The sad thing is that if one is interested in Punk and living far away from where any action is, it's going to be very difficult to catch any shows, especially when the price of gas is what it is now. Back in my day, the price for gas was pennies by comparison (and the price to get in was as well) and there were more places willing to at least present a show at times. The best thing for today is that there's more effective ways to promote so that those who have the transportation, the luck to live nearby, or have a friend to drive them can get to a show with ease, but still there's the hurdles.
Punk is best experienced live, this coming from someone who has been at a good amount of shows in the Late 80's and suffered through a lot of badly recorded albums and cassettes that kill off the edge through the production a little. Nothing beats having your ears attacked by the sounds through the loud amps and sharing the experience with those on the same journey.
For a couple of my vinyl suggestions - The Avengers were a great Californian band who's life was short but all too sweet. Penelope Huston is a great vocalist. Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols actually got to produce a few tracks. The collection was a favorite car tape until it met it's unfortunate demise, but thankfully the fates had it for me to get the vinyl.
the UK Subs had many good records that went mainly into the lower half of The British Top 40 through their classic years, and the collection of As and Bs is a fine way to hear them all in one shot. Dependable and sometimes very catchy ("Stranglehold"). They are still moving on, and I heard that there's a collection released through Cleopatra as of late. Their discography is a mess with all of the various collections and love sets among the regular albums. I wish I could show you Flood of Lies, but I will say that it's a pretty good album from the post-hit years and Japan Today is not that bad either, although I'd stick to the early stuff that made their mark first.
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