playlist: the 58 best punk songs of may 2026

Positioning yourself as a punk writer means occasionally getting a message from an artist you respect a huge amount but have never actually spoken to before. One such DM came through in the past month—a person who’s been in self-described “hermit mode” but has been keeping an eye on punk happenings from afar and working on new stuff privately.

That missive came through right before the final see/saw show for the foreseeable future—a Minneapolis DIY gig with Rotary Club the week after the big May Day parties. Maybe it felt like tacit permission from somebody who’s been in the game way longer than I have, but after two months of late nights and blasted eardrums, fatigue had set in and my own hermit mode had begun.

May was spent in the garden, hanging out with my kid, writing, podcasting, working my day job, and intentionally missing out on several very sick shows. My hermit brain has started gearing itself toward metrics—how many people are reading see/saw, subscribing, unsubscribing, downloading the podcast, etc. I hate it. Two years in, I’m still reprogramming from the corporate journalism culture of measuring success via analytics.

The idea of the “right number” is bullshit. No number will ever be good enough if capitalism is the only goal. The whole point of doing something like this is “introduce people to some music that rules,” and as far as I can tell from anecdotal evidence and very kind messages, mission accomplished. I love finding sick new records, and I love when new people find see/saw because it means they’re finding said records. Like the more the merrier, and more paid subscribers means more money to pay my favorite writers for sick punk feature, but mostly: people like reading it and I like doing it. That’s success.

Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Sweeping Promises, Artificial Go, Useless Eaters, and Alien Nosejob all appear on this month’s playlist. Damn. Here’s my favorite stuff from May 2026.

see/saw’s 58 best punk songs of may 2026

Useless Eaters: Cochon Sauvage Piper Maru: vacancy Eddy Current Suppression Ring: Bop Jake King: Little Did I Know Fleon Sunoco: Skinny Dipping Alien Nosejob: Live Like the Crowd Prisonnier du Temps: La Liberté S'Obtient Par le Sang Sweeping Promises: Shooting Shadows Genre Is Death: Repulse Artificial Go: Triple Ones Power Pants: Do You Rock or Do You Roll? No Peeling: Campaign for a Nice Time Providers: El Momento Jolana Star: Crisis of Faith God Entered My Body Like a Body My Same Size: Bad Thought Irked: Death Cult Shrudd: Hammerman PINKLIDS: Breadwinner SMARM: Lick the Fist Theeeee Retina Lamps: More Lies Tyvek: Eye Roll Fiona Slide: Etruria G2K: I Rock I Ran Memo PST: Dog Groomer Stylist Nazi Tampons: Zelená Míľa Suicidas: Cantemos Drakulas: Head in the Clouds Andresa One Man Band: Nothing but R'N'R The Sleeveens: National Anthem Siyahkal: Anarchy in Iran Marbled Eye: Stubborn Mind Smirk: Dog Years Hez: Nunca Termina T-Models: Portrait of Swine MK Ultras: Chrome Crusher Obamacare: Running from the Law Cherry Cheeks: Cruel Bore Radon Abatement: Harmonium Jr. M.A.T.B.: SPATZ Fentanyl: Cobrar el Dolor WWW: Vigilancia Mock Execution: Freedom for Sale Klonns: Parasite W-9: Elvis NightFreak: DUH Jacket Burner: Ain’t Got Shit Crash: Cut Loose Army of God: Play Your Part forcer: proliferation Heathen Axe: EXIT Timmy Vulgar & Jimbo Easter: art vultures The Thirsty Giants: Read the Room The Carp: I Crave the City G.U.N.: Friday Night Stake Out Total Con: Spill the Blood Cell Deth: The Grind Concrete Lawn: Return to Dust

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