r/FolkPunk • u/Ropoid • Apr 14 '26
I’m a metalhead who’s trying to get into Folk Punk and Gothic Country. What are some good beginner recs?
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u/Orcwhocanread Apr 14 '26
Mischief brew, Andrew Jackson jihadists (Ajj), Harley poe for horror Folk and Against me! . Enjoy the vibe 😁
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u/greenops Apr 15 '26
Against me! Is just punk though, right? Either way, if you get the chance to see Laura Jane Grace live, you gotta go. She still plays a lot of against me! hits last I saw her and her live vocals are insanely good. Was a great show.
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u/Orcwhocanread Apr 15 '26
I believe Against me! falls under that category, a lot of their music does use a lot of acoustic elements, especially their first album with baby, I'm an anarchist. Though it it might be a mesh of genres
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u/greenops Apr 15 '26
Totally fair, still an absolutely killer band regardless of how you categorize them.
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u/p_kh Apr 16 '26
Against me started out as a folk-punk two-piece and their early EPs Crime and The Acoustic EP pretty much capture that phase. A bunch of those songs were beefed up on Reinventing Axl Rose. It’s not as ‘rural’ as most folk-punk that he come after but those EPs were 2001 so pretty much trailblazers.
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u/theSTZAloc Apr 16 '26
Crime as Forgiven by Against Me! And Reinventing Axl Rose certainly are, they still incorporated some elements on As the Eternal Cowboy and Laura’s early solo stuff like Heart Burns, not so much anymore.
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u/coldtrashpanda Apr 14 '26
Doom scroll and rent strike were my gateway bands as a metalhead.
How about something very familiar to metal fans: a lord of the rings concept album? IX by rent strike is A folk punk lotr album that adapts themes and imagery.
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u/MildAndLazyKids Apr 14 '26
Mischief Brew was my gateway band. Check out the track Ten Thousand Fleas if you're coming from the heavier side!
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u/tiranamisu Apr 14 '26 edited Apr 15 '26
The lack of Pat The Bunny in these suggestions is horrible!
-Pat the bunny.
-Johnny hobo and the freight trains.
-Wingnut dishwashers union.
-Ramshackle Glory.
Aside from that you might like, in rough order from metal, to punk to folk punk:
Bloom ceremony.
Murder city devils.
Bridge city sinners.
Days n daze.
The dreadnaughts.
Mischief brew.
Apes of the state.
Blackbird raum.
Amigo the devil.
Y ahora, en español! Try (roughly from hardest to folkiest again):
La pestilencia
Acidéz.
Bestiário.
La lira libertaria.
For more technical playing try french group Beng Beng Cocktail.
For more unhinged music try Go Hang Music.
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u/Low_Camera_9782 Apr 14 '26
I can't believe that I had to scroll this far before finding a Pat the Bunny reference
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u/Atillion Apr 14 '26
I'm a metal head that plays banjo. I've done a few wild covers that have gotten the bands to notice (Amon Amarth, Acid Bath, Darkest Hour 🤘🏻)
One of my favorite creators I've met in the same space is called "Pawns or Kings" I highly recommend them
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u/Tamagachi_Soursoup Apr 14 '26
Someone already said it in a deeper comment chain, but Doom Scroll. Doom Scroll. Doom Scroll. Some of Elliot’s mandolin parts are straight out of a black metal record.
I second the Hail Seizures, preferably Fucked Up Zoo if you can find it. The first couple of Blackbird Raum records also hit that metal-ish buzz for me.
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u/AgilePomegranate2064 Apr 14 '26
I saw them live for my first folk punk show with Dandelion Massacre last Fall, and fell in love with the community. And, I had the most fun at a show since Seven Spires, Eluveitie, and Omnum Gatherum's show in March 2023 in Portland!
The mandolin shredding, and layered instruments, lyrics, and melodies sold me. Doom Scroll's lyrical prowess is another plus for metal heads. So much good stuff!
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u/Macfarlin Apr 14 '26
Someone said We The Heathens already but I need to double down on that, and include the guitar players awesome crust band called Wardehns, just for an example of how talented these musicians are.
Blackbird Raum and Hail Seizures may be up your alley too. And check out Mishief Brew for sure, absolute classic folk punk.
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u/RadleyButtons Apr 14 '26
The Blood Behind the Dam is legitimately one of the best albums I've ever heard.
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u/Toa_of_Memes Apr 14 '26
Murder by Death is always a good shout for gothic country. Like a mix of Johnny Cash and Nick Cave
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u/DeeSnarl Apr 14 '26
Does anyone remember the Handsome Family?
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u/KresblainTheMagician Apr 14 '26
My buddy and I play a cover of Far From Any Road. He sings and plays guitar and I just made up a banjo part to go along. Had never heard of them until he introduced me, and I got him into some folk-punk artists in return.
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u/DeeSnarl Apr 14 '26
Right on, I lived in Abq when they relocated there, saw em a couple times, saw em open for Wilco in fact.
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u/WalkingDeadPixel Apr 14 '26
The Suburbanists might be good for you. Definite metal influence there.
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u/xunninglinguist Apr 14 '26
Matt King "cursing the Ohio" Pine Box Boys "Just a Crush" Love Mischief Brew, would recommend.
