The Punker Bunker

I’m so happy to see the Punker Bunker is still alive and well… almost ten years ago I happily stumbled upon the shop after re-​enacting the good scenes from «Quadrophenia» down by the piers. I remember being slightly sad that the majority of stores in NYC that had the same feel had closed up. The staff were really great, cluing us in to some local shows and they even knew about a band from my hometown back in the states that had toured the UK a year earlier. It’s funny how I can remember which records I bought (Scarfo, Boyracer, the Fuel/​Phleg Camp split), but I can’t recall what I ate for breakfast four days ago. It certainly seemed to live up the need of not only a conduit for sounds new and old, but as a community focal point for the underground. I wish every city in every country could claim a Punker Bunker of their own. Plus, did I mention the name rhymes and is a far better moniker than «Working Stiff’s Hassle Castle».

Frankly, the fact that Punker Bunker hasn’t been reviewed numerous times is a little disappointing. It’s one of Brighton’s cult music stores and is almost an institution in the punk and skacore scene. Situated in a grubby little basement below a second hand vintage clothing shop it’s an underground joint selling t-​shirts, LPs and tickets. From ceiling to floor its walls are adorned in true punk style with hundreds of appropriately crude posters, flyers and stickers. Places like this exist in small numbers these days so check it out before it’s too late.

The Punker Bunker is the living embodiment of keeping it real. Run from the basement of another shop by a dude called Buzz this is the heart of the Brighton underground scene. It would be perhaps more at home in southern California in the 1990s or perhaps just Briton in the late 1970s. You pass through Immediate (the ska shop) and descend the rickety old stairs into the poster covered and be-​stickered lair of punk below. The shop its’ self is a tiny little cube of a place with no windows and a great selection of CDs, Vinyl, posters, T-​shirts and even comic books and fanzines that all seem to have been independently knocked together. This isn’t the best place to pick up anything mainstream though. Having been a fan of punk since my teens I have a fairly good knowledge of what’s out there but half of these names completely escape me. I think the most well known band you’re likely to find down here are NOFX. All in then, this is as good as it gets. Thanks Buzz.

Well, this is relatively easy to describe: a shop in the North Laine all about punk music. Everything for the Sid Vicious in you is right there, from CDs and badges to other memorabilia and bits and pieces. It’s impossible here to really criticise beyond the most basic point: do you like punk or not? If so, go, if not, there’s nothing here for you: it is that simple.
Not being particularly ‘punky’ (I had my emo-​metal phase, then jumped straight into liking Chopin and working in theatre), I felt really quite forlorn. There wasn’t really much I would wear, listen to, let alone buy, so I tried to put myself in the shoes of somewhere more ‘punk’ than me.
The selection seems to be quite wide-​spread, with CDs and LPs from famous as well as the more niche punk bands out there. There is also a wide collection of badges and other clothing items that fit into the whole punk aesthetic, