Vintage NOLA punk

I found this site while looking for info on old New Orleans bands: New Orleans Index Project. It's kind of the same thing that I'm trying to do, but specifically New Orleans, and I like their layout better. They don't have a whole lot of bands so far, but you can check out a few. I've been working on a New Orleans and a Baton Rouge page similar to the one for Lafayette bands. I haven't put it up yet, but I'll probably do so this weekend. They're both pretty basic, and the B.R. one is really barren right now, but as I find links or info, they'll fill out. This is turning into an online research project.

So, if you feel like listening to some classic New Orleans punk or new wave, here's a brief rundown of what I've found up on the web:

The Normals were probably the highest regarded of Nola punk acts. They can be heard on the N.O. Index Project, and on Electric Earl. Definitely worth checking out.


The Cold was the most popular of the Nola new wave bands, and featured Vance Degeneres (Ellen's brother) on bass. They can be heard on the N.O. Index Project and there are samples on their website, Three Chord City.


The Red Rockers had one of the guys from Cowboy Mouth in it. They got fairly popular, then moved to San Francisco. They had a hit on MTV with "China", which you can hear on the N.O. Index Project. I don't like "China" very much, but I heard some of their earlier stuff that was actually punk, and it was much better. I lost that when my hard drive bit it, but I think I can get it back.


The Skinnies were one of the first N.O. punk bands, and one of them owned 'Lectric Eye, Nola's first punk label. You can hear them on Strange Reaction. I'm a Dullard is such a great song. On that page there are also tracks from The Mechanics, the first of which sounds a lot like Devo and is really good, The Manic Depressives, and The Shitdogs (from Baton Rouge). I don't like that Shitdogs song that much, I think the ones on Orbis Quintus are much better. They're kind of Ramones-y. "Shitcan it, it's disposable..."


Wayward Youth was another old school punk band from Nola. You can also hear them on Strange Reaction. Some of their members later (much later) merged with Men in Black. You can hear a sample of Men in Black's "Gypsy Lid" on their site, Sambario. It's near the top. They also have a lot of N.O. hurricane damage info on the page too.


The Sluts were one of the first hardcore bands from N.O. Strange Reaction has 11 of 12 songs up from their 12" EP. Chris Cart said Toxin III used to play gigs with them.

Buns released an early single on 'Lectric Eye. You can hear them on
Orbis Quintus.


The Numbers were an early new wave band, and they have a myspace page. The guy who put the page up, Rocky, also has pages for some of his other bands, which you can get to from here. Check out the Uptown Metal Crew, if you dare.


The Models were another new wave band. They have a page here. No song samples, but the guy who made the page also has pages for his other old bands, Star and White Tiger. Check out the photos, they're awesome! Apparently, White Tiger is still playing in New Jersey. Maybe I'll have to go check them out sometime.


The Zoomers from Baton Rouge played some spaced out hippy punk. You can hear them on Orbis Quintus.


Don't forget, Toxin III (from Crowley) can be checked out here, and Bas Clas (Lafayette/New Orleans) can be heard here and here.


Our Favorite Band (Baton Rouge) featured Don Spicer from Toxin III. Their first 7" was apparently posted on CrudCrud. If I'd found it sooner, we could have heard what they sounded like. Damn.

There are no samples on this page, but RZA was another popular new wave band from back in the day.