Does The Daily Kos Know Punk?

I've already posted one punk list.  Here's another, and I'm sure there will be many more to follow over the life of this blog.  The Daily Kos, the lefty political website posted a top 10 punk bands list and what I find most interesting about it is the span of years it covers.  Without digging back to any pre-Ramones roots like the last punk list I posted did, it covers a broader range of years, including Streetlight Manifesto, who didn't release their first record until 2002, at #8.  Latter day bands like Propagandhi (#9), Operation Ivy (#5), and Bad Religion (#3) get mixed in with 70s punk (Ramones at #4 and The Clash at #2) and early 80s American hardcore (Bad Brains at #10, Minor Threat at #7, and Black Flag at #6).

Befitting the Daily Kos, I think some of the most overtly political bands get a boost, although now that I think about it the majority of great punk bands were fairly political.  Also, the original source of the list is apparently rateyourmusic, which is not in any way political as far as I know.  It's interesting that they left off the Sex Pistols.  I think longevity may have been part of the criteria.  I really don't know how else to explain how Bad Religion makes it so high on some of these lists.  I never drank the Bad Religion kool aid.  I think I heard one of them interviewed on NPR a couple of years ago and that made me think about them a little bit differently, but not enough to motivate me to actual get any of their records?  Should I?

I'll admit I'd never even heard of Streetlight Manifesto until recently.  They're more ska than punk, but certainly on the ska-punk end of the spectrum.  It seems odd to be discovering a new ska punk band in 2011 (even if they've been around for almost a decade), but I'm happy somebody included them in one of their lists.  There's absolutely no way they're a top 10 punk band, but it's still nice to have stumbled upon them.  If you take a look at the list on the Daily Kos you can (a) look at youtube videos for everyone in the top 10 (b) take part in the poll.

I took part in the poll, mostly because it's the way you can see the results of the poll.  There have only been 181 votes so far, so your vote really does count.  There are also, of course, comments, but don't comment there.  Comment here.