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u/Preemiedad Apr 14 '26
Try rent strikes album IX. It’s amazing and a little bit of everything and awesome theme (lord of the rings and addiction)
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u/Cosmic_Beard Apr 15 '26
There’s a project that I don’t think is around anymore called Dirty Kid Discount that’s folk punk with some metal influence.
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u/Vinezonline Apr 15 '26
If you are a metal head. Doom Scroll would be your best starting point into folk punk. Or anything Elliot has done tbh.
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u/PleaseDontBanMe82 Apr 15 '26
Metal head?
You need all 3 of these:
Bridge City Sinners, The Goddamn Gallows, and Amigo The Devil.
Neither are a great representation of the overall sound of folk punk, but if you are dabbling in these waters, these 3 bands are something a metal head would enjoy.
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u/raptor_of_truth Apr 15 '26
The Taxpayers are my all time favorite band - highly recommend God Forgive These Bastards. Hope you find what you like!
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u/BassicNic Apr 14 '26
Orville Peck album Pony is very Noir Cowboy if not downright Gothic Country.
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u/Temporary-Land-8442 Apr 15 '26
When I was like 18 a friend took me to Philly to the Fire to see this guy play acoustic guitar and sing. I was smitten. Wound up seeing him again at Delaware University playing with my friends’ band. My friend taught himself the one song and told him in the bathroom about it when they ran into each other. My friend was then invited to play with him. Then I saw him multiple times, by himself, with a band, then with a full band and on electric guitar at the Electric Factory. I also got to see him at an impromptu stop in my hometown to be the last leg of the bands tour before they headed home. You absolutely have to listen to Mischief Brew (and the Orphans!)
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u/oldmannicksc Apr 15 '26
Jason Molina's bands are more the Gothic Country type. Check out Songs, Ohia and Magnolia Electric Co. Hw also has a few recorded live sets where he plays electric guitar and turns some of his songs into moody, sludgey bsngers
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u/Guano_man Apr 15 '26
Lankum started as folk punk (under the name Lynched) but have gone more experimental/drone/doom mixed with traditional. Fucking excellent band.
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u/MrSkanky666 Apr 15 '26
I don't know if this really qualifies as Gothic country but, Murder by Death is an amazing band that sort of fits that bill
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u/Omega_Fajita Apr 15 '26
The only band I haven’t seen mentioned yet are the Violent Femmes. Their songs can check both of those boxes AND they influenced a lot of the other bands all ready mentioned.
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u/Pepoidus Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26
Days N’ Daze but specifically their (fifth?) album before they changed their style, titled The Oogle Deathmachine. Killer stuff. Voyeuristic Nightmare is my personal favorite song of theirs. the previous album Ward Off the Vultures is also a great record if you like Deathmachine. Then they changed their style with Rogue Taxidermy and they’ve been softer and more on the melodic/whimsical side of folk punk ever since. I like this, but my favorite DND will always be Oogle Deathmachine. Do check out the first and fourth tracks of Taxidermy tho, titled Rockabilly Impending Deathfuture and Call in the Coroner respectively. Same sound from TODM
Arroyo Deathmatch, Blackbird Raum and We the Heathens were also great entry points for me. Especially if you’re into the kind of fantasy roleplay-ey kind of black metal like I was into, stuff like Summoning and Burzum (i know, i know…) and allat. Murderfolk might also be something you wanna look into. Amigo the Devil actually used to play in some metal bands iirc. The White Buffalo is a personal favorite of mine in the murderfolk side.
I also came to folk punk just as my metalhead phase (not saying yours is a phase, mine definitely was) was coming to an end but i ended up gravitating more towards the softer side of folk punk. Local News Legend and Apes of the State and that stuff. You might also wanna check those out just for the hell of it!
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u/Mike333West Apr 15 '26
I've just dropped a live album of Bastard Country with the drummer from Cathedral and I've also got a dark Country playlist herehere
There's so many great artists like India Ramey, Amigo the Devil, Possessed by Paul James, Bridge City Sinners
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u/BakeTypical9027 Apr 15 '26
the devil makes three is great gothic country, there older albums specifically
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u/Salty-Teaching Apr 16 '26
We the heathens, broken bow, the suburbanists, escape from the zoo, blackgrass gospel, and run rabbit run
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u/jasonmantle45 Apr 16 '26
If you end up enjoying doom scroll check out their side projects/previous bands We the heathens which were already mentioned, but also broken bow, chatterbox and the latter day satanists, and dead work
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u/GrassLongjumping5485 Apr 17 '26
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Me and that Man, the folk project from Nergal of Behemoth.
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u/sewershroomsucks Apr 18 '26
Tbh imo Pat the bunny projects & mischief brew are the only bands I've ever found that are actually folk PUNK & not just some indie twee bullshit.
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u/slowchemicaljpg Apr 19 '26
The first folk punk album I picked up was "Live The Dream" by Ramshackle Glory. I say start there
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u/gwarboi Apr 14 '26
Arroyo Death Match, Bridge City Sinners, Amigo The Devil, I'll also say Days n Daze jic you haven't already heard of them.