Everyone that follows me knows I believe in the power of YouTube punk. I steal all my shit from there. All my best friends are YouTube Punks. If your music isn’t on the giant video platform, is it even really music?

Today, I’m gonna take a stab at being a Buzzfeed article writer and give you a list of all the channels that keep me in the know, keep the internet teeming with punk, and capture the best of what goes on at the shows you didn’t attend.

I’ve been subscribed to Harakiri Diat for years at this point. Boasting 13,468 subscribers (and counting) this channel has a lot to offer anyone looking for new music.

What I like about Harakiri Diat is the simplicity of their videos, the array of subgenres they capture, and the frequency they post. You won’t get the fluff some lesser known channels offer. The videos are always straightforward albums, demos, and EPs with the artwork. Also, there’s always a link to download the music if you really dig it.

While the channel has a lot of diverse, far-reaching music, it still feels like whoever uploads to this channel has a very specific taste. It’s definitely not a one-stop-shop for punk, but it’s at least well stocked.

FFO: Egg, Midwest, hardcore, international representation, lack of opinion

With 8,721 followers currently, this channel focuses a lot more on the harder stuff that the aforementioned Harakiri Diat. However, if you’re not looking to dig deep into YouTube, but want a solid dose of punk, pairing these two together will give you a nice combo.

Another channel solely focused on albums and EPs, you’ll get a bit more ‘chain’ representation here. While I don’t check out what Atom has to offer as often as I do other channels, the stuff that I like from his channel is in constant rotation. He’s got a lot of stuff I don’t know, which is great because I can always find something new to turn on. Unlike Harakiri Diat, however his description box isn’t as streamlined: you won’t find any clickable content. While he still gives a track list, if you want to listen to a specific song you’ll have to click around the video to find it. Just to nitpick a bit, his download links aren’t clickable either – you’ll have to go through some extra steps to get to the bandcamp or mediafire, especially if you’re using the YouTube app.

FFO: East Coast, Chain, band names you’re not sure how to pronounce, international bands with weird characters in the names, having to cut and paste

This channel is a bit hard for me to talk about. While Anti has 14,489 subscribers, you’re never really sure what’s going on with him. Jimmy has had a loyal cult following for a long time. Some might even say that he singlehandedly spread egg punk.

I’ll start by saying that Anti deserves a first place spot on this list. I’ll get into why he isn’t later. What makes this such a great channel is that everything Jimmy posts is great. If you dig this subgenre, he really picks the best of the best. As a huge fan, I can click on any video and know I’m going to like it. If Jimmy likes it, so will I. Being featured on the channel is some type of award.

The artwork is always well uploaded; it always looks great. Unlike previous channels discussed thus far, Jimmy puts in a good amount of time telling you about the band, or his experiences, or his thoughts. Sometimes he writes so much that he has to continue the discourse in the comments. Just to give you a little snip of what makes his writing great here’s a very tiny excerpt from his writing on the Judy and The Jerks demo:

Back, just had to spend some time figuring out how to turn on my computer again. You mean to tell me I can’t just power this thing on with wifi? The future is fucking disappointing.

That leads me, however, to why Anti is not number one on my list.

You never know what’s going on with him. He once spent a year not posting, leaving everyone to wonder if he was fucking dead. Jimmy eventually came back (at this point, changing his channel name to ‘Anti,’ which is why I use the names interchangeably) but you still never know. As of this blog post he hasn’t uploaded in 8 month. Jimmy seems to wrestle a bit with his small following, possibly being overwhelmed by it. It’s understandable. It’s hard to have that much control over a scene. Clicking on any of his videos, you’re sure to find people begging him to come back.

The truth is, though, even if he never posts again, you should check him out. Anti is a great channel chockfull with great albums, demos, EPs, and live recordings. Some of it you can’t find anywhere else on the internet. Some of the bands are just pseudonyms of other projects, like toss-aways that are secretly better than their ‘real’ bands.

FFO: sporadic posting, great content, Egg, great description boxes, having mental breakdowns

To perfectly round out channels that highlight current bands’ albums and EPs, we’ve got to talk about No Deal.

While this channel doesn’t actively boast how many subscribers they have (an option YouTube allows), it’s not hard to see that this is a budding baby channel. There’s only 86 videos currently uploaded by No Deal, but it’s really no big deal. Each one is a slammer.

No Deal has that NYC/Austin vibe; that in-between of weirdo and hardcore punk. You’re sure to find bands with breakdown and scratchy guitars with incoherent riffs. Where the other three channels above are lacking, No Deal picks up where they leave off. This is the channel I put on at the after party at the grossest punk house in town after drinking way too much wine from a space bag.

On a serious note, No Deal also is the best of both worlds as a channel. Each description box comes with time stamped songs, clickable links to the download sites, and there’s usually a little blurb with their personal thoughts.

FFO: Weirdo, music to slam dance to, hardcore for the hardcore, concise opinions

Moving away from record channels, I want to talk about my favorite type of channel: the live gig guys. The nerds up front at every gig blocking your view with his clunky video camera that he probably bought at a thrift store. They really have a special place in my heart. Not just because I steal their content for my Instagram, but because there are so few of them. I know about some scenes solely because these guys brave the sneers from onlookers and upload whatever they recorded. Not many scenes have a dude like that. I know mine doesn’t. Yet.

These channels don’t often have many views, many videos, or much content. But they should have so much more of all of the above. They are integral to getting the word out about why the scene they inhabit are the best, and prove it time and time again.

5. Vessel Deserted (TX)

This is by far the channel I steal from the most. Not only does Vessel Deserted have a slew of great local bands, but they get out for some (hard to find online) touring bands as well. Their camera style is in-your-face, in-the-pit style to the point that some of their videos short out from getting slammed. They use great, old school graphics on the screen. It’s good to see someone really highlighting what Texas has to offer, because it’s one of my favorite places for punk today.

Must See Videos: Bib, Nosferatu, Exit Order

This is definitely a baby channel for sure. But with such a lack of accessibility, being all the way in Singapore, I want to highlight this channel.

With only 7 videos to choose from, you can breeze through the best Singapore has to offer. Clearly everyone else has already done that, because each video racks up over 1,000 views – Sial being the large exception with 5k. If you need a starter to what’s going on over there, this is the place to find out. From what I understand, the space triples as a practice and show space when not being filmed.

Must See Videos: Urgent Matter, Sial, Unsub

Holy shit. I didn’t realize until researching for this blog just how many videos this channel had. While 91 videos doesn’t seem like a ton, for a live gig channel it’s certainly a lot.

A lot of good, for sure.

Scrolling through what they’ve captured, you were sure to think you were reading a ‘who’s who’ list of egg punk today. Mostly active during the Everything is Not Ok fests, this is the egg punk live feed haven.

Must See Videos: Lysol, Control Test, Beta Boys

Well, that’s it. Did I miss anyone? Fuck that, I know I did. Comment below who I should have added, who I should have omitted; who you dug and who you hated.