Blank Generation
If the title track didn't sum up an entire generation, it certainly captured the frazzled swagger of early punk rock. Launched from New York City's famous C.B.G.B. nightclub, the Voidoids released this debut in 1977, around the same time as Television'sMarquee Moon. A rewrite of an old cornball Beat song, "Blank Generation" echoes the Sex Pistols's cries of "no future." "Love Comes in Spurts," the 1977 album's other classic, is a double-entendre both playful and menacing. The rest is the sound of Hell's nervous voice rubbing up against Robert Quine's equally nervous electric-guitar playing and an unyielding rhythm section.Steve Knopper