Steve Albini names his favourite punk songs
No one has really embodied the concept of punk rock quite like Steve Albini. While the famous producer may have developed a reputation for getting results every time he steps into the studio, he’s more than willing to let his artists know when something is crap or superficially commercial. Even though Albini can sometimes lash out at other big names, his first love always went back to punk.
Throughout his time working in the underground Chicago music scene, Albini was looking to make the kind of abrasive music that had something to say outside of the typical rock and roll format. Compared to the massive acts coming out around the late 1970s, he was more interested in tearing down the establishment when he heard the Ramones for the first time.
The New York foursome may not have known that they had an entire genre at their feet, but songs like ‘I Don’t Wanna Go Down to the Basement’ were the kind of tunes that resonated with anyone looking to put a stake through the heart of every pompous hard rock band in existence. Though the Ramones would continue on as one of the greatest punk acts of all time, the next phase would happen half a world away once The Clash and the Sex Pistols got ahold of the genre.
Despite many people seeing the genre as a fashion, Albini had an affinity for the darker side of the genre as well. In addition to the straight-ahead punk acts out at the time, Albini’s love for heavy music drew him to both sides of the spectrum, loving the sounds of The Modern Lovers as well as the industrial-style punk of Suicide, whose song ‘Rocket USA’ teeters the line between rock and roll and absolutely chaos throughout its runtime.
When creating his own works, Albini was attracted to artists who saw something more serious about the genre than just mindless noise. After moving to Chicago from Montana, Albini loved the sounds of local act Naked Raygun, whose tracks like ‘Leeches’ toed the line between melodic and caustic rock and roll. Albini would even force his way into their world when guitarist Santiago Durango joined his hardcore outfit, Big Black.
By the time he earned his chops as a producer, Albini would find himself behind the board for some of his favourite acts, working on albums for bands like Killdozer and The Didjits. Even though Albini’s style would suddenly become en-vogue when working on projects for outfits like Nirvana and PJ Harvey, he never lost sight of that punk mindset.
When looking at his track record working on projects like In Utero, Albini still held on to the belief of making the best record possible through the energy created amongst the band members rather than millions of overdubs. Any producer may be looking to get the best out of their artists, but as far as Albini was concerned, he was always looking to make the kind of music that would have made his punk rock heroes proud.
Steve Albini’s favourite punk songs:
- ‘I Don’t Wanna Go Down to the Basement’ – Ramones
- ‘Rocket USA’ – Suicide
- ‘Leeches’ – Naked Raygun
- ‘She is Beyond Good and Evil’ – The Pop Group
- ‘Hamburger Martyr’ – Killdozer
- ‘Stingray’ – Didjits
- ‘Hospital’ – Modern Lovers
- ‘Romeo’ – Wipers
