Historically speaking, music journalists haven't been known for pointing out the musicianship in punk rock. For some reason there's always been this stigma that the sound didn't really require all that much talent to perform.
Sure, a lot of the appeal punk had in the beginning was that you didn't need to be a maestro at your instrument to play it. It was a reactionary move in stark contrast to the popular progressive (Genesis, ELP, Yes) and arena rock (Crosby, Stills, and Nash, The Eagles) bands of the time.
As punk started developing, the guidelines for what the genre actually meant began to widen. Players started coming into the scene who had been playing in everything from jazz to rockabilly bands and that's when things got really exciting. Besides, why shouldn't punk rock have incredible musicians too?
IGN has put together a list of 10 great punk drummers who should get highlighted for their stellar work and influence on genre (and music in general).
Some of the guys on the list are millionaires while some still have to work day jobs to pay the rent so we've run the entire gamut. Let us know what you think…we can take it.
Bill StevensonThe Descendents/ALL/Black Flag/Only Crime/The LemonheadsThis punk rock veteran is one of the most creative players you'll find in the genre. Being clever and gifted in his own right, Stevenson knows how to truly serve a song while always keeping things interesting. His early work with
The Descendents has influenced legions of punk drummers and his more recent performances with
ALL and Only Crime prove that he's always injecting his style with new flavor and techniques. These days he's been concentrating more time on producing acts like
Rise Against but here's to hoping Stevenson gets back on the drum throne sooner than later.
Travis BarkerBlink-182/+44/Boxcar Racer/The AquabatsAlthough he's become a reality show star and tabloid target in the last few years, that doesn't mean Travis Barker still isn't one of the greatest drummers the punk world has yet to birth. In the span of a 3-minute pop/punk song, he'll rock as hard as a death metal drummer in one section while flipping it over to a jazz styled backbeat the next. His fluidity knows no boundaries. It's no wonder he looks up to forward-thinking musicians like Stewart Copeland (
The Police) for inspiration. If you really want to hear Barker let loose, seek out Blink-182's The Mark, Tom and Travis Show. On the disc it's almost like someone told the guy he had one night left to play before he died; it's that relentless.
Earl HudsonBad BrainsHudson's wild playing style has been informed by reggae, go-go music, and even heavy metal but his early material is pure punk rage. On their seminal self-titled debut album he lets loose with little mercy but there's always a steadiness lurking behind it all. On songs like "Banned In D.C." and "Sailin' On," Hudson sometimes seems like the only guy in the band gluing the chaos together. The way he locks in with bassist Daryl Jenifer on the more mid-tempo sections also shows he was capable of way more than just balls-out velocity.
Tré CoolGreen Day/Foxboro Hot TubsPunk went multi-platinum crazy in the '90s and
Green Day were one of the biggest reasons for it. Everyone knows Billy Joe Armstrong is a wonderful singer/songwriter but rarely do you see anyone talk about GD's drummer, Tré Cool. Record after record Cool lays down track after flawless track of pop/punk gold. It's his attention to detail that makes him so important to the California band. He never gets in the way of the group's gigantic hooks but he sneaks in interesting little flourishes that always make the songs better. What more can a band want?
Josh FreeseThe Vandals + a lot of other bands and session workFreese is one the most sought after session drummers in rock today. Some of his credits include
Nine Inch Nails,
The Offspring, and
Guns N' Roses among countless others. But Freese got on the map in the first place through his work with punk jokesters The Vandals. On albums like
Hitler Bad, Vandals Good he proves that even lighthearted punk rock doesn't have to feature lightweight playing. His footwork is impeccable and his metronome-like is nothing short of dazzling. Freese truly earns the big money his drumming has brought him.
Tommy RamoneThe RamonesWhere else would most of the drummers on this list be without Tommy Ramone? The Queens, NY legend pretty much wrote the blueprint that 9 out of 10 punk drummers follow to this day whether they know it or not. Ramone took the raw and loose feel of his garage-rock origins and coupled it with the speed kicked guitars of bandmate Johnny Ramone and helped invent an entire style of music. If you don't own the first three Ramones albums, your punk collection just isn't complete yet.
Jordan BurnsStrung OutAny metalheads reading this who question whether punk drummers can throw down definitely need to check Jordan Burns out. His catalog of work with Strung Out will satisfy even the staunchest critics. His precision never wavers; even during the fastest and most frenzied moments. Where a lot of their peers slow down and simplify their material with age, Burns and Strung Out seem to do the complete opposite. On 2007's
Blackhawks Over Los Angeles the band stepped further into their marriage of punk and speed-metal influenced technicality coming out with the most exciting songs of their career. They couldn't have done it without a pro like Burns keeping it all together.
Dave WagenschutzLifetime/Kid Dynamite/Paint It Black/Good Riddance/Ink & DaggerOne of the hardest hitters on this list, Wagenschutz has cut his teeth with some of the most celebrated punk bands of the last 10-15 years. Everything about his style is no-nonsense. Some of his performances even border on primal. He might not be name-checked in interviews all that often but that doesn't mean his work on essential albums from Kid Dynamite and Good Riddance hasn't helped an army of Warped Tour drummers learn their trade. Maybe it's his difficult to pronounce last name or that fact that none of his bands have had a hit record, but this punk rocker deserves some respect.
Pete FinestoneBad ReligionThroughout the mid to late '90s the "Fat Wreck" sound was all the rage. The tag was named after the bands who recorded for the Fat Wreck Chords label, namely
Lagwagon,
No Use For A Name, and
Strung Out. Most of the drummers in these outfits grew up on a steady diet of Bad Religion. The L.A. band fought through the '80s while most of the bands they were surrounded with were playing pop kissed hard-rock, these old-schoolers stubbornly let their punk flag fly. Bad Religion's drummer throughout the entire period was Pete Finestone. Sure, the guy was never on the cover of
Modern Drummer or anything but his hypersonic playing style has been copied so many times he should be getting some kind of special royalty for it.
Nicky "Topper" HeadonThe ClashThe Clash really understood the rebel spirit of punk. In true middle finger fashion, the UK troublemakers never stuck with any one sound for very long. In their short but brilliant career they would go on to help introduce brigades of disenchanted listeners to reggae, Latin-jazz, hip-hop, and whatever else songwriters Mick Jones and
Joe Strummer felt like injecting into their songs. There weren't many drummers who would be up to the task of following whatever style those two songwriters threw at them. But Nicky "Topper" Headon seemed to revel in the challenge. His pedigreed influences certainly helped his confidence. When you grow up and you're favorite drummer is Billy Cobham (
Miles Davis, Mahavishnu Orchestra), you're definitely on the right track. Unfortunately Headon would be kicked out of the band for his drug use in 1982 but not before he would leave a legacy of thrilling drum performances behind.
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