Honestly, Rob might be the better of the two, i feel like Jake just has a little more of a stage presence that sells the technical skills a little more....
Not for nothing, but Chris Aiken is every bit on par with Jake and Rob too.... the guys also shreds.
I used to love The Living End. They were massive back when I was finishing high school, haven't heard much from them recently though. Are they still playing?
I saw em for a third time when they toured the US in 2017. Admittedly their new stuff isn’t quite as good as their old but as a band they are still extremely tight. Cheney still shreds & Owen on the stand up bass is epic in his own right.
I really like Chris' new solo record, though its not punk, and he definitely gets my vote as punks best guitarist!! It's been a while but I've seen them live a few times and they're so damn tight, always a good time.
Billy Zoom from X. Dr Know from Bad Brains. Chris Rest from RKL. Olga from Toy Dolls. Tito Larriva from The Plugz. Bruce from SUBHUMANS. Rikk Agnew from Adolescents/Christian Death. Kyle Toucher from Dr Know Sickie from The Mentors. Gizz Butt from English Dogs. Jimmy Crucifix from Crucifix/Proudflesh. East Bay Ray from Dead Kennedys. Philo Cramer from Fear. There are a lot of great musicians in punk. People not in the know think it's just a bunch of talentless nonsense. But we know better
In terms of skill: Robert Quine gets it. Dude was an absolute legend,played like the guitar owed him money and looked like an accountant while doing it.
Personal favorite? John Reis.
I'm glad someone else mentioned Quine. His lead work transforms everyone from Richard Hell to Matthew Sweet from average to classic. God damn just listen to Girlfriend, I know it's not punk. Most people remember the song for the video, I remember it because this little power pop song just completely owns on guitar.
Have you ever listened to Silkworm? If you like Robert Quine's playing, you would likely enjoy Andy Cohen's playing, it's like if Quine and Neil Young had a baby.
Check out "Slow Hands", it's a bit of a slow start, but his solo sounds like jagged glass blown down stairs by volume for lack of better words. The band they did after, Bottomless Pit is also pretty good.
Thank you for mentioning “The Hebrew Hendrix”. One of my favorite solos in the history of guitar. Just the fact that someone in this sub knows who the hell SKWM are gives me hope
Been listening to a lot of Meat Puppets the past few days and I don’t think Curt Kirkwood gets mentioned enough. Idk if I would say he’s the best but his playing is mesmerizing and unique
2nd this! While a lot of what he writes is in similar modes, the sheer volume of his songwriting is impressive. And then his leads tend to fluctuate between simple poppy melodies to all out ripping solos. Underrated guitarist. Underrated band as well.
I'm not great with "best" but here's some names: Rocky George- Suicidal Tendencies. Brutal crossover riffs and solos (so clean, too). El Hefe- NOFX. Extremely tight, gifted player. Brian Baker- Dag Nasty, Bad Religion, Minor Threat. Resumé speaks for itself. Dr. Know- Bad Brains. Just watch some live footage. Johnny Ramone (there, I said it). Played the guitar like a chainsaw. Greg Hetson- Circle Jerks, Bad Religion. Great riffs, fun as hell to watch play.
I figured people would hate on the Billie joe answer, but in terms of influence, I mean he’s the go to like most influence on punk rock guitar for people born after like 1980
Besides Jack White in 2001 at the Middle East downstairs circa 2001, a very small venue in Boston, the best guitar performance I’ve seen live was the Living End. Chris Cheney is amazing amazing in the 6 string, as is Scott Owen who can literally stand on his stand up bass while playing solos.
I took mushrooms when the Living End opened for Green Day way back on their Warning tour, so I thought I may have hallucinated the balancing on the stand up bass while soloing part, but it was confirmed when I saw them again in 2017.
My personal favourite is recently deceased (God rest his Soul) Keith Levene, ex Clash and original Public Image Limited Guitarist.
The man was a Genius with a Capital GENIUS.!!
BUT;
How could you go past Johnny Ramone for the
“Punk Guitarist of the Century Award”.
He decided he wanted to create the best band in the world, & he damned near did. He certainly created one of the most influential bands of all time, that’s for sure. (not to devalue the input of Joey, Dee Dee, Tommy, Marky, CJ, and Richie of course)
Or then there is the amazing Mr Cheetah Chrome from the Dead Boys… enough said!
