Cow punk: Is it just punk with clean guitars?

Punk rock is usually all about distortion, right? Exhibit A: Johnny Ramone.

But what about punk with clean guitars? Do we like? And is that the same as cow punk?

Talking about stuff like The Gun Club, X, the Vandals and maybe even the Dead Milkmen.

You can probably guess what I’ve been listening to this week.

Song for attention.

clean guitars, not screaming into microphone, maybe some other sonic differences.  some of my favorites over the years:

Dash Rip Rock

Del Fuegos

Jason and The Scorchers

BoDeans

Del Lords

Georgia Satellites

Rev Horton Heat

I always considered the Rev to be Psychobilly.

David S. Wallens said:

But what about punk with clean guitars? Do we like? And is that the same as cow punk?

Yes. It's still punk. We like. It often gets labeled as [something]-punk, but not always cow punk.

David S. Wallens said:

But what about punk with clean guitars?

Appleseed said:

I always considered the Rev to be Psychobilly.

cowpunk, punkabilly, psychobilly, i lump them all together.

Where would "the meat puppets" land? 

Cowpunk?

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

Appleseed said:

I always considered the Rev to be Psychobilly.

cowpunk, punkabilly, psychobilly, i lump them all together.

Trying to categorize every possible hypervariation in music is mostly a way for the cool kids to find each other. If you don't know what cowpunk is, obviously you're not listening to it. But you might be, you just call it music :)

I keep Goober and the Peas and Southern Culture on the Skids in my spotify rotation. Sprinkle in some Cramps for good measure.

I remember when Jack White took over playing drums for Goober the day their drummer quit, right before the show at my friends bar. We were talking between sets and he says, "I'm just kind of making it up as I go, I know all the songs but not exactly as they've been played"

If you want some sweet skacore try Jaya the Cat. Start with Basement Style.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeUjN1vU0YQ

I always thought of the Gun Club as being goth, but maybe that's just because of Patricia Morrison :)

I love cow punk, psychobilly and regular punk music. 

I'm not qualified to speak of the finer musical differences, but I do know large segments of California punk were influenced heavily by country and Western music.

The X had a side project called the Knitters.

 

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

clean guitars, not screaming into microphone, maybe some other sonic differences.  some of my favorites over the years:

Dash Rip Rock

Del Fuegos

Jason and The Scorchers

BoDeans

Del Lords

Georgia Satellites

Rev Horton Heat

This is a fantastic list.

Do we also add Mojo Nixon?

In reply to Duke :

Might as well. Beat Farmers too.

Keith Tanner said:

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

Appleseed said:

I always considered the Rev to be Psychobilly.

cowpunk, punkabilly, psychobilly, i lump them all together.

Trying to categorize every possible hypervariation in music is mostly a way for the cool kids to find each other. If you don't know what cowpunk is, obviously you're not listening to it. But you might be, you just call it music :)

"Hot funk, cool punk, even if it's old junk It's still rock and roll to me"

Duke said:

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

clean guitars, not screaming into microphone, maybe some other sonic differences.  some of my favorites over the years:

Dash Rip Rock

Del Fuegos

Jason and The Scorchers

BoDeans

Del Lords

Georgia Satellites

Rev Horton Heat

This is a fantastic list.

Do we also add Mojo Nixon?

 

If you ain't got Mojo Nixon then your list will need some fixin'.

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Duke :

Might as well. Beat Farmers too.

Country Dick RIP. Saw them in a little club in STL circa 1987. Dick was a big dude and he was riding around the crowd on some guy's shoulders, while singing and juggling a beer bottle.

In reply to Appleseed :

I see what you did there punk rock girl.

Mojo Nixon once insulted me, my roommate and some friends from the stage. One life’s greatest moments. 

In reply to Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) :

Joe Doe also has his solo/trio work. Love his voice, love his style.

This is from a backyard show, and you might have to click the link to watch it.

In reply to David S. Wallens :

I agree, John Doe is a solid performer. I can easily imagine him time warped back to the actual Western frontier riding on a horse and singing with minimal cognitive dissonance around it.

In reply to Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) :

Totally. Check out his 2022 release “Fables in a Foreign Land.”

In reply to Duke :

I got to see the Beat Farmers in Lincoln, NE in college, decades ago.  I still have the kazoo they handed out at the show somewhere, and my BF Almanac..

Man, at a point we're just breaking things down way too much...