Sleater-Kinney - The Hot Rock (1999)

God is a Number.
What you want to know, what can you believe?
Grow up on the internet, get off on t.v.
Tell me about God and Country, music, heart and history.
Answer me with computations, answer me with industry.

The Hot Rock

1. "Start Together" - 2:38
2. "Hot Rock" - 3:17
3. "The End of You" - 3:20
4. "Burn, Don't Freeze" - 3:19
5. "God Is a Number" - 3:44
6. "Banned from the End of the World" - 2:09
7. "Don't Talk Like" - 3:04
8. "Get Up" - 3:46
9. "One Song for You" - 2:49
10. "The Size of Our Love" - 3:12
11. "Living in Exile" - 2:31
12. "Memorize Your Lines" - 3:10
13. "A Quarter to Three" - 4:03

NOFX - Punk in Drublic (1994)

This is another record from high school that was on regular rotation. Several years ago I took a road trip down to San Fransisco blasting this record and Sublime's 40 Oz. To Freedom. During that same road trip my car got broken into and my girlfriend at the time broke up with me. Hopefully it wasn't my taste in music that was at fault (see also superstition). "Fat" Mike is also a confirmed atheist.

“I find it’s getting painful to put up/With grown adults who actually believe/In Unicorns and Creation, and god always takes their side.”

Punk in Drublic

1. "Linoleum" – 2:10
2. "Leave It Alone" – 2:04
3. "Dig" – 2:16
4. "The Cause" – 1:37
5. "Don't Call Me White" – 2:33
6. "My Heart Is Yearning" – 2:23
7. "Perfect Government" – 2:05
8. "The Brews" – 2:40
9. "The Quass" – 1:18
10. "Dying Degree" – 1:50
11. "Fleas" – 1:47
12. "Lori Meyers  – 2:21
13. "Jeff Wears Birkenstocks?" – 1:26
14. "Punk Guy" – 1:08
15. "Happy Guy" – 1:58
16. "Reeko" – 3:05
17. "Scavenger Type" – 7:12

Darkthrone - The Cult Is Alive (2006)

I fucking love Darkthrone. I should probably make a Darkthrone sorting label and post their entire catalog but I'll refrain. This record is probably one of my favorite newer ones. It took awhile to grow on me because I was very attached to their old black metal style, but there are some awesome crust punk jams on this one, "Too Old, Too Cold" gets stuck in my head all the time. Their newest record, The Underground Resistance, marks another shift in style and its goddamn amazing. Oh yeah, both members of this band are atheists, remember?

The Cult Is Alive

1. The Cult Of Goliath
2. Too Old Too Cold
3. Atomic Coming
4. Graveyard Slut
5. Underdogs And Overlords
6. Whisky Funeral
7. De Underjordiske (Ælia Capitolina)
8. Tyster På Gud
9. Shut Up
10. Forebyggende Krig

Skeptical Punks: A Manifesto

Scientific skepticism is not limited to laboratory testing, gangly men in white lab coats, and only those with Ph.D.'s.  It is a lens that anyone can use to view the world and a tool to dispatch fallacy.  Scientific skeptics use science and the scientific method to investigate reality and believe it is the best way (that we're currently aware of) to arrive at truth.  We discourage accepting claims on faith, anecdotal evidence, or shady logic.  We attempt to remove our emotional biases from what we want to be true.  Scientific skepticism is punk at its core.  It is anti-authoritarian, critical of established beliefs, strongly individualistic (yet we understand the power of peer review), and non-conformist.  In society there are many beliefs and ideas which are generally accepted as being factual or true that are false or do not have sufficient data back up their validity.  By having a generally questioning, critical, and scientifically skeptical worldview, in the face of commonly held falsehoods and biased opposition, we are being punk. 

Some would say that skepticism is an inherently negative activity, that we are calling into question people's deeply held beliefs which should be respected regardless of their factual validness.  There is majesty in this way of thinking, however.  By repudiating pseudoscience, faith, and uncritical thinking we are freeing ourselves from mental bondage.  Occasionally scientists make mistakes, data becomes more and more refined, we may throw ourselves into a claim which may be reversed by further study, but at least we have the conviction to stand up and say "I was wrong!"  Scientific skepticism is the freedom to view the world as close as we can approximate to how it actually is, not what we desperately want it to be.  Punk rock is freedom.

Our belief is not a belief. Our principles are not a faith. We do not rely solely upon science and reason, because these are necessary rather than sufficient factors, but we distrust anything that contradicts science or outrages reason. We may differ on many things, but what we respect is free inquiry, openmindedness, and the pursuit of ideas for their own sake.

- Christopher Hitchens

Darkthrone - Panzerfaust (1995)

The fifth album from the seminal black metal/punk band Darkthrone, features raw production, heavy vocal effects, and lyrics which summon pangs of despondency within the listener.  It also features lyrics from the dreaded Varg Vikernes of murderous Burzum fame.  While I've listened to Darkthrone's earlier works more extensively, this one was a relatively recent discovery and has quickly become one of my favorite Darkthrone albums.  The Norwegian mastermind behind Darkthrone, Freniz, is a self-described atheist, somewhat of a rarity within the pseudo-cult black metal scene, in which musicians often embrace left-hand path religions such as satanism or Odinism.  While I was initially concerned that their association with Varg Vikerness might also include an association with racism, Darkthrone have maintained an apolitical stance throughout their career – although Fenriz claimed he was once arrested while participating in an anti-apartheid demonstration [1].

Panzerfaust

1. "En vind av sorg" (A Wind of Sorrow)
2. "Triumphant Gleam"
3. "The Hordes of Nebulah"
4. "Hans siste vinter" (His Last Winter)
5. "Beholding the Throne of Might"
6. "Quintessence"
7. "Snø og granskog (Utferd)" (Snow and Spruce Forest (Outro)) 

Bad Religion - How Could Hell Be Any Worse? (1982)

Wired Magazine came out with a big exposé of "the new atheists". I was interviewed for it—and yet I think I was included as a sidebar but not as a main feature and I think the main reason they did that was because they noticed that I wasn't that happy billing myself as an atheist. To me it just doesn't say that much; it doesn't say much about you. Instead I bill myself as a naturalist, which I think says a lot more. Because a naturalist is someone who... first of all—they study natural science, and they have a hopeful message—I think—to send to the world, which is... we can agree on what the truth is... and it has to be through experimentation, verification, and new discoveries, followed by more verification. So... if we can agree on those terms, we can agree that the truth changes, based on new discoveries, and the structure of science is such that you can never be so sure of something, because a new discovery can rework the framework—it can reconstruct the framework of your science and you have to look at the world differently. That makes it a very dynamic and exciting place to be. And if you say "you're an atheist", it's not really saying much about how you came to that conclusion. But if you say "you're a naturalist", I think it says something. You've reached that point because you've studied science, because you believe there's a fundamental way of looking at the world that is part of a long tradition. And so, I prefer naturalist.
— Greg Graffin [1]



How Could Hell Be Any Worse? (1982)

1.	"We're Only Gonna Die"
2.	"Latch Key Kids"
3.	"Part III"
4.	"Faith in God"
5.	"Fuck Armageddon... This Is Hell"
6.	"Pity"
7.	"In the Night"
8.	"Damned to Be Free"
9.	"White Trash (2nd Generation)"
10.	"American Dream"
11.	"Eat Your Dog"
12.	"Voice of God Is Government"
13.	"Oligarchy"
14.	"Doing Time"

H = k log(1/p)