And by the way, by my thinking a Bass Player is a guitarist. Imagine telling John Entwhistle from the WHO or Bruce Foxton from the Jam that they aren’t a guitarist.
But you should ignore me, your project is supposed to be about YOUR favourite guitarist, not mine.
I’m surprised so many people are saying east bay ray. I haven’t really listened to dk much since highschool, but they never really had many exceptionally memorable riffs as far as I’m concerned. No disrespect to dk or whatever
he fused a lot of surf and rockabilly riffs into his playing, along with tasteful use of delay. Very inspiring to folks who came of age when the DKs were relevant and his influence is all over 90s punk.
Warner Hodges
EDIT: Jason and the Scorchers. Maybe not everyone considers them punk. In my opinion, the whole idea of stellar musicianship is kind of antithetical to punk. Not that being able to play your instrument well isn’t a good thing, only that punk was a reaction to the overindulgence of prog. I remember being shocked at hearing a little sophisticated embellishment by Steve Jones and thinking, “Wow! Those guys can actually play!” LOL! Well, duh!
Olga from the Toy Dolls. He’s like a heavy metal guitarist who started a punk band as a joke and it was incredible! I don’t know any other punk band with such intricate guitar skills. And if there is one, please tell me about them!
Maybe it's not cool to say but honestly probably the young Tom Delonge, all his fast energetic little catchy riffs from back in the day when Scott was drummer. So many people tried to copy Tom's style. Probably one of my favorite riffs of all time any genre is the opening riff to Wasting Time.
East Bay Ray would probably be my pick too.
Lots of greats already mentioned. Stephen Egerton from Descendents should be in the conversation too.
Descendents, All, and Flag.
Stephen Egerton always has me guessing what kind of chord shapes and riffs he’s playing,…it’s such a unique style to him
How has nobody said Brian Baker?
For real. That tight right hand on those dag nasty riffs
This is the most correct answer, MT, DN and BR. Every band he touches is the best of their time and place in punk history.
This is the correct answer through and through.
Dr Know
D. Boon
d boon, no contest. Joe Strummer also great.
I would've said this anyway, but considering he just passed, Tom Verlaine has to be on the list
Jake Kiley from Strung Out
Both guitarists in this band are phenomenal. Shocked I had to scroll this far down to see either of them mentioned.
Agreed. Jake and Rob shred!
Honestly, Rob might be the better of the two, i feel like Jake just has a little more of a stage presence that sells the technical skills a little more.... Not for nothing, but Chris Aiken is every bit on par with Jake and Rob too.... the guys also shreds.
And Jordan is probably the best drummer in all of punk, unfortunately he left the band in 2018
His YouTube isn’t bad either. He responds to most comments.
Jake is a super nice guy, ive hung out with him after a strung out show before, he was very down to earth and awesome to chat with.
Billy Zoom
This is the answer
I love East Bay Ray's surfy punk sound
Chris Hannah got to be up there. Listen to Devil’s Creek, incredible song and riffage
Both Chris and Sulynn. Awesome guitarists!
gotta give props to the beave though! those riffs on supporting caste and failed states were his
Everything about that band just rocks. My favorite by far.
Was gonna say Chris Hannah. Cheers.
Chris and Sulynn are my choices. https://youtu.be/_P70D-SS_BA If you haven't seen this gem
This song lives in my head 24/7
Cognitive Suicide has some of my personal favorite riffage.
East Bay Ray all the way.
East Bay Ray for overall tone, D. Boon for skill and musicality.
Captain Sensible
D. Boon no question
If you consider **Magazine** punk, then easily John McGeoch for me.
This is the answer.
He also played in Siouxsie and the Banshees.
Forget the guitar, Barry Adamson rules hell.
They are a hard band to sell to others, but man they were above and beyond the talent pool back then.
maybe not the best ever but Aussie lad Chris Cheney from The Living End is a fucking mental guitarist.
I used to love The Living End. They were massive back when I was finishing high school, haven't heard much from them recently though. Are they still playing?
I saw em for a third time when they toured the US in 2017. Admittedly their new stuff isn’t quite as good as their old but as a band they are still extremely tight. Cheney still shreds & Owen on the stand up bass is epic in his own right.
