10 Songs That Made Me Fall In Love With Punk – Old “Dirty” Major (Samuel Caldwell’s Revenge)

We recently caught up with Old “Dirty” Major, Samuel Caldwell’s Revenge bassist and co-founder, to get his take on the songs that got him in to punk rock.  Check out his list here.

1. Screeching Weasel – I Wanna Be a Homosexual

This was the first punk rock song that I ever remember hearing. Around that time I was listening to Nirvana, Weaser, Pearl Jam… mainstream bands like these. (I should mention that I still enjoy these bands) The double time blew my mind, the gritty vocals, the deliberately offensive lyrics, and overall unpolished sound. I knew right then that our band had to get faster.

2. Descendents – Bikeage

This song was the 2nd song on the mixtape that changed my musical perspective. (I Wanna Be a Homosexual being the first) The bass line is poppy, yet it doesn’t make the song too bouncy, and the lyrics moved me quite a bit at that point in my life. And once again, the gritty vocals. I still love this song.

3. Operation Ivy – Bad Town

This shit just didn’t really sound like anything that I had heard before. Up ‘til then I had always associated saxaphone with cheesy 80’s easy listening love songs, so this song really caught my attention. And there’s just something about the raw sound on this recording that almost makes you feel like you’re at a show when you listen to it.

4. Propagandhi – Stick the Fucking Flag Up Your Goddamn Ass, You Sonofabitch

This was the beginning of political punk rock for me. It changed my perspective towards what music could be about and the type of influence it could have. The beginning of my journey out of the cave.

5. Crass – Punk Is Dead

So after popping my political punk rock cherry, it didn’t take me long to find Crass.. Problem was, I was just getting into punk rock for the first time and here are these guys, with a sound I’d never heard before, telling me it’s dead already. This was bad news, and quite confusing. I decided to seek out a second opinion from a guy called FAT Mike…

6. NOFX- Liza and Louise

Turns out there was a punk rock revival blooming right about that time. We may never know if the bailouts saved our economy from collapsing, and we may never know if FAT Wreck-Chords saved DIY music from being swallowed up by corporate labels, but I like to believe it made a difference. It’s over 20 years later now, and it only seems to have grown. We fought the good fight, and we may just be winning. This was the song that introduced me to NOFX.

7. Rancid – Radio Radio Radio

A lot of people criticize Rancid for various reasons. Fuck those people. First time I heard them it was the coolest shit I’ve ever heard, and when I listen to them today, it’s still the coolest shit I’ve ever heard. I’ve related to many Rancid songs on a very personal level for a number of years now. This one was the first.

8. Lagwagon – Brown Eyed Girl

Our first band ever did a “Brown Eyed Girl” cover, back before I had discovered we were really a punk band who had never heard punk rock. A short time after our conversion, as i was being inundated with a decade and a half’s worth of music I had never had the pleasure of enjoying, I was shown this little gem. We sped up our version, and gave ourselves a good pat on the back for knowing what was cool before someone told us.

9. Diesel Boy – Titty Twister

Not the most influential song in my life as a punk rocker, but it does have a place on this list. This song first appeared (to me anyway) on FAT Wreck Chords Vol.II, Survival of the Fattest. Definitely a sweet song, but the problem was, it was released pre-album. So my friends and I searched high and low for a copy of an album by “Diesel Boy”, which didn’t even exist yet. Searching for rare vinyls, bootlegs, mixtapes, shirts from shows, blood from shows on shirts from other shows…. I really really loved that aspect of punk rock. I wouldn’t trade the internet to have it back, but here we are, and though it still exists, it’s a little different now.

10. Good Riddance – Mother Superior

If you listen to where my band is at today, (I’ll post a link below so as to not interrupt my format…) you can see that we still carry a huge Good Riddance influence. Punk rock is a very broad title, and a lot of different sounds legitimately fall under that heading. But in my personal opinion there is an exact way that it should sound. Gritty vocals, double time, crunchy as fuck guitar, compelling subject matter which includes social commentary, and fucking SHORT! They epitomized the sound to me, and this song is where I figured that out.