Screeching Weasel

Formed in the late 1980s by the famously outspoken Ben Weasel (né Foster) and John "Jughead" Pierson, Chicago's Screeching Weasel were one of the most popular and influential bands of the early 1990s pop punk explosion. The band's mix of hardcore fury with sweet, Ramones-inspired melodies, and a relentlessly goofball image would provide a blueprint for numerous bands to come, including chart-toppers such as Green Day, Blink 182, and Fall Out Boy. Though their forever-a-teenager demeanor was ripe for mass appeal, Screeching Weasel never achieved the success of so many bands that followed in their footsteps--due in no small part to Foster's relentlessly principled (some might argue annoyingly so) take on the punk lifestyle. They remained a popular cult band for years, though, recording and touring on and off into the 2000s.