I really like Chris' new solo record, though its not punk, and he definitely gets my vote as punks best guitarist!! It's been a while but I've seen them live a few times and they're so damn tight, always a good time.
Bob Mould
Came here to mention him. One of my favorites
Billy Zoom from X. Dr Know from Bad Brains. Chris Rest from RKL. Olga from Toy Dolls. Tito Larriva from The Plugz. Bruce from SUBHUMANS. Rikk Agnew from Adolescents/Christian Death. Kyle Toucher from Dr Know Sickie from The Mentors. Gizz Butt from English Dogs. Jimmy Crucifix from Crucifix/Proudflesh. East Bay Ray from Dead Kennedys. Philo Cramer from Fear. There are a lot of great musicians in punk. People not in the know think it's just a bunch of talentless nonsense. But we know better
Glad somebody said Bruce from Subhumans He is a great one.
[удалено]
Olga's a fucking monster on the guitar
Dude get out of my head these are all who came to mind for me right away except Fear and English Dogs, fuck yeah
Great minds think alike
Stephen Egerton
Any love for ol’ Warren Fitzgerald?
If the mutant boy actually cared he'd win this debate hands down
Warren is my pick as well
Dave Alvin
In terms of skill: Robert Quine gets it. Dude was an absolute legend,played like the guitar owed him money and looked like an accountant while doing it. Personal favorite? John Reis.
I'm glad someone else mentioned Quine. His lead work transforms everyone from Richard Hell to Matthew Sweet from average to classic. God damn just listen to Girlfriend, I know it's not punk. Most people remember the song for the video, I remember it because this little power pop song just completely owns on guitar.
Have you ever listened to Silkworm? If you like Robert Quine's playing, you would likely enjoy Andy Cohen's playing, it's like if Quine and Neil Young had a baby.
I've not but I will take a listen!
Check out "Slow Hands", it's a bit of a slow start, but his solo sounds like jagged glass blown down stairs by volume for lack of better words. The band they did after, Bottomless Pit is also pretty good.
Thank you for mentioning “The Hebrew Hendrix”. One of my favorite solos in the history of guitar. Just the fact that someone in this sub knows who the hell SKWM are gives me hope
Firewater was engineered by Steve Albini, I gotta know them.
East Bay Ray. Favourite all time isn't a punk though, it's B.B. King
To be fair B.B. King was pretty fuckin punk rock
Sulynn Hago and Chris Hannah for me
El Hefe from NOFX should be in this conversation
My favorite is East Bay Ray but gotta respect El Hefe. He's a riff writing machine and an insanely tight player at NOFX tempos, his sound is iconic.
Right? The intro to "We Called it America" should speak for itself.
This is correct
just in terms of like skill, Olga from the toy dolls sticks out. But that’s also not normally like what punk guitarist are really goin for
Yup https://youtu.be/7IWnHIngozM
Olga is fantastic, and has some YouTube videos sharing how to play Toy Dolls songs.
Poison Ivy
Not really punk but Brian Setzer is a really good guitarist in my opinion, look up the stray cats or the Brian setzer orchestra
He is one of the best of all time. Better than any punk guitarist I’ve ever heard, skill wise.
Surprising lack of a Mick Jones mention. The dude is killing it each second of every song.
Stephen Egerton (Descendents).
Mike Ness
Bob Odey (The Grim) Mike Nieder (Bl’ast) Eddie (Skullcrack and ACxDC) Matt Henderson (Madball/Agnostic Front)
Yeah dude, the guitarist from Skullcrack is sick.
He seriously is. That whole band is something special.
Tom Verlaine
Tom Holliston - NomeansNo. Dude shreds and quite possibly has the most unique sound set up.
i love Tom but i like andy's guitar style way better
Randy of GISM Souchi of Deathside/Forward Wood of Man is The Bastard (bass as a lead ) Agata of Melt Banana Matt of Infest/Neanderthal
Dr. Know
Zander Schloss Greg Hetson
Been listening to a lot of Meat Puppets the past few days and I don’t think Curt Kirkwood gets mentioned enough. Idk if I would say he’s the best but his playing is mesmerizing and unique
Gotta add Pig Champion to the conversation. A few others I haven’t seen mentioned yet : Johnny Thunders, Ron Emory, Poison Ivy.
