>> Germs

The Germs were America’s answer to the Sex Pistols, with an equally amateurish approach to music as their British idols. While aggressive and technically uncomplicated, the Germs’ music was, like the Sex Pistols, deceptively simple, offering catchy and powerful arrangements despite its unskilled execution. With front man Darby Crash’s poetic lyrics leading the band’s charge, the Germs were more nihilistic though less aggressive than the Sex Pistols. After Crash overdosed on heroin in the late ‘70s, the band ended its short career, though guitarist Pat Smear would later play with Nirvana for its MTV Unplugged in New York special and with the Foo Fighters in addition to working with a string of minor Californian bands.