10 Most Obscure Punk Bands Of All Time
1. Shotwell
Resolutely proving that the punk spirit was alive and kicking, decades after its birth, San Francisco's Shotwell (initially Shotwell Coho) formed in the city's Mission District in 1994, and have fine released albums on various labels, although never with any concern for radio-airplay or deliberate intention of commercial success.
In an admirably spirited move away from the expected, Shotwell have always eschewed conventional performance spaces such as night-clubs and bars, preferring underground house parties, abandoned warehouses, construction sites, record stores and impromptu street-shows, the latter frequently linked to political or social demonstrations, with the band plugging into mobile generators or co-opting any available power-source.
Driving force and founding member Jimmy Jazz Aaron Cometbus, sometimes shortened to just “Jimmy,” has been the only constant member in a rotating line-up, but the band's ethos has kept them consistent. Smart, raw and aggressive, Shotwell's longevity must surely be down to their developed, if uncompromising, melodic edge, as evidenced on their excellent 1997 album, Celery, Beef And Iron.
A spirited, outsider outfit with socially conscious lyrics and an uncompromising attitude, Shotwell provide the perfect template for a punk band.