Punk Rock Love Songs

You always leash the one the you love — at least if you’re the Stooges (“I Wanna Be Your Dog”) and your sweet puppy love has blossomed into something far more animalistic. Hey, not everyone can do roses and violets, and that’s why we came up with Punk Rock Love Songs, a set of spiky, snot-nosed, leather-clad declarations of l-o-v-e. We’re talkin’ the Dead Milkmen and their rambunctious ode to a “Punk Rock Girl,” and “1-2 Crush On You,” the b-side Clash tune that landed on a million-and-one shy-guy mixtapes.

“You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory” sings doomed Doll Johnny Thunders, but you can find more great Punk Rock Love Songs in Next Steps.

Maybe the lyrics of “Love & Romance” from punk-chick trailblazers the Slits aren’t quite coherent, but lead singer Ari Up’s squeaky-wheel squeals say it all when it comes to the object of her affection. Meanwhile, an awesomely gruesome live version of the candied Archies classic “Sugar Sugar” comes courtesy of L.A. delinquents the Germs, and the effect is not unlike a nasty toothache. We mean that in the best way possible, of course, ’cause a great Punk Rock Love Song isn’t about hearts and flowers; it’s about reaching inside and ripping your guts out for all to enjoy — just ask the Casualties, who want their broken hearts back, and now, on a gnarly, snarly “Punk Rock Love.”

Punk-popsters the Descendents are happy to do “Nothing With You,” and we’re happy to bring you more Punk Rock Love Songs in Deep Cuts.

When you look at someone with love, you see them in a whole different light. When you listen to classic love songs covered by our crazed punk-rock combos, you hear them blown to bits and reanimated like a lovesick Frankenstein’s monster. So while the Suicide Machines give a ska-punk treatment to “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden,” the Misfits conjure some sick sorcery on the 1960 Drifters hit “This Magic Moment,” and Less Than Jake kidnap the Partridge Family, stuff them in the cargo hold of their multicolored bus, and take their place onstage for a rebel rendition of “I Think I Love You.”

Flowers, candy, diamond rings? Disgusting! Candlelit dinners and walks on the beach? Up yours! When your idea of a hunk sports spikes and a Mohawk, when your best girl thinks a great date means taking synchronized swan dives into the pit, you need Punk Rock Love Songs, our stick-it-to-’em set of all things raw, rough, and — aw, shucks — romantic. After all, everybody has a heart, from blank-generation voidoids (Richard Hell’s “Love Comes In Spurts”), to punk-pop insurgents (Green Day’s “The One I Want”), to out-and-out icons (the Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend”). So while the Damned spew a D.I.Y. “Love Song,” the Only Ones lob a power-pop pipe-bomb into the mix with their ode to dizzy hearts and heads, “Another Girl, Another Planet,” and somewhere in the world, another sweetheart slam dance begins.