playlist: the 53 best punk songs of june 2026

When you get into music journalism on the news side of things, it doesn’t take long to learn that it requires actual reporting skills. You’ve got to know how to locate and distill court documents, how to find the right contacts for comment, understand the correct questions to be asking, and crucially, actually pick up the phone. The romance of the job is just talking to bands or saying “hey this record is sick.” I was disavowed of that idealism early into working Pitchfork news shifts, and this past week, reporting became an urgent component of the day-to-day at see/saw.

In early May, I met with Greer and Cesar from the Kings Road Merch Union in Minneapolis one day before their shop’s unanimous vote in favor of unionizing. Interviews for see/saw usually sit in the can for a while before I actually get a chance to write them up, but the plan was always to tell their story while they were well into the bargaining process.

That plan changed. Last Tuesday, the same day they were set to begin bargaining, I got a through-the-grapevine text that the union had been informed of Sony Music’s plans to shutter their warehouse. Immediately, I reached out to Greer, Cesar, and their contact with the Teamsters Local they’d organized with. I emailed representatives for bands whose merch is produced by Kings Road. I reached out to the lawyer representing Sony Music at the bargaining table. I published that story on Friday. Especially compared to previous see/saw articles, it got a massive amount of engagement.

This was a story about punks working at a merch warehouse that specializes in punk merch, though the aesthetic particulars of the piece aren’t what make it a good fit for an online punk magazine. Unions and punks share some inherent qualities around organizing, speaking truth to power, and community-building. All labor journalism is punk journalism. Even if nobody reads the work, telling union stories is extremely important. It’s cool to expand the scope of what gets published beneath the see/saw banner.

June was an extremely busy one over here. Nina and I spoke with DEVO’s Jerry Casale on see/saw jukebox, and in addition to the weekly podcast and columns, four excellent interviews went up: Jim Fair chatting with Shaved Ape in Pittsburgh, Billiam talking to Media Puzzle in Naarm, Ben Taylor grabbing beers with Shop Talk in Brooklyn, and Zach Mitchell chopping it up with Choncy before and after a show in Mississippi. Some exceptional records came out, too.

Here’s the part where I remind you that see/saw is a reader-supported publication, which means all those writers above got paid for their work thanks to the patronage of subscribers. If you want to help sustain this operation, please consider subscribing for $4/month or $40/year or barter.

Here are the 53 best punk songs from the past month. Stay cool out there.

see/saw’s 53 best punk songs of june 2026

Finale: Almas perdidas Guiding Light: Shackled by Lust The Carp: Fuck Alex Karp Alien Nosejob: Nowhere to Go Pleasure Cube: The Woodshed Roberta Lips: Coup de Bluff Perennial: What’s New on the Beat Scene Quitters: Mean Motherfucker Gimic: The Devil’s Rose Cel Ray: Toxic Baby Jane: Surfing to Hell Nadie Lo Quiere: Todo por hacer K9: Get Loaded and Smile The Circulators: Pointless Game Prisão: Amar sem amarras Cover My Shift: “Mark Wilson” MESH: Violent Peasant Edging: When Things Turn Around Liquid Cross: This World Sex Mex: Needles in the Camel’s Eye (Brian Eno cover) Cherry Cheeks: D.O. Theme Odor Eater: Nightcaller Gripe: All Our Fans Are Morons TANO!: L’escurçó del safareig Deadbeat Beat: Pink Dust Artificial Go: Jane Ate the Apple Seed Double Date: Copycat Reveal Yourself: sicko Deathfakers: It’s Nice to Take the Bus Tower of One: Go Pills Guyscrapers: All Day and All Night Non Plus Temps: I Am Not Wise Body Suit: On a Mission The Sex Shoppe: Big Ass Dog Mirage: Motore Di Corrosione Spiderweb: Stop the Rats Drastic Plastic: I’m a Car Sweeping Promises: Cocoon Society: Casualties of War Debt Rag: It’s Clear What’s Going On Taxi Girls: Try Harder Sniffany & the Nits: Best of Luck Consensus Madness: N.R.P. Downtown Boys: Public Works CS Cleaners: G+T dope smokin homos: diy heart surgery Adult Learners: Fever Dream Oova: Ratón EKGs: Thoughts Acid Casualties: Smoke the Feds L.O.T.I.O.N. Multinational Corporation: Boots on the Ground ORC: ORC LIKE ME Poguba: Noč

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