It’s time to present number 11 on my list of the Top 13 Punk Rock Songs.

It’s Crush by the Californian band Over It.

• Position: 11 (of 13)
• Song Title: Crush*
• Band: Over It
• On Album: Timing Is Everything*
• Year: 2002
• Lyrics: Over It – Crush

The intro riff instantly grabs my attention. It’s so fast and powerful and builds up over time. When the drums kick in and the vocals start, I can’t help but think of how it would feel to play this song on stage. No wonder I had to learn how to play the riff myself. 😉

By the way, another riff I simply had to learn is the intro of Pulley‘s Blindfold*: Pulley – Blindfold.

But back to Crush: The fast verse leads up to the slower chorus. The melody of the vocals is really catchy and the chorus ends with a fast bridge and my favourite part – “and take up our arms like sitcom soldiers” – and leads back to the intro riff again. Just to prepare for the melodic guitar solo.

Although I don’t like the band’s newer material (more Rock, less Punk) as much, the 2002 album Timing is Everything* contains some more really good punk rock songs like Limiter* or Cross-Tolerance*. I would definitely recommend to check out the whole album.

What do you think about Crush? It kicks ass, doesn’t it? 😉

After I started my list of the Top 13 Punk Rock Songs last week, it’s now time to present the next song on my list.

It’s a song by the Swedish band Satanic Surfers: Hero Of Our Time.

• Position: 12 (of 13)
• Song Title: Hero Of Our Time*
• Band: Satanic Surfers
• On Album: Hero Of Our Time*
• Year: 1996
• Lyrics: Satanic Surfers – Hero Of Our Time

I really like this song because it combines fast guitar riffs with nice clean parts. And the melodies (guitar and voice) are catchy as hell 😉

Little things like the “Goodbye” in the first verse, the bass line before the guitars start again, or the final drum beat at the end of the song make it fun to sing, speak, tap and hum along.

And don’t forget the catchy chorus: “He flies by outside my window – da-daaa-da-da-daaaa” 😀 I simply can’t help but sing along!

This song is a good example of a fast punk rock song with a positive mood – despite the band’s name.

So, what do you think of this song? Isn’t it catchy? 🙂

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! 😀