"I Have Been to Heaven and Back," The Mekons (1989)

Late song off Rock'n'Roll (1989), and as pure an example of The Mekons rock & roll as you're going to find. One way you can tell the pure stuff is if they, Sally and/or Tom and/or Jon, kick up their heels like drunken Rockettes when the band joins all together on the crashing downbeats. Like bullfighting Ole's, shambolic urban thriftshop world music. Or Mekons Rock'n'Roll! 

Or rock & roll or rock-n-roll all superior to rock and roll because they bind the two, the  'rock' and the 'roll,' together more tightly than the common rock 'and' roll. I prefer the upper case musical duets, like Sam & Dave, and the imperial E Pluribus Unum of the ampersand but I'm okay with the informality of the apostrophe too. Mekons Rock'n'Roll.  

 

Hedwig & the Angry Inch (2001)

"Angry Inch," Hedwig & the Angry Inch: In theatrical form as pure a piece of punk rock as you're likely to find in the 21st century. The sound is rooted in early '70s glam rock, T-Rex, Bowie, so it's transgender glam rock punk rock. Intense, funny, and brutally poignant. This is the DIY punk aesthetic in the 21st century, tightly scripted and catchy as hell. Cinematic punk rock.