Honorable Mention: The Kinks - All Day and All of the Night (1964)

70s: the origins of the “punk” movement

Ramones - Do You Remember Rock ‘N’ Roll Radio?

The Clash - I’m So Bored of the U.S.A.

The Sex Pistols - God Save the Queen

The Stooges - Search and Destroy

Buzzcocks - What do I get?

Sham69 - Borstal Breakout

Stiff Little Fingers - Alternative Ulster

80s: independent punk emerges

Misfits - Last Caress

Adolescents - Kids of the Black Hole

Black Flag - Rise Above

Circle Jerks - Wild in the Streets

Dead Kennedys - Police Truck

Youth Brigade - Blown Away

Cock Sparrer - Take 'em All

Operation Ivy - Knowledge

The Pogues - The Sick Bed of Cuchulainn

90s: punk evolves and goes mainstream

NOFX - Linoleum

Rancid - Journey to the End of the East Bay

Green Day - Longview

Tilt - Libel

Swingin’ Utters - Strongman

Strung Out - Exhumation of Virginia Madison

Face To Face - Disconnected

Dropkick Murphys - Barroom Hero

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - The Impression That I Get

Social Distortion - Ball and Chain

U.S. Bombs - Jaks

The Offspring - The Kids Aren’t Alright

Pulley - Cashed In

Tiger Army - Nocturnal

Anyway, there you go!

I tried to pick out what I think are some pretty quintessential examples of punk music across 3 decades, reflecting the style and subject matter of the bands and the context of that time period. But punk is much more stylistically and thematically diverse scene than people might think, so consider this list just a starting point.

Also, even though this list ends with the 90s, I should also say that punk continued to evolve and go pretty strong from the 2000s on, a lot of the bands listed continued to make great music and new bands continues to pop up too.

So there’s a lot more to dig into.