We are officially nearing the end of our year of punk rock Golden Age Thursdays series, and yet there is still so much history in this genre left to explore. While several underground scenes are brimming with colorful acts that have yet to be featured, it would be criminal for us to wrap up this column without giving one of the most recognizable names in punk an extra, beaming spotlight aimed directly at their legacy. Bad Religion, one of the most celebrated and long-lasting punk acts to emerge from the eighties, has experienced the ups and downs of every punk band, except that they did so under the watchful eye of mainstream success.
Still, Bad Religion is about as punk as it gets. During their decades-long career, which continues to thrive and prosper year after year, the band has undergone lineup changes, becoming the golden child of punk during the nineties, and has weathered the crushing waves of life after wild success. Every legacy like this starts somewhere, and the origin of Bad Religion lands at the center of this week’s Golden Age Thursday. This week, we have a chaotic performance from 1984 that emphasizes how powerful Greg Gaffin’s vocals are, and the fact that, even with accolades raining down on them, Bad Religion is, without a doubt, punk excellence.
