The best punk albums of 2023
The best punk albums of 2023 chosen by our crew and by you through the poll
The year 2023 is over leaving us with wonderful releases like every year, so much for those who say punk is dead! In fact, despite the fact that many people have stopped listening to new records, thinking that the whole thing died out years or decades ago, we can safely prove to you with this article and the monthly Diyno Mixtapes that new and interesting albums are still coming out, both in musical contaminations and in social and political themes, offered very often by bands and labels that retain a strong DIY spirit filled with passion and dedication. In short, the spirit goes on…
This article is made up of several parts:
- Our favorite albums. You will immediately notice that they span multiple subgenres and subcultures because, as you may already know, our crew is made up of several people with different tastes, but united by the same spirit!
- The top 20 albums voted by you in the poll. You voted in great numbers and we thank you very much! As always we chose not to make charts, just to get out of the logic of competition for the purpose of supporting bands, labels and their excellent works.
- Then we will briefly talk about our productions. We wanted to highlight records that we are very passionate about and that by virtue of the fact that we have released we think are good, but without having a conflict of interest by putting them among our favorites. Clearly if we have produced them they are undoubtedly among our favorites, but since we are not only a label but also a webzine, we were pleased to give prominence to other records produced by other labels as well.
- The last part will feature our 2023 playlist in which you can listen to, learn about, and rediscover some of the best songs selected by us from the past year.
Enjoy reading and we highly recommend you browse and listen to everything!
Our favorite albums: the best punk albums of 2023 in the opinion of Radio Punk crew
Astio – Bocche stanche (Agipunk | 12″ LP)
You know when you listen to a record and already from the first track you find yourself saying “that’s amazing!” Here, this is what happened after putting on the record player “Bocche Stanche” by Trentino-based Astio. Theirs is a post-punk with catchy but definitely refined melodies, accompanied by introspective, nihilistic and catastrophic lyrics. Fast, pounding rhythmics together with pleasantly disturbing effects and hints of sax make it all the more interesting and hypnotic. The icing on the cake is definitely the physical format, the artwork of the LP in fact is incredibly fitting and evocative, and as if that were not enough cover and B-side are hand screen printed. A superior level!
Coupe Gorge – “Silence De Mort” (Offside Records | 12″ LP)
Hardcore punk from the Breton school, a territory that is churning out an incredible amount of qualitatively excellent bands. Coupe Gorge in fact come from Brest and include members of bands that are already well known, we will mention a few that have recently come out with masterpieces: Syndrome 81, Prisonnier Du Temps, Mentalité 81. In these 12 songs you will find an impact hardcore with the temper and compactness typical of oi!, moreover the French singing gives the right meanness also conveyed by the dark and majestic artwork. Unmissable physical format: a gatefold with transparent splatter colored vinyl. Unique, original songs with the perfect balance among speed, solidity and melodic component that embellishes the whole. A sensational record!
Deluxxe – If You Were Me (Avant! Records | 12″ LP)
What do members of hardcore punk and oi! bands such as Bad Blood, Violent Way and Exhibition have in common? Some of them play in this amazing post-punk / new wave band from Buffalo, NY. Exciting, brilliant, limpid and damn catchy and heartening album. This record with minimal and evocative graphics will take you to a dimension of comforting nostalgia. 8 tracks to listen to on the road while looking out the window on a rainy day. You will hum in your head over and over again “Waiting For A Sign,” “Common Ground” and “Lightning In A Bottle.” Masterpiece!
Flying Raccoon Suit – Moonflower (Bad Time Records | CD/ 12″ LP)
The Mississippi ska-punk band, now in their third album, churned out a little masterpiece that literally leaves you jaw-dropping and with goosebumps already on the first listen. Jessica Jeansonne’s sublime voice twirls with agility over the most disparate musical genres, from jazz to metal, from surf to Balkan music, painting them with the colors of ska, and drags you on an emotional rollercoaster made of disillusionment, bitterness for the passing of time and the desire to keep dreaming despite everything. 13 tracks one more incredible than the other and, bonus point, even the cover artwork is delightful. Widely acclaimed, and rightly so, as the ska-punk album of the year.
Marnero – Odradek part I
Can trumpets, cello, pathos and punk music coexist? If you are wondering, perhaps you have never listened to Marnero… The band from Bologna reconfirmed this September that yes, not only this is possible, but they do it very well! They do it releasing another solid piece of excellent music. If you like melancholic sounds, swirls of emotions in a set of masterfully used words, this is the album for you! Don’t miss it!
Pkew Pkew Pkew – Siiick Days (Stomp Records | 12″ LP, CD)
From Toronto with a load of nonsense and catchy songs, here they come Pkew Pkew Pkew, produced by Pete Steinkopf (guitarist and founder of Bouncing Souls), with their new album. Let us make it clear right away: the band does not take itself seriously and does not write serious lyrics. The first track on Siiick Days, The Dumbest Thing I Ever Done, is about selling the PlayStation – yes, for real. The thing is, it sounds like they are telling us the truth about the world. Add catchy riffs, keyboards and choruses and you’re done: simple punk that will keep you entertained!
Stormo – Endocannibalismo (Prosthetic Records | CD, 12″ LP)
Describing this album and why you should have it is complicated. But we’ll give it a try! The band originally from Feltre releases this new full-length in early 2023 after several works of amazing quality. This album is not only no less, but with a series of contaminations, sounds and general mood gives you a wonderfully lysergic journey rooted as much in hardcore as in metal. The result is a resounding mixture that touches on alternative, indie, post-hc, screamo, mathcore processing it all in a unique and sensational way. The instrumental and vocal performance is sumptuous and none of the players in the field overpowers the other but rather elevates the record to an undisputed masterpiece. To be listened to on a loop to appreciate the different nuances, with this refined melodic line and this strong rhythmic restlessness, “Endocannibalismo” by Stormo is already cult!
