The brother duo of Chip and Tony Kinman has together impacted punk more than most of the bands associated with the late-70s West Coast scene. Together, the Kinman name has been cemented in scenes across California, including the competitive and burgeoning Los Angeles and San Francisco scenes. While the Kinmans are primarily associated with the invention of cow-punk through their rootsy explorations of the genre’s limits, to act as if their place in hardcore punk history is anything less than innovative and impactful would be a disservice to these musicians.
Chip and Tony formed The Dils in 1976 in Los Angeles, only to make a quick move to San Francisco, where Tony briefly joined fellow punk legends The Avengers. While their foray into studios produced only a handful of singles, The Dils largely impacted the direction punk was heading. The band packed the ferociousness of punk into tight, pop-tinted harmonies brimming with confused angst and sugary undertones. For this Golden Age Thursday, we have a performance from The Dils that beautifully encapsulates the adolescent innovation that the band would inevitably strike gold on. The footage comes from a 1979 performance at The Rock Island, a historic punk venue in Houston.