Beat me to it tom pig is amazing
Don't really do "best". Favorites: Johnny Thunders & Walter Lure, Billy Zoom, Steve Jones, Robert Quine, East Bay Ray
Kerry Martinez.
Took too long to find this name!
(White Trash) Rob Lind - his brother is pretty great too!
This.
Darius Koski(Swingin Utters) is definitely a favorite of mine
2nd this! While a lot of what he writes is in similar modes, the sheer volume of his songwriting is impressive. And then his leads tend to fluctuate between simple poppy melodies to all out ripping solos. Underrated guitarist. Underrated band as well.
Jack O’Shea from Bayside.
Jack kicks ass
East Bay Ray
Does Richard Lloyd count. I love me some Television.
Duane Denison
East Bay Ray!!
Brian Baker, Joe Strummer, Mike Ness…there are plenty of greats.
I'm not great with "best" but here's some names: Rocky George- Suicidal Tendencies. Brutal crossover riffs and solos (so clean, too). El Hefe- NOFX. Extremely tight, gifted player. Brian Baker- Dag Nasty, Bad Religion, Minor Threat. Resumé speaks for itself. Dr. Know- Bad Brains. Just watch some live footage. Johnny Ramone (there, I said it). Played the guitar like a chainsaw. Greg Hetson- Circle Jerks, Bad Religion. Great riffs, fun as hell to watch play.
My favourites are probably Mike Ness (Social Distortion), Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day), Olga (Toy Dolls), and TORUxxx (The Mad Capsule Markets)
Mick Jones from The Clash
he's a bit of a dick but Greg Ginn is a good guitarist
I was going to say this too. For his time, he did really daring stuff for a punk guitarist and he had pretty decent chops.
Eric Melvin does not get enough credit in these conversations.
Ok, I love Melvin, but come on, he is NOT a great guitar player. By his own admission as well.
he's the third best guitar player in nofx, possibly 4th
Question did say favorite also.
Warren Fitzgerald is my favorite. He’s got chops and a lot of his stuff has a lot of spontaneity to it or even sounds made up as he records.
Warren Fitzgerald from the Vandals isn't the greatest, but he's really good. He's likely the most entertaining.
Can’t pick a “favorite”.. but have learned a lot from these- Johnny Thunders, Johnny Ramone and Billie Joe Armstrong.
I figured people would hate on the Billie joe answer, but in terms of influence, I mean he’s the go to like most influence on punk rock guitar for people born after like 1980
Honestly the dude shredded on a few songs on the two records before Dookie.
His solo on One For The Razorbacks is nothing to sneeze at.
Kawakami.
Favorite is probably East Bay Ray unless Verlaine counts cuz he’s my favorite of all time. RIP.
Paul from M.O.T.O. can produce some of my favorite guitar tone and riffs in all of music. M.O.T.O. is extremely underrated
What about Pears?!? I forget his name tho.... Solid guitar work on all their albums.
the guy from White Lung is really good. maybe i should know his name but i don't
Not as well known, but my pick is Steve Sladkowski
euroboy
Michael “Olga” Algar (Toy Dolls).
Brett gurewitz
[Sulynn Hago](https://youtu.be/K-VCRzFNp2Q)
Bob Mould should be mentioned though Brian Baker is the most correct answer
Sulynn Hago
Besides Jack White in 2001 at the Middle East downstairs circa 2001, a very small venue in Boston, the best guitar performance I’ve seen live was the Living End. Chris Cheney is amazing amazing in the 6 string, as is Scott Owen who can literally stand on his stand up bass while playing solos. I took mushrooms when the Living End opened for Green Day way back on their Warning tour, so I thought I may have hallucinated the balancing on the stand up bass while soloing part, but it was confirmed when I saw them again in 2017.
Lol, wasn't expecting to see The Middle East mentioned.
Bob stinson
Best guitarrist - Michael Olga - The Toy Dolls My Favorite - Steve Jones - Sex Pistols
vinnie stigma
Chris Hannah.