Transmisión N – Bailando a la muerte (Guns of Brixton Records | LP 12″)
When the games seemed done, right at the end of 2023, on December 15 to be precise, came this superb album by the Spanish band, which unfortunately we did not make it in time to include in our best record of the year poll, but which would surely have found a place there. The choruses and metropolitan themes immediately bring to mind Non Servium-style Spanish oi!, but “lightened” and made more catchy by distinctly punk rock melodies. Surprisingly, the album closes with two slow versions of Bull Brigade’s “Il fuoco non si è spento,” one in Spanish, titled “El fuego arde dentro,” (with Madrid starring instead of Turin, video here), and one in Italian. Warning: they are a very low blow for the teary-eyed! “Bailando a la muerte” is a postcard from Madrid, beloved and hated mother, from which the working class cry of revolt rises. It is a hymn to life despite everything, to dancing in the rain, mocking death. It is poetry that moves and touches the heart, because it is with the heart that this record was written, played and sung. Don’t miss it!
Zulu – A new tomorrow (Flatspot Records | 12″ LP)
It is impossible not to include this record among the best of the year. In fact, the Los Angeles-based group has pulled off an atomic work in which with stoichiometric precision they mix elements of soul, reggae and hip-hop with a massive dose of blastbeats and hardcore “gold quality”. A Bad Brains-like mix, updated and certainly unique in its sound. I recommend that you listen to the tracks in order to get the best taste of the band’s genius and madness (the transition from ‘We’re more than this’ to ‘Fatal strikes’ is a real blast). Moreover, not to miss anything, the record is deeply political, in fact it is an ode to the black community and the struggles it faces. A wave of freshness for hardcore not to be missed!
Best punk albums of 2023 poll: the most voted (in alphabetical order)
Atarassia Gröp – Brace sotto cenere
Flying raccoon suit – Moonflower
The Mistakes – A good hill to die on
Mustard plug – Where did all my friends go?
Small Thing – 20 jazz punk greats
Our co-productions, in order of release:
(If you’re interested in one or more of these releases you can find info and order here)
- Contrasto / Tear Me Down (Radio Punk, Hellnation | 7″). First release of 2023, features three new songs by TMD and two new songs by Contrasto. Two of our bands we are most fond of, two legends of the politicized hardcore scene. Old school, the old-fashioned way!
- Jonestown Kids – S/T (Radio Punk, Shove Records, Assurd Records, The Fucking Clinica, Rebound Action, Punti Scena Records, Forever True Records, ZAS! Autoproduzioni | 12″ LP). 12 tracks straddling hardcore, powerviolence, black metal with two-bass lineup. Devastating record!
- Güerra – Quanta Fame Hai? (Radio Punk, Hellnation | 12″ LP). After co-producing the debut, we decided to support this second work as well. Record made up of 12 songs that will make you sing your heart out for lovers of oi!/street punk/ 80s hardcore sounds!
- Minoranza di Uno – Il Peso Della Sconfitta (Radio Punk, Minoranza Autoproduzioni, Scatti Vorticosi D.i.y., Tuscia Clan, Fra Il Di’ E Il Fa’ Al’E’ Di Mieç Il Mâr Autoproduzioni, Bus Stop Press, Aigorl | CD). Band, or rather it would be better to say collective, whose first release in 2017 marked the beginning of our adventure as a label. Needless to say how important it is for us to have co-produced yet another anarcho-punk/hc gem.
- Contrasto – Solo Per Te (Radio Punk, Anfibio Records, Forever True Records, Rebound Action, Equal Rights, Poison Hearts, Rumagna Sgroza, Distruggi La Bassa, L’Oltraggio Autoproduzioni, Fra Il Di’ E Il Fa’ Al’E’ Di Mieç Il Mâr Autoproduzioni, Rovina Hardcore, Valley Distro, Cose Turche, Masseria Foresta Autoproduzioni , Saetta Autoproduzioni | 12” LP). How can a band after so many years churn out records that are true to their attitude, renewing themselves musically but still remaining with the same drive and energy? Contrasto teaches us once again, with these 8 tracks, 6 of which are unreleased (the other two contained in the split with TMD). Attention to detail that also makes this album a jewel to have in the house, from the artwork and booklet edited by Alberto Santi, to the insert by Zerocalcare, to the beautiful hand-screen printing on the B-side of the vinyl.
- Small Thing – 20 Jazz Punk Greats CD (Radio Punk, Flamingo Records | CD). Together with Guerra and Contrasto you voted it one of the best 20 albums of the year and we talked about it in more detail here. This is a wonderful album that to call punk rock is reductive. But to call it an album is also reductive. This is a sumptuous collective work with the most diverse influences and just the right amount of imagination. It came out digitally in December 2023, but the physical format comes out in January 2024. A great end but also a great beginning to seal a great friendship, the one among us, Small Thing and Flamingo Records.
Radio Punk Vol. 2023 Top Songs:
Our playlist with the best songs of 2023, just like our favorites, draws from the various subgenres of punk but also from your recommendations of best albums. Below you can listen and save our playlist to learn about, listen to or rediscover new bands. Share it with whomever you like and happy listening!
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