From Boston, Massachusetts, USA, the Dropkick Murphys, (their name taken from a local rehab centre) initially formed in 1996 with the sole intention of jamming punk cover versions. Original members, Mike McColgan (vocals), Ken Casey (bass), Rick Bart…

Coming out of the grass-roots Gilman St. punk scene of the early-1990s Bay Area, Green Day exploded into the mainstream with their third album, 1994's DOOKIE. The trio's punk energy and pop hooks, influenced by first-generation punks like the Buzzcoc…

The seeds of Rancid were in the influential early-'90s Californian punk-ska outfit Operation Ivy. Two members of Ivy persevered to form a band that more explicitly nodded to their roots in vintage punk. Heavily influenced by the Clash, Rancid took th…

Nirvana finally made it acceptable for U.S. top-40 fans to embrace punk rock, and bands like Green Day and the Offspring followed up the charts in their wake. While California's Offspring had been slugging it out since the late-'80s, it wasn't until …

NOFX formed in 1983, but these goofy California punk rockers didn't make their first full-length album until 1988, when Bad Religion's Brett Gurewitz offered to record the band. More musically adventurous than many of their peers, NOFX and their humo…

Goldfinger sprang from a new wave of ska-punk bands formed in California, USA, in the wake of Green Day and the Offspring's international breakthrough. Based in Los Angeles, Goldfinger blend elements of ska and punk (a la Rancid and Reel Big Fish) wi…

Still chugging away since their 1980s formation, the best of the socially conscious pop-punk bands continues to put out quality material. Best known for (sadly retired) Brett Gurewitz's music and the polysyllabic lyrics of singer Greg Graffin, Bad Re…

California skate-punk trio Blink 182 employed a snappy mix of punk-pop and humor that appealed to a whole new generation of rock fans too young to have fully appreciated Green Day's initial impact. These third- (or fourth-) generation punks became th…

System of a Down may be seen as part and parcel of the nu-metal explosion of the late-'90s, but their style is less akin to the likes of Limp Bizkit and Korn than to vintage thrash from the '80s, spiced with a touch of hardcore punk. The band's sound…

One of the burgeoning army of American punk/ska bands to gain success in the wake of Rancid and the Dropkick Murphys' breakthrough, Los Angeles' Less Than Jake are led by singer Chris Demakes. The band was founded in Gainesville, Florida in 1992 by D…

The Clash was one of the first and most important British punk bands. In the 1970s, they were the Beatles to the Sex Pistols' Stones, and went on to incorporate elements from all the roots music they loved--reggae, rockabilly, soul, blues--without ev…

The four neo-punk/pop upstarts from Toronto who make up Sum 41 formed the band while they were all still in high school, and the youthful exuberance of those days can still be strongly felt in their 2000 debut EP HALF HOUR OF POWER. The endearingly b…

Unbeknownst to most Nirvana fans, its drummer David Grohl was also a singer/guitarist/songwriter who wrote numerous songs during his tenure with the band. After Kurt Cobain's death in 1994, Grohl decided to head out on his own and formed the Foo Figh…

Making their debut at a local Pittsburgh radio station in 1993 Anti-Flag got together for the sake of responding to their disgust at religion nationalism and fascism Justin Sane vocalsguitar Andy Flag bassvocals and Pat Thetic drums bopped around the…

Hardcore revivalists-turned-goth-punks AFI ascended to a new level of stardom when they decided to slap on some eyeliner and embrace their inner Robert Smiths. After several independent releases, the Southern California-based outfit released their ma…

Chicagos Rise Against began in 1999 when ex-88 Fingers Louie bassist Joe Principe tapped area vocalist Tim McIlrath for a new project rooted in the sound and social vision of traditionalist hardcore Joined by fellow 88 Fingers vet Dan Precision on gu…

Amidst a field overcrowded with teen-pop and nu-metal, Detroit's White Stripes emerged at the tail end of the 1990s as a new hope for gutsy, no-frills rock & roll. Their doggedly minimalist sound--just one guitar and a drum kit--heralded a return to …

New Jersey hardcore band My Chemical Romance achieved a surprising degree of success with their Goth-tinged, woe-is-me take on punk. Labeled everything from emo and pop-punk to post-hardcore and screamo, My Chemical Romance are one of several bands f…

Combining the influences of new wave, post-punk, and lo-fi, Washington's Modest Mouse spent the second half of the 1990s becoming one of the most renowned indie-rock bands in America. Though often tagged an emo group, Modest Mouse transcends sub-genr…

Of the multitude of pop punk bands that emerged during the 90s, the majority seemed to come from the west coast of the USA, but there was a number of east coast counterparts during this era, such as the New Brunswick, New Jersey-based Bouncing Souls.…