😉 My music taste has also changed quite a bit over the years, from Pop Punk (like Blink 182) more towards Hardcore Punk (like A Wilhelm Scream) with even a bit of screaming.

But there are a few bands who have been in my ear for many years and still produce fresh Punk Rock content today (like Strung Out or Lagwagon). And I really like almost all of their songs. The old ones as well as the new ones.

However, there are a few songs that almost instantly cheer me up, regardless of my current mood. I can’t help but sing along, imitate the guitar and bass, and tap along with the drums. Especially when I’m in the car 😀 And I would like to introduce you to these songs (if you don’t already know them).

So, I put together a list of my Top 13 Punk Rock Songs of all time (because 10 simply weren’t enough). Most of them are older, the most recent one is from 2005. This doesn’t mean, that there haven’t been any good Punk Rock songs in the last years (quite the opposite is true!), but they simply didn’t stick that well with me. I even managed to choose 13 songs from 13 different bands, although the decisions for the “best” song for some of the bands were pretty difficult.

Long story short, let’s start with number 13 on my list of the Top 13 Punk Rock Songs: 100 Proof by 88 Fingers Louie:

• Position: 13 (of 13)
• Song Title: 100 Proof
• Band: 88 Fingers Louie
• Year: 1998
• Lyrics: 88 Fingers Louie – 100 Proof
• On Album: Back On The Streets*

As soon as I hear the first notes from the intro’s bass riff, I’m instantly caught by its clean sound. And the guitars that set in just a moment after that support the catchy melody. The whole song is driven by the bass line and even the solo part is played by the bass. What a fantastic song to start my list with 🙂

I couldn’t find an MP3 of 100 Proof at Amazon, but the CD Back On The Streets, that contains many other of my favourite songs by 88 Fingers Louie (e.g. Elmer’s and Punk Rock Rulebook), is still available for sale:

What do you think of this song? Can you sit still while the bass starts rolling? Well, I can’t! 😀