The Top Ten DFW Punk Albums

By Darryl Smyers Tue., Aug. 7 2012 at 9:00 AM

See also: The top 10 North Texas blues albums

The Telefones, Vibration Change
Released in 1980, this album is more punk in spirit than execution. Songs like "Rocket Rocket" and "The Ballad of Jerry Godzilla" fuse punk rock's oomph with a new wave sensibility. The rest of the album is pretty soft on the ears, but Vibration Change certainly opened the door for many other bands, punk and otherwise.

The Nervebreakers, We Want Everything
Besides opening for the Sex Pistols at the Longhorn Ballroom, the Nervebreakers actually predate the Telefones. We Want Everything was recorded in 1980, but didn't see the light of day until 1994, long after the band was no more. In any case, songs like "My Girlfriend Is a Rock" and "I Don't Believe in Anything" are as potent today as they were three decades ago.

Stickmen with Rayguns, Some People Deserve to Suffer
Fronted by the legendary Bobby Soxx, Stickmen with Rayguns recorded sporadically throughout the '80s, and most of those "songs" ended up on Some People Deserve to Suffer. Believe me, many people did suffer at Stickmen shows, as Soxx was a demented (and tormented) showman, but as a document of pure punk attitude, this album is revelatory.

Hugh Beaumont Experience, Virgin Killers
From Cowtown, this foursome recorded half of Virgin Killers at a live show in 1982. The rest was produced by Hüsker Dü's Bob Mould and the entire album didn't get issued until the mid-'90s. Standouts: "Eric's on Thorazine," "I Don't Wanna Go to Bellevue" and "The Man Who Shot the Pope."

Hagfish , ...Rocks Your Lame Ass
Although it would be fairly easy to label Hagfish an alternative rock act, the band's roots were firmly in the California punk heritage of The Descendants.This was the band's sophomore effort and nearly everyone associated with the Deep Ellum scene of the '90s predicted great success. Sadly, such success never came, but ...Rocks Your Lame Ass remains one of the best-sounding records to ever come out of Dallas.

Tags:

Bomb Squad, Dog Company, Grey Skull, Hagfish, Hugh Beaumont Experience, Spector 45, Stickmen with Rayguns, Telefones, The Nervebreakers, The Von Ehrics

We Recommend

haskins1

Thanks for the great list of great LP's! Also, check out the recent Nervebreakers LP release from Pittsburgh's Get Hip Records on colored vinyl, black vinyl, and CD. It features studio recordings from 1975-79.

http://www.gethip.com/site/catalog/nervebreakers-hijack-the-radio/

darrylrs

1 Like

And one small foot note that I forgot the mention. The Hugh Beaumont Experience album was supposed to be titled No Soup 'Til Hammersmith, but for whatever reason, that idea was dumped.

terror.tx

Wish they had included the Aggitators, Ethyl Merman, Speedealer, or Spasm 151, but still a decent list

ChrisYu

1 Like

two words: Vomit Pigs

darrylrs

Loved the Vomit Pigs, but they only released a single, shot EP. Except for Spector 45, I tried to keep the list limited to full length releases.

texasdave601

as a primer for punk in Dallas, your list lacks the ESR compilation "Are We Too Late For The Trend?", a must have and very hard to find. Supermans Girlfriend, The Skuds, Complete Control, etc. Check it out...