We recently caught up with We Are the Union vocalist / guitarist Reed Michael Wolcott to get his take on the songs that got him in to punk rock.  Check out his list here.

1. Rancid -  “I Wanna Riot”

“Back when my idea of punk rock was Good Charlotte and Blink 182, I picked up a comp called Punk O Rama (several years after it came out, oddly enough). I had no clue who any of the bands on it were at the time, but they changed my entire perspective on music. Buying that comp was the first step in my journey to falling in love with punk. This song was on that compilation, and always sticks out in my mind as my “first punk song.””

2. Rage Against The Machine – “No Shelter”

“I know, I know. Rage Against The Machine isn’t technically a punk band. They embody the spirit of punk rock, in my opinion. Their progressive message and the ferocious wall of sound they delivered it with resonated with me as a teenager, and still does to this day.”

3. NOFX – “The Idiots Are Taking Over”

“This is another song I heard on a comp for the first time. I believe it was on Punk-O-Rama 8, actually. I immediately bought The War On Errorism after just a couple listens though this track. NOFX is a band that inspired me to get involved with politics, attend protests and be an activist.”

4. Kid Dynamite – “Cheap Shot, Youth Anthem”

“Alongside Rehasher and Less Than Jake, Kid Dynamite was THE soundtrack of the early days of We Are The Union. We used to listen to Kid Dynamite on the way to almost every show. They are a huge part of the reason this band even exists, so this song absolutely had to make the list. Hell, I’ve even got Youth Anthem written on the back of my guitar because of this band. The impact they’ve had on my life is almost unmeasurable.”

5. Rehasher – “Lift”

“Since I just mentioned Rehasher, I figure this is a good place to include them on this list. Rehasher was the single biggest influence on our first record, Who We Are. We were listening to a lot of Less Than Jake as well as some Smoke Or Fire and Set Your Goals at that time, but really we were just trying to be Rehasher with horns.”

6. Dillinger Four – “Sell the House Sell the Car Sell the Kids Find Someone Else Forget It I’m Never Coming Back Forget It”

“Dillinger Four’s music is timeless. There aren’t many bands about whom that can be said, but it’s absolutely true for D4, in my opinion.”

7. Less Than Jake – “Johnny Quest Thinks We’re Sellouts”

“What can I say? Less Than Jake is my favorite band. This was one of the reasons I wanted to pick up the guitar, and it’s always held a special place in my heart for that.”

8. Rise Against – “Black Masks And Gasoline”

“This was another song that fueled my angry teenage years. Yet another song I heard first on a comp – Floyd’s Not Dead, in fact. A freebie I picked up at Warped Tour. Songs like this reminded me that I wasn’t alone in how I felt about American society.”

9. Rufio – “Still”

“This was sort of a bridge gapper for me. They were poppy and melodic enough for me to like before I was really into the more aggressive punk bands. We got to tour with Rufio in 2010, and it was awesome for me to see them play one of the songs that got me into punk rock every single night for a month.”

10. Goldfinger – “Superman”

“What mid-twenties punk fan doesn’t know this song from Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater? Superman was one of the first ska-punk songs I ever heard.”

11. Smoke Or Fire – “The Patty Hearst Syndrome”

“Smoke Or Fire is the coolest band. Joe McMahon has one of the best voices in punk rock, in my opinion. Smoke Or Fire was melodic and catchy, but very high energy. A great example of a band that just keeps getting better with each release.”