10 Forgotten 1970s Punk Albums You Need To Hear

10. Teenage Jesus & The Jerks – Pink (1979)

This was the archetypal album of the ‘no wave’ movement and is all about the destruction of music. There is little in the way of logical song structure, and no concession whatsoever attempting to provide an enjoyable experience for the listener, at least not in the typical sense; you certainly can’t hum along or dance to it.

As far as artistic merit is concerned, it is the sonic equivalent of realising that an ancient Greek statue would present a different aesthetic if bludgeoned with a hammer, or a classical oil painting might be seen in a new way with a knife slashed through its centre. Whether or not such an approach is a form of creation in its own right as opposed to merely being the destruction of what has already come to pass, is an artistic and even philosophical question in itself. But on the popular understanding that one of punk’s great creative strengths was its destruction of existing rules and parameters in order to stimulate fertile rebirth, which it inarguably did, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks made that point as well as anyone.

As a result, it does not come recommended in the typical sense, but it is certainly among the most challenging and testing music ever committed to vinyl by that point in time. Listen at your peril.