I think the first punk bands were in Russia in the 80s, in the Soviet Union in late 70s, but I don�t know much about this time. There were problems with the police and not too much information. There was one good band, A.U. I think the first punk band in Russia, they were all about one man then he died and the band broke up.
In the early 90s there were lots of punk bands. You can see them on TV and in movies, but honestly they sounded terrible and most of them turned into nazi punks. They were so called alco-punks and look really disgusting. Now in Russia most of the old school punks are Nazis (or at least work with nazi labels) like the now popular Purgen. Some of them then turned to MTV and are now playing shit like Blink182.
I know of only a few bands that are playing good street punk in Russia � in Moscow, Zuname (they are really good) and Thanx2alco, in Petersburg there is Caries (I heard they broke up now, but I�m not sure), they more Brit-core.
If you�re into Oi!, there is only one band in all of Russia, Uchitel Truda, but they perfect, at least people think so. Their gigs are always lots of fun. Of course there are some nazi bands who call themselves Oi!, but they are really pop punk or metal.
In Russia pop punk is very popular. Most bands call themselves punk and play pop punk, but I don�t like this stuff. Sorry�can�t say anything about it.
About hardcore. As far as I know, Russian hardcore was born in Moscow. The first band was probably Step Back, then Skygrain. After these bands there were B67(later xb67) and XXX. All of these bands were really good, they play very original hxc that you can call Russian school � too bad all of them are dead (RIP). At least they had recorded some demos. Also, a long time ago, a brilliant band called Clownsball started playing. They call themselves hool�s core (hooligans core), sounds like street core. Another band that wasn�t bad was 095 (RIP).
Now in Moscow the hardcore scene is not too big. Most people turned to emo; I�m not a big fan of this music. There is Marshak and a few other bands, but I forget their names exactly. About hardcore I think there is only one good band called Changes (they sound like Endstand). There is also a good metal core band called Breakwar.
In Petersburg I think the first hxc band was 5corners. They are still alive and really good. Then there is Marradery (but they�re not very active now). And young punk hxc band Til I Die � they�re my favorites. Also there was a good hxc band in Stalingrad, Dharma Wheel, now their leader lives in Tampere, but the band is still alive and he has Finnish band members, so you can see them play in Finland.
What else� Ska is now very popular (in Moscow mostly between Nazis; there are even nazi punk bands), but most bands that play ska / ska-punk are really disgusting. There ain�t any good bands in Moscow, mostly terrible ska-punk. There are a few cool bands in Petersburg. There was also the first Russian ska band, Strange Games (Stranie Igry), they broke up a long time ago, but have an album. You might know Spitfire (ska-punk) and theiri new project, Saint Petersburg Ska Jazz Review. And also there was a good band Froglegs (started out like 2tone, but are now closer to traditional ska). That�s probably all.
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