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Punk

Kalamazoo to Seattle

The Spits

The Spits formed in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and later moved to Seattle. The band is built around the brothers Sean Wood (guitar, vocals) and Erin Wood (bass, vocals), with Lance Phelps on drums for many years and a revolving cast of keyboard players. The sound is fast, cheap and catchy synth-punk with a sense of humour. Every album they have released is just called The Spits, and the fans do the numbering, not the band. The records have come out on Dirtnap, Slovenly, Thriftstore and In the Red, among others. On stage they wear costumes, anything from graduation robes to nun outfits and Ronald Reagan masks. Their music turns up all the time in skate videos, which led to their own skateboard deck in 2024.

Ann Arbor, 1967

Iggy and the Stooges

The Stooges formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967, with Iggy Pop singing, brothers Ron and Scott Asheton on guitar and drums, and Dave Alexander on bass. Their first two albums, on Elektra in 1969 and 1970, were primitive, loud and confrontational, and hardly anyone bought them. After a split the band regrouped with James Williamson on guitar. The third album, credited to Iggy and the Stooges and mixed by David Bowie, came out on Columbia in 1973, and they broke up again in 1974. Those records went on to become founding texts of punk. The band reunited in 2003, went into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010, and ended in 2016 after both Ashetons had died.

Bolton, New Hormones, 1976

Buzzcocks

Buzzcocks formed in Bolton in February 1976 around Pete Shelley and Howard Devoto. After seeing the Sex Pistols, the pair brought them to play Manchester's Lesser Free Trade Hall that June. The debut EP, produced by Martin Hannett, came out on their own New Hormones label, which made them one of the first punk groups to run an independent label. Devoto left in March 1977 to form Magazine. Shelley took over as main singer and songwriter, and the band signed to United Artists, releasing Another Music in a Different Kitchen in 1978 and the singles compilation Singles Going Steady in 1979. They split in 1981 and got back together in 1989. After Shelley died in Tallinn in 2018, guitarist Steve Diggle took over lead vocals.

Greg Sage, Portland, 1977

Wipers

Wipers formed in Portland, Oregon, in 1977, led by singer and guitarist Greg Sage, with Sam Henry on drums and Dave Koupal on bass. Sage wanted to make records rather than tour, and he recorded a lot of the band's music himself: dark, driving guitar rock that shaped the Pacific Northwest scene to come. The first three albums, out between 1980 and 1983 on Park Avenue and Trap, are the best known. Sage announced a breakup in 1989, moved to Phoenix and built a studio there, then brought the band back from 1993 to 1999 on his own Zeno Records. Kurt Cobain often named them as an influence, which got them a wider audience in the 1990s, and Zeno put out a box set in 2001.

The Collection