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List of Life-Changing Bands

These bands/artists have all had a hella, hella profound impact on me from about age 12 to the present.

You’ll probably see this list and be like, “Wow, did you completely stop listening to music in 1998 or something?” Well, not really. But I definitely stopped being deeply invested in discovering new music at a certain point. And also, once I got to my 40s and 50s, new music rarely has a monumental impact on me like it did when I was like age 15-25.

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• Minutemen
• NoMeansNo
• Black Flag
• Melt-Banana
• fIREHOSE
• Meat Puppets
• Ramones
• Accused
• Mudhoney
• Victim’s Family
• Government Issue
• Suicidal Tendencies
• Hüsker Dü
• Big Black
• Dinosaur Jr.
• Urge Overkill
• Bitch Magnet
• Don Caballero
• Soundgarden
• Alice Donut
• Celibate Rifles
• Dead Kennedys
• Minor Threat
• Jane’s Addiction
• Smog
• Motorhead
• Black Sabbath
• Devo
• Monks of Doom
• Camper van Beethoven
• Bad Brains
• Bran Flakes
• C.W. McCall
• Meters
• Van Halen
• Killing Joke
• Head
• Walt Mink
• XTC
• White Denim
• Misfits
• Zero Boys
• Poison Idea
• D.R.I.
• Ruins
• Fishbone
• The Cult
• Naked Raygun
• Skin Yard
• Swingin’ Neckbreakers
• The Sword
• Tar Babies
• Dag Nasty
• House of Large Sizes
• Led Zeppelin
• Butthole Surfers
• Killdozer
• My Name
• All
• Descendents
• Schlong
• Southern Culture on the Skids
• Ween
• Jawbox
• Unwound
• Plaid Retina
• Dwarves
• Jesus Lizard
• Melvins
• Ed Hall
• Squirrel Bait
• Fu Manchu
• Universal Congress Of
• PopDefect
• New Mastersounds
• Didjits
• Untamed Youth
• Dicks
• Charlie Hunter Trio
• Hanson Brothers
• Dickies
• Figgs
• Guided by Voices
• Dag Nasty
• The Damned
• White Stripes
• Lightning Bolt
• New Pornographers
• Slayer
• JFA
• Satan’s Pilgrims
• Circle Jerks
• Run-DMC
• The Cult

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Not Quite Life-Changing But Nevertheless Important

• Thin Lizzy
• Undertones
• Supersuckers
• Le Tigre
• The Knack
• Big Business
• Billy Childish
• Jay Reatard
• Iron Maiden
• Rush
• Excel
• Talking Heads
• Replacements
• Kyuss
• Primus
• Agitpop
• Big Star
• Excel
• Danzig
• Tight Bros from Way Back When
• Charlie Hunter Trio
• Deerhoof
• Kent 3
• Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
• Joy Division
• Karp
• Boredoms
• Blackalicious
• Steel Pole Bathtub
• Phantom Surfers
• Scratch Acid
• Beastie Boys
• The Clash
• Exodus
• Mastodon
• Royal Trux
• Rezillos
• Queers
• Poster Children
• Groovie Ghoulies
• Ministry
• Operation Ivy
• Municipal Waste
• Screaming Trees
• Mr. T Experience
• Triumph
• Airbourne
• Type O Negative
• Duran Duran
• Nels Cline (various shit)
• King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
• Frankie and the Witch Fingers