Vinyl: collecting and playing the records
Punk and new wave were built on cheap seven-inch singles, and those records are still the best way to hear them. These guides help you collect sensibly, tell pressings apart and choose something decent to play them on.
Independent labels are a large part of the appeal. Stiff, Rough Trade and Factory released records in small runs, and bands such as Buzzcocks pressed their own. That makes this field rewarding and also tricky, because reissues and counterfeits exist and sleeves alone often prove little.
The useful skills are learnable. Matrix numbers in the run-out groove, label variations and pressing plant marks tell you more about a record than a seller's description does. Condition matters as much as rarity, and grading standards help you compare what is on offer.
These are working guides with clear criteria. We do not publish invented lab tests or star ratings, and we leave out prices that we cannot back up, because they move quickly and vary by market.
In this section
3 pages
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Choosing a turntable: what actually matters
How to choose a turntable: drive type, tonearm, cartridge, phono stage, speeds and set-up explained, plus what to check on a used deck. Clear criteria, no invented test scores.
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Collecting punk records: a practical guide
How to collect punk vinyl records: which singles and labels matter, how grading works, how to spot reissues and fakes, and how to build a collection without overpaying.
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How to identify first pressings of vinyl records
How to identify first pressing vinyl: read matrix numbers in the run-out groove, compare labels and sleeves, check catalogue numbers and use discographies, with punk-era examples.
Other sections
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Genres
Punk, new wave, post-punk, no wave and Neue Deutsche Welle explained: where each style began, which records define it and where the boundaries blur.
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Scenes
CBGB on the Bowery, New York punk and London in 1976: the clubs, shops and people that turned a few local bands into a movement.
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Lists
The best punk albums, new wave songs, and the punk, post-punk and new wave bands that matter, each entry with year, place and a reason.
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Songs
The stories behind punk and new wave songs: recording, line-up, chart history and meaning, told in our own words and without printing any lyrics.
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Bands
Independent band profiles from punk and new wave, starting with Blondie: line-ups, key records and where each band fits in the story.
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Press
How NME, Sounds, Creem, Punk magazine and Sniffin' Glue covered and shaped punk and new wave, from weekly music papers to photocopied fanzines.