Talk - Action = 0

D.O.A. were always among the most important political punk bands of the era where punk turned to hardcore. Their anti-capitalist anthems (“Consume! Consume!,” “I Live In a Car,” “Don’t Bank On a Bank”), their religious skepticism (“That’s Why I Am an Atheist”) and their overall questioning of authority made this Canadian group one of the most controversial and most definitive of punk rock’s anarchic nature. But all the politics and polemics in the world can only do so much. It’s the superior guitar riffs, the confident rhythm section and the defiantly raw vocals from Joey Keithley that made D.O.A. the inspiration they were to so many other lesser-known hardcore punk bands. Their cover of Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’” sounds almost like a Guns N’ Roses version with Keithley’s howl coming across almost self-parodic in parts while Dean Martin’s signature “That’s Amore” is surely performed with tongue planted firmly in cheek. D.O.A. wanted to change the world but only if they could have a few laughs along the way.