15. Rancid

Sultans of ska punk, California’s Rancid helped bring the knee-jerk jives of The Specials and The Clash to US punk-pop in the mid-90s with moshpit skanks like ‘Time Bomb’ and ‘Ruby Soho’. Since then they’ve become punk-pop establishment, with Tim Armstrong founding Hellcat records to release albums by the likes of Joe Strummer, Dropkick Murphys and The Distillers. 

14. NOFX

Coming from a mid-80s era when the US hardcore scene adhered to strict punk codes – be political, be offensive and go no closer to any sort of mainstream exposure than you would a rabid mountain wolf – LA’s NOFX relentlessly scuppered their chances to match the success of contemporaries like Green Day, but built a formidable cult around their infectious and compulsive records, often as hard-hitting as they were comic. Check out ‘Creeping Out Sara’, in which singer Fat Mike freaks out either Tegan or Sara while on Diazepam, and obviously fails to pull. Dick punk at its finest.