Yess, I've been trying to explore punk. Give me punk bands with lyrics I can understand, and who are vocally critical of conservatism and fascism please.

For myself -

A lot of RATM has floated to the top for me in the past few years. They are in heavy rotation now, and weren't really for about fifteen years prior to that. The songs you don't immediately think of when I say RATM have lyrics that are just as true and just as biting. If you like their sound but aren't familiar with most of their work, this is a good time.
Brother Ali - particularly songs like Uncle Sam Goddamn
Dropkick Murphys, particularly most of the Album "This Machine Still Kills Fascists"
Anti-Flag. I know they have proven to have done some shady things with regard to harassing some women at their shows, but I only just discovered them recently (and learned this about them afterwards.) Unfortunately I like their songs and lyrics. "Victory or Death" comes to mind immediately.
Public Enemy - By the time I get to arizona, Black steel in the hour of chaos, fight the power (obv), fight the power 2020, really I don't think they do a song that's not good for the current state of affairs. Over and over in recent years I have concluded that the hip hop community saw what was and what was coming long before (decades before) the rest of us. I wonder why. 🤔
Last couple Arrested Development albums. Good tracks off the top of my head "And This I know" "The Meek" "Amazing" "Fire" "Moses" Gotta listen to these, most aren't going to leap out with the expected energy if you don't pay attention to the lyrics all the way through. There are others. Their last three albums have a high percentage of gems IMO.
Really old one by B. Dolan called "Which side are you on?" (loosely based aoround Guthrie song) which is congruent with a lot of today's issues, though I think it was written primarily in support of this woman. Gonna link it here because I just listened to it again and damn does it slap.

A lot of what I listed above is unsurprisingly posted by me or others in !music@lemmy.world

[–] dessalines@lemmy.ml 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

All of these groups rule. Good taste in music

[–] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 days ago

Thank you!

[–] EchoCranium@lemmy.zip 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

UK Subs - Riot, Social Distortion - Don't Drag Me Down, Restraining Order - Fight Back, The Casualties - 1312, Pennywise - Fuck Authority, Against All Authority - We Won't Submit, Descendants - 'Merican (ugh, the formatting on mobile isn't wonderful)

[–] redhorsejacket@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

Eyyy, +1 for Pennywise. That's a band I've not thought about in some time.

[–] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 days ago

Thank you very much!

[–] redhorsejacket@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Further recommendations for your exploration: any band Ian MacKaye has played in. Even if you don't care for his work, he has had an outsized impact on the development of American punk / hardcore (even if he's resisted that attribution). Specific recommendations include:

Minor Threat - self titled (straight up hc punk)
Embrace - Building (early emo, when that just meant it was a hardcore song that touched on emotions other than anger)
Fugazi - Waiting Room, or the 13 Songs album as a whole (post-hardcore, or "hardcore, but we're not afraid to show off that we've learned some music theory")

Okay, with MacKaye given his due, other "classic punk" recommendations include:

Agent Orange - Bloodstains
Bad Brains - I Against I
Black Flag - Fix Me, TV Party, My War
Circle Jerks - Wild in the Streets, Live Fast Die Young, World up My Ass
Dead Kennedys - Nazi Punks Fuck Off, California Über Alles, Holiday in Cambodia
Germs - Lexicon Devil
The Clash - Straight to Hell, White Riot, Lost in the Supermarket, and many more.
Operation Ivy - Sound System
The Descendents - Suburban Home
Social Distortion - Story of My Life, Mommy's Little Monster
Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)?
Hüsker Dü - Don't Wanna Know If You Are Lonely, Pink Turns to Blue
The Replacements - Androgynous, Bastards of Young, Here Comes a Regular, Can't Hardly Wait, Answering Machine, Alex Chilton
Minutemen - History Lesson Part 2, Corona

Some slightly deeper cuts, more in the proto-emo space than political punk, but they share a lot of musical DNA and I think some of these tracks are underrated.

Rites of Spring - For Want Of
The Hated - Words Come Back
Dag Nasty - Circles
Gray Matter - Burn No Bridges
Soulside - Pearl to Stone
IGNITION - Previous
Fire Party - Cake
Samiam - Tired of Waiting
Fuel - Cue to You
Drive Like Jehu - Here Come the Rome Plows

That's probably enough for now. I hope you find some stuff you like here.

[–] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Thank you very much!

other “classic punk” recommendations include:

I'm really just about the ideal age to have been an OG Punk fan, but at the time my attention was elsewhere, so I'm excited to crib from this list. 🙂

[–] redhorsejacket@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Ah, I'm a bit younger (in fact I don't believe there's a song on that list that was released after I was born), but I'm a big history geek, and the evolution of genre is a particular fascination of mine, so I have intentionally sought out the music which influenced bands I liked in high school.

I'm sure I've missed out on some killer acts from the era, so hopefully someone who was both alive at the time AND paying attention to the scene will appear and give us both an education.

A tangentially related suggestion for you, if you share my fascination with the context around the art we make (though you are probably well aware if you're an old-head haha), there's an EXCELLENT documentary about the LA hc punk scene that was released during its zenith (arguably) in 1981. Several of the bands I mention in that list appear. It is called The Decline of Western Civilization, and the most convincing argument I can make to get people to watch it is that the LAPD chief wrote an op-ed demanding theaters not screen it.

[–] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 days ago

A tangentially related suggestion for you, if you share my fascination with the context around the art we make (though you are probably well aware if you’re an old-head haha), there’s an EXCELLENT documentary about the LA hc punk scene that was released during its zenith (arguably) in 1981.

Absolutely was NOT aware, but I will check it out!

he most convincing argument I can make to get people to watch it is that the LAPD chief wrote an op-ed demanding theaters not screen it.

Well shiiiiit bro, that was all you had to say!