Punk Rock Cover Band Supergroup

Whenever I do a punk rock playlist, I love to mix the old school punks with some of the ones that followed them into other decades. One of my favorites to include are Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. A strictly cover band, they have been reported to say that they named the band after a children's book. The band consists of Spike Stawson, Fat Mike, Joey Cape and Dave Raun, with Chris Shiflett being a former member. This supergroup contains members from Swingin' Utters, NOFX, Lagwagon, Re-Volts and RKL. Chris Shiflett has played with the Foo Fighters and No Use For A Name. Many artists have been known to join them on tour including CJ Ramone, Eric Melvin, Brian Baker and Jay Bentley.

Formed in 1995 in San Francisco, the Gimmes release albums with different themes. I just got finished listening to their versions of "Cabaret" and "Rainbow Connection" from the "Are A Drag" album and "Annie's Song" from the "Love Their Country" album. Every cover just leaves me with a smile. Their new album, "¡Blow it...at Madison's Quinceañera!," is expected to be released on June 14th. "Dancing Queen" and "Good 4 U" are already streaming ahead of the album release date. Other favorites of mine are "Crazy For You," "Sloop John B." and "Danny's Song."

Punk rock can be very political, but it does have a fun side as well. This can be heard by listening to artists like the Offspring, All, Bowling For Soup, the Dictators and the Ramones. The Gimmes just up the ante!