London, UK · punk · power-pop

999

1 upcoming festival

First-wave London punk with a power-pop instinct that made them unusually durable — 'Homicide' and a catalog of sharp, hooky singles still delivered at full pelt.

999 formed in London in 1976, part of the first wave of British punk, with Nick Cash on vocals and guitar and Guy Days on lead guitar. Their records paired the speed and bluntness of punk with a strong pop instinct — hooks, harmonies and guitar lines closer to power pop than to the genre's more austere corners.

"Homicide" remains their best-known song, and singles such as "Emergency" and "I'm Alive" helped them build a following in Britain and, unusually for their peers, a durable one in the United States. The band has continued performing across the decades, and their sets still run at the pace of the original recordings.

punkpower-pop