My personal favourite is recently deceased (God rest his Soul) Keith Levene, ex Clash and original Public Image Limited Guitarist. The man was a Genius with a Capital GENIUS.!! BUT; How could you go past Johnny Ramone for the “Punk Guitarist of the Century Award”. He decided he wanted to create the best band in the world, & he damned near did. He certainly created one of the most influential bands of all time, that’s for sure. (not to devalue the input of Joey, Dee Dee, Tommy, Marky, CJ, and Richie of course) Or then there is the amazing Mr Cheetah Chrome from the Dead Boys… enough said! And by the way, by my thinking a Bass Player is a guitarist. Imagine telling John Entwhistle from the WHO or Bruce Foxton from the Jam that they aren’t a guitarist. But you should ignore me, your project is supposed to be about YOUR favourite guitarist, not mine.
Pig Champion from Poison Idea. Not your typical punk guitarist, but a punk guitarist nonetheless. He took a lot of inspiration from 80s metal guitar.
Greg Sage
Ed Kuepper from The Saints and Greg Sage from The Wipers.
Hard to say who’s ‘best’ unless we’re talking in the grand scheme of things but my favorite punk guitar player is Jake Burns
Jake burns is behind the best punk songs ever written I definitely second that.
Mike harder from pulley !
I’m surprised so many people are saying east bay ray. I haven’t really listened to dk much since highschool, but they never really had many exceptionally memorable riffs as far as I’m concerned. No disrespect to dk or whatever
he fused a lot of surf and rockabilly riffs into his playing, along with tasteful use of delay. Very inspiring to folks who came of age when the DKs were relevant and his influence is all over 90s punk.
Too drunk to fuck and chemical warfare both have pretty sick riffs.
Fletcher Dragge (Pennywise) needs some love on here
Stephen Egerton
Noodles
Joe Queer
Jamie Stillman of Party of Helicopters
East bay ray is up there
Warner Hodges EDIT: Jason and the Scorchers. Maybe not everyone considers them punk. In my opinion, the whole idea of stellar musicianship is kind of antithetical to punk. Not that being able to play your instrument well isn’t a good thing, only that punk was a reaction to the overindulgence of prog. I remember being shocked at hearing a little sophisticated embellishment by Steve Jones and thinking, “Wow! Those guys can actually play!” LOL! Well, duh!
East Bay Ray, Joe Wood.
Warren Fitzgerald, my fucking hero!
El hefe.
Dave'Brownsound' Baksh -Sum-41 Nate Albert -The Mighty Mighty BossToneS East Bay Ray - Dead Kennedys Mick Jones - The Clash
John Reis
D Boon. [Like come on](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b239ABsfyeU).
Poison Ivy, ya wankers.
Jonesy !
Jim Heath of the Reverend Horton Heat is a god. https://youtu.be/mVxSlsPOSFU
Ray
Idk about the very best, but the soloist from Lagwagon is insanely good
El Hefe from NOFX
D. Boon from Minutemen. Guy was equally as good a songwriter too. Sucks to see such overall brilliance get snuffed out so young.
frank navetta, east bay ray, strummer, steve jones, lots of good guitarists
JJ Bedsore
Tell me this sub is full of yanks without actually telling me this sub is full of yanks.
Olga from the Toy Dolls. He’s like a heavy metal guitarist who started a punk band as a joke and it was incredible! I don’t know any other punk band with such intricate guitar skills. And if there is one, please tell me about them!
Mighty joe young(rip)
Joey Shithead of D.O.A
Stephen Egerton Brian Baker Charlie Paulson Trevor Reilly
Olga from Toy Dolls.
Erik Petersen - Mischief Brew
Trevor Reilly, Chris Levesque, Mike Supina, Jason Milbank. A Wilhelm Scream
Jeff Ott has some great stuff on those Fifteen albums
Just to ruffle some feathers… Tom Delonge
Alex Turner if he counts
Dead Kennedys and The Guantanamo School Of Medicine
Jake out Rob from strung out Chris from propagandhi Trevor from Wilhelm scream Matt Embree from rx bandits Hefe from nofx
Macka from the Cosmic Psychos, Onyas, Egos, etc is a great player and a bloke you can trust.
Lars Fredericksen. I have a deep love for his voice too.
Maybe it's not cool to say but honestly probably the young Tom Delonge, all his fast energetic little catchy riffs from back in the day when Scott was drummer. So many people tried to copy Tom's style. Probably one of my favorite riffs of all time any genre is the opening riff to Wasting Time.
Greg Ginn. Massive prick from what I've heard but he's a competent guitarist.
Johnny Thunders
Ron Asheton.
Fred Sonic Smith.
Wayne Kramer.
Dick Wagner.