Philadelphia Has the Best Punk Scene in the Country Right Now

The Menzingers, photo by Rachel Del Sordo via XPN.

Philadelphia is an unrepentant shithole of a city where humanity goes to die, or at the very least, have its mother insulted.

I’m speaking in generalities, of course. In general, Philadelphia is America’s loud, obnoxious, red-pinstriped anus—a place where an entire population of high school dropouts unite in their worship of a fictional character from a boxing movie that came out 40 years ago. In general. Not every Philadelphian is a belligerent Swiss cheese-fucking dock worker in a XXXXXL Chase Utley shirt. But in general, yes.

Need proof? By all means, go to an Eagles game in a visiting team’s jersey and feel the famous “brotherly love” for which the city is known. Or do a YouTube search for “philadelphia + fight breaks out + [literally any word]” and be amazed at how many hours’ worth of results come up.

But somewhere among the GED mouthbreathers who can’t pronounce the word “egg” to save their fucking lives is a thoroughly amazing city populated by a ton of talented people. And at the moment, Philly’s greatest asset is that it is home to the most prolific, most honest punk scene in the country. Much like parked cars on Broad Street after a Phillies World Series loss (or win, it doesn’t really matter), the Philly scene is on fire right now, producing band after band putting out good music and building a close-knit community.

Here are a few bands that are based-—or at least partially based—in Philly who I personally think are killing it right now. Or in Philly speak, I think they’re rill rill good. Of course, you are so punx that you probably know about some band that is so obscure that they only play inside the Liberty Bell or some shit. So definitely feel free to leave those in the comments section with the rest of the internet’s worthless opinions.

(Just kidding, I love Philly. See you at Wawa.)

Ex Friends

Philly pop punk legends Plow United returned last year after a decade-plus hiatus and unlike most bands who come out of retirement, Plow did not completely embarrass themselves. And on top of that, Plow’s bassist Joel Tannenbaum even started a new band, Ex Friends.

Hop Along

Cayetana

Restorations

Radiator Hospital

Something Wild Shaun of the Dead

Heavy Bangs

Modern Baseball

The Ambulars

Little Big League

Rookie of the Year

Kite Party

Baseball Season

glocca morra

Just Married

The Menzingers

On the Impossible Past

The Holy Mess

Shout outs to the Philly suburban bands like Title Fight, Tiger’s Jaw, Slingshot Dakota, and Captain, We’re Sinking.

Dan Ozzi lives in New York, a city with zero problems and a population of incredibly polite, well-educated people. Follow him on Twitter – @danozzi