DS Playlist: ‘Bootlicker’ Isn’t a Subgenre of Punk

From time to time, our intrepid contributors are going to post curated playlists for special occasions/Holidays. For our first ‘Post Resurrection’ installment of this feature, we enlisted our resident Molotov Cocktail Waiter, Anarchopunk to create the perfect tracklist to blast at your 4th of July Cookout! Trust us, your friends and family are gonna dig this one, comrades! It’s 55 minutes of pure Anti-American bliss (and when we say ‘American’ we mean the USA, specifically. It’s shorthand. We know, we know. There’s continents, hell whole hemispheres that encapsulate North/South America and the term ‘America’ generalizes all of the many nations and cultures therein….meh….whatever…it makes writing a lil easier. Give us some slack. Now, on with the story…) from lesser known bands from around the world. I mean, sure, anyone can make a playlist like this featuring songs by Propagandhi, Anti-Flag and Good Riddance but that’s low hanging fruit, homie! We hold ourselves to a ‘higer’ standard. Word of caution, if you’re only here for the music and don’t wanna read a buncha lefty, Marxist propaganda, scroll to the bottom for the playlist. We don’t wanna hear you whining in the comments. If you wanna create your own website and feature music that fits your beliefs, go right ahead! With that said let’s get started, shall we?

1. The Communard – “Death to America” – Let’s just go ahead and start off with a bang to weed out the bootlickers! No ambiguity here with these French pinko-punks! If you don’t like the message of this one, you’re certainly not going to like the rest of this playlist. So, ‘sayonara, suckers!’
2. Total Massacre – “The State of the Union (Is Weak,Sad) – Ole Cap’n No Fun and his anti-capitalist cronies always bring an appropriate level of anger for having to live in this hellscape of a country.
3. Allout Helter – “Maximum Helter” – For some reason, Anti-America tunes sound so much better when it’s set to melodic hardcore and no one does this combo better than these anti-fascists from Denver.
4. Be Like Max – “Time Flies When You’re Having Work” – Ska acts aren’t generally known for being too political but there’s always an exception and these Vegas ska-punks punctuate that fact.
5. Arms Aloft – “Untitled” – No one writes ’em better than the lads over at Arms Aloft! There really isn’t anything more fitting than some good ole fashioned Blue Collar Punk to anti-celebrate The 4th! Probably no coincidence that they’re signed to Red Scare, huh?!
6. The Shell Corporation – “Even Bob Villa Couldn’t Fix This Old House” – You haven’t heard lyrics this academic and vitriolic toward the States since Bad Religion! This Los Angeles based political punk act has it all! That’s why we wanna hear some more new music from ’em! C’mon, guys We need you now, more than ever!
7. Rent Strike! – “Burn It All” – Folk Punk! Yaaay! If you think there’s any subgenre that, as a general rule, is more anti-US than folk punk, you’re a fool. There I said it. Now, you have to live in a reality where some masked yahoo on the internet schooled you in a public forum. Sad…
8. Soul Glo – “We Wants Revenge” – Oh shit! This shit hits fucking haaaard, dunnit?!? Philly hardcore acts are notoriously brutal but these cats take it to another level! If these fantastic Philadelphians weren’t on your radar before, make sure they are now. No excuses going forward.
9. Upper Downer – “KKKPD” – One of the newer bands on our list but that doesn’t mean they’re any less worthy of making our list. These angry Angelinos also have a new album coming out later this year via Wiretap Records, so keep an ear out for that! (DS Exclusive???)
10. Poor Me – “Classwar” – More Melodic Hardcore? Yes Please! This one is probably one of the more powerfully performed tracks on our list but when you’re fed up with the state of your ‘shit hole’ country, is it any surprise that there’s a lil extra ‘salt on the ‘tater chips’?
11. The Muslims – “Fuck These Fucking Fascists” – Yea, yea, yeeeeaaaa. We know…we said “lesser known bands” and these young guns have recently singed to Epitaph, which makes them the antithesis of ‘lesser known’ but to be fair, we have been high on them since 2017. So we’re making an exception because this track bops!
12. Amerikan Made – “Amerikan Made” – This Anti-American SoCal act has been around since 2007 and has been pretty silent up until recently when they did a four week residency at the Doll Hut down in San Diego. Hopefully this recent reemergence means some new tunes are coming soon? Guys? Hello? *tap, tap* Is this thing on?
13. UCAN’TSAYNO – “The Corrupt Politician” – The Land of the Rising Sun checking in! Over the last few decades, Japan and more specifically, Tokyo has became a major hub for new punk music. So, it’s no surprise that a band from the ‘Child of Edo’ makes our list. It’s really just a matter of odds, innit?
14. The Orphans – “For an Old Kentucky Anarchist” – Look, we know what we said earlier regarding your opinions on folk punk, but we’d like to think that the tough love we dispensed prepared you for this moment. It really did hurt us more than it hurt you. Now, enjoy this Anti-American, Appalachian folk gem and tell us how right we were.
15. People Corrupting People – “Corporations” – Of course the US is fucked. We let Wal-Mart and CapitalOne vote. What did you think was gonna happen? But hey! At least the proletariat has to financially bail out all of these companies! Let’s hear it for Corporate Welfare!
16. Cop/Out – “Pinko Commie” – Always more room for Commie punks! (c’mon, it’s an anti-4th playlist, what did you expect?). “buT i LuV CaPitAliSm, AP!”…. I dunno?? Have you tried…ummm…not??
17. DUMB FUCKS – “a.c.a.b.” – A Los Angeles based band that isn’t fond of cops? You don’t say?!? For a buncha younger lads, they really do nail that old school hardcore sound though, right?? Can’t wait to hear more from this act.
18. Debt Neglector – “Cult Cult Cult” – I think the name of this one perfectly encapsulates the current state of things here in ‘The Ole US of A’. We “oldies” remember a time when cults were fringy, and tucked away in the shadows of society. Now, they’re catered to on TV on a nightly basis “at 7pm ET right after Wheel of Fortune.”
19. The Lungs – “Cross Cult” – Mira! Mira! Another song about cults when talking about current events in The United States….imagine that… All religions are cults. Sad about that? Complain in the comments.
20. Comrades Collective – “Paws Not Laws” – OK, so full disclosure…we’ll automatically include any band on any playlist if they are even slightly ‘cat/pet’ themed. Include a heavy dose of Anarchist views and there you have it folks…the recipe for getting featured on Dying Scene!
21. Noogy – “Back At It Again” – Hip-Hop/Punk hybrids are here to stay and we’re here for it, 100%. If you’re not a square, you know that punk and hip-hop have been intertwined, even if just loosely for decades. These Texans are just building onto that inseparable marriage.
22. The Drowns – “Lunatics” – How’s about a lil pop punk to round things out?? If you despise The US but love catchy, radio ready riffs, we proudly present to you, our finest platter of…The Drowns, my lady/sir/non-binary person!! This one’s gonna be stuck in your head the rest of the day. Corn-gratulations!

You know any lesser known punk bands with some radical (read in the voice of Raphael from the early 90’s Teenage mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon) lefty tunes?!? Tell us about ’em and maybe we’ll add them to the list!