The Top 5 Punk Rock Guitarists

By Nicholas Pell Wed., Feb. 27 2013 at 4:00 AM

Categories: Punk

Somewhere along the line, punk rock's amateurish enthusiasm became conflated with a dearth of talent.

That's OK -- anything to keep the squares out -- but it's not entirely accurate.

Indeed, it was hard paring this list down to just five.

While you might complain that your favorite isn't on here, it's hard to dispute that these are five titans in the world of punk rock guitar.

The Heartbreakers

5. Johnny Thunders
New York Dolls, The Heartbreakers and Others

There's a gold standard for rock and roll guitar and its name is Johnny Thunders. Thunders took bloozy, Keith Richards-style guitar swagger and updated it for the punk sound. His fills and leads cut through a mix like a chainsaw, giving every wanna-be junkie rocker from New York to Los Angeles a raison d'être. The intro riff to "Jet Boy" off of the New York Dolls' self-titled album is the "Gimme Shelter" intro reinvented for the age of platform boots and glitter. The Heartbreakers debut L.A.M.F. shows him as a man capable of learning from those he influenced, progressing while never ditching the old formula of Chuck Berry played at deafening volumes.

Black Flag

4. Greg Ginn
Black Flag

Greg Ginn is the world heavyweight champion of self-taught guitar players. Literally within months of getting his first guitar he was bashing out post-Ramones white noise tinged with influences ranging from free jazz to his beloved Grateful Dead and Black Oak Arkansas. Early Black Flag efforts feature fills and riffs showcasing Ginn's budding talent and seriousness. As the band progresses, his love of microtonal dissonance moves to the fore. By the time Slip It In came out, Ginn rarely stopped playing to let anyone else get a word on.

Propagandhi

3. Chris Hannah
Propagandhi

Even on Propagandhi's early efforts like the Where Quality Is Job #1 EP, Propagandhi front man Chris Hannah is clearly more than just another pop punk guitarist. By the time Supporting Caste came out, Hannah revealed himself as perhaps the greatest Canadian guitarist this side of Voivod's Piggy. It's difficult to decide which is harder for Hannah -- the physical act of playing such intricate riffs or the mental act of remembering them. Propagandhi are a very different band from the one they were 15 years ago, a fact that not many punk rock bands can boast.

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StillConfused

I've read this ten times and it is more confusing with each read. I feel like adding Propaghandi and Television just opens it up too much. You can't say Prop is better / more important than The Cro-Mags, Bad Brains and / or Agnostic Front. And the addition of Television opens this up to every indie, post indie, pre-indie and miscellaneous band since that era. I mean, I love the Talking Heads, but I wouldn't put them on a list like this because they were aesthetically different, time and place aside. I think you hit the pavement on this one. In fact, I am shocked but glad you didn't include Pavement in this article.

YouForgotTheClash

How the hell did you forget Mick Jones? That's insanity. Are The Clash too mainstream for the Silver Lake crowd? Is that it?

Debaser7

1 Like

East Bay Ray.

idealnclothes

no billy zoom?

JimTesta

1 Like

Television was only really "punk" because of chronology and geography. Verlaine and Lloyd were two of the greatest rock guitarists ever, but if you want to stick the punk label on it, you really need to be talking about Johnny Ramone and Joe Strummer and maybe Robert Quine.

YouForgotTheClash

@JimTesta I think Strummer would have agreed that Mick Jones was the musician of the two. He and Topper Headon were the real musicians of the group. Strummer was a brilliant writer and Simonon carried the style as well as the groove. But this should have had Mick Jones somewhere.

cat_dev_null

1 Like

No Rikk Agnew or Paul Cutler.. tsk tsk.

alanbenard

1 Like

D. Boon is not on your list. That's a fairly ignorant mistake.

NicholasPell

@alanbenard I've never been a huge Minutemen fan, but I get that I'm the idiot for not "getting" it. D. Boon is a sick guitar player, though. As much as I love the Ramones, I just don't see Johnny as being what I was going for on this list. It would be like putting Jerry Only on a list of "Best Punk Bassists."

StillConfused

@NicholasPell I'm still trying to "get" what you were going for. Propaghandi is still pretty new compared to the fine musicians that founded the crossover sound. And Television makes no sense at all. It's like you threw in Johnny Thunders and Greg Ginn as a conceit that punk rock existed, then decided to make a list about hardcore and proto indie guitarists.