The Portlandia co-star, former Sleater-Kinney and now Wild Flag guitarist/vocalist on her favorite punk albums of all time: “I don’t exactly know how to define punk because there are so many iterations of it, not to mention renunciations. Also: ambivalence. Perhaps something is punk merely because that’s how it makes us feel when we hear it: untethered, inspired, brave. In the end, my methodology was to just pick the singles and albums I’ve listened to the most—and that have meant the most to me—over the years.”
In no particular order:
• Wire, 154
• Au Pairs, “You” 7-inch
• Delta 5, “Mind Your Own Business” 7-inch
• Undertones, “You’ve Got My Number (Why Don’t You Use It?)” 7-inch
• Wipers, Is This Real?
• Talking Heads, Remain in Light
• Bad Brains, “Pay to Cum” 7-inch
• Fugazi, 13 Songs
• Mo-Dettes, “White Mice” 7-inch
• The Slits, Cut
• The Jam, All Mod Cons
• The Stooges, Fun House
• X-Ray Spex, Germ Free Adolescents
• The Clash, Sandinista!
• Rites of Spring, Self Titled
• Buzzcocks, A Different Kind of Tension
• Minutemen, Double Nickles on the Dime
• Hüsker Dü, Zen Arcade
• The Replacements, Let It Be
• B-52’s, Wild Planet
• Television, Marquee Moon
• Gang of Four, Entertainment!
• Pylon, Gyrate