Cali-punk smackdown: Green Day vs. Blink-182

Punk-rock cred

Both Blink and Green Day started out on indie punk labels before graduating to the majors. Blink’s first home was a San Diego-based label group called Cargo Music, which released the band’s first album, “Cheshire Cat,” on their Grilled Cheese label in 1994. Cargo gets points for obscurity (ever hear of Naked Aggression? The Posers? Swindle?), but it can’t touch the reputation of Lookout! Records, the Bay Area label that launched not only Green Day, but also Rancid, the Donnas and Pansy Division. Even though Green Day long ago severed all ties with Lookout, their roots with the imprint and the whole late ‘80s East Bay punk scene lend them an air of authenticity that Blink’s surfer-dude take on snot-core punk has never quite matched.

Advantage: Green Day