We recently caught up with The Murderburgers vocalist Fraser Murderburger to get his take on the songs that got him in to punk rock. Check out his list here.
1. The Offspring – “Self Esteem”
“Due to the fact that the song “California Cruising (Bumpin’ In My Trunk)” actually exists, it doesn’t seem very cool to admit that you were ever into The Offspring. However, this is the song that got me into punk rock. I must have been about 8 years old when I saw this video being played a shitload on MTV, I liked it but I didn’t really care much about anything other than football when I was that age. I saw the album “Smash” for cheap in some shit shop when I was 12 and somehow remembered about Self Esteem so I decided to get it. I didn’t care much about football after that. I sucked at it anyway.”
2. Guttermouth – “Bruce Lee vs. The Kiss Army”
“I found out about Nitro Records not long after getting into The Offspring so picked up one of the label’s compilations, for me the band that stood out was Guttermouth. They were so fast and completely ridiculous. I got “The Album Formerly Known As Full Length LP” when I was 13 and played it to death. I have particularly fond memories of this song because my friend Brian was and still is massively into Kiss and he took this song pretty personally at the time. I’ll need to find out if he’s still pissed off.”
3. NOFX – “Pump Up The Valuum”
“I suppose I could have picked any song off the Punk-O-Rama 5 compilation but it makes sense to pick the opening track. The reason I got that compilation is because I read a review of the NOFX album “Pump Up The Valuum” in Rock Sound magazine back when it came out in 2000 and it pretty much said it sucked, I thought the front cover was excellent and the song titles were pretty funny though and wanted to buy it. I went up to Avalanche Records in Glasgow but they didn’t have it in stock so I got Punk-O-Rama 5 instead. I’m glad they didn’t have it at the time because Punk-O-Rama 5 was and still is one of the best punk compilations out there, I found out about a lot of other bands thanks to that CD.”
4. Ramones – “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker”
“My brother borrowed/stole some old punk compilation from my dad when we were both pretty young, I must have been like 14 or something. I wasn’t that into most of it but it got me hooked on the Ramones. I found it almost confusing that a song could be so simple yet so effective. I’d also been trying to learn to play the guitar for a few months and was getting absolutely nowhere with it so it’s thanks to songs like this that I bothered to give it another shot, I could pretty much get the hang of it. I got into a lot of other bands through loving the Ramones, none of which would have existed if the Ramones hadn’t been around. But hey, most people know about how great they are already. People that don’t think they are great aren’t real humans.”
5. Screeching Weasel – “Hey Suburbia”
“When I was a cheapskate teenager I used to buy most of my CD’s from the second hand section in Avalanche Records, Glasgow. I found Screeching Weasel “Kill The Musicians” in there for £5, the weird artwork and the fact that it had 4 Ramones covers on it pretty much swayed me to buy it. Through falling in love with Screeching Weasel I discovered bands like The Queers and Mr T Experience, and that was me converted into a pop-punk moron. I started to feel good about the idea of being able to play in a band without actually being able to play or sing that well, I’m still not particularly good at either these days. Being able to play the lead guitar part from Hey Suburbia back then was all I needed. I still feel the same about playing guitar now. Fuck trying to learn anything I don’t want or need to play. Thankfully I feel it’s too late for me to get much better, I’d hate to have ended up one of these dicks you see in a guitar store playing the Eagles “Hotel California” on some expensive guitar that they’ll probably never own.”
6. The Putrid Flowers – “So Alive”
“Back in the days of Myspace we used to get a lot of annoying messages to the band account from other bands asking us to check out their crap music, as did everyone else i’m sure. One day I got a far from annoying one from a band from NYC called The Putrid Flowers. I had never heard of them before, I really don’t regret checking them out at all. They quickly became one of my favourite bands and they still are today. “…And For The Little Children Sing” and “Young For The Last Time” are two of my favourite albums ever, and with me being a cheap bastard it’s pretty handy being able to get all of their stuff for free on their website. They deserve a lot more recognition than they get. I’m hellbent on seeing them play next time i’m on the US east coast. I plan on forcing them to play. They don’t really have a choice. All of their songs are great, but “So Alive” is the only one with a video so here it is.”
7. Zero Down -m”Going Nowhere”
“I got Zero Down “With A Lifetime To Pay ” when it came out in 2001. I had no idea who they were but my brother convinced me to buy it. Being the hilarious guy that he is, after I’d paid for it he then convinced me that it was actually a techno album that Fat Wreck had put out as a favour since they were friends with the guys. I was pretty relieved when I got back home, put it on and found out that it was a massive lie. It’s a great album, Going Nowhere is still my favourite song on it. Now that i’m technically a grown-up (that still looks like a child) i’m broke all the time and get really fed up of working shitty jobs, if it wasn’t for playing in a band and being able to tour i’d be severely unhappy. From the age of 14 I really loved this song, so it’s probably partly to blame for most of the job hating songs I shit out. My bank balance and job history are mainly to blame though. Jim Cherry was a great songwriter, it’s a real shame that he’s no longer with us.”
8. Against Me! – “Pints Of Guinness Make You Strong”
“Reinventing Axl Rose” was the first Against Me! album I ever heard and it’s still my favourite. The vocals on it are horrible in the best possible way. It’s sucks that they’re pretty much to blame for shitloads of bands doing that really annoying thing where they all stand away from the microphone and sing their overly anthemic choruses to an empty room. I hate that shit. Anyway, they couldn’t have picked a better song to open the album with. When I was a shitfaced 18 year old if I wasn’t screaming the words of The Village People “Macho Man” or Scatman John “Scatman’s World” then i’d be screaming the words of this song.”
9. Zeke – “Mountain Man”
“The first couple of times I heard Zeke I really wasn’t into them, I don’t know why. Then I heard Death Alley when it came out and I was hooked. Zeke are the only band that I listen to that play massive guitar solos but don’t irritate me, I’ve never felt the need to make some smart-arse “they may as well just have a wank instead” style comment when i’m listening to them. The first tattoo I ever got was a Zeke one that was done with a pen and a safety pin, it was awful and really badly done so thankfully it faded away. This song reminds me of going to see them play in Glasgow when I was 18 and meeting Donny Paycheck when he was taking a piss. I told him it was an honour to see him pissing. He wasn’t that impressed. I had a great time though.”
10. Dear Landlord – “High Fives”
““Dream Homes” is one of the more recent albums that I’ve totally obsessed over. I got it right when it came out and I still listen to it most days. This song was the first Dear Landlord song I ever heard and probably my favourite. I got “High Fives For Low Lives” tattooed on my arm a while back. Great guys as well. We never used to expect any bands to keep in touch with us or want to help us out so we really didn’t think we’d end up going on tour with them for a month in the states. That sort of thing probably isn’t meant to happen to weirdos from Scotland. They will probably regret it. We are highly annoying little people after all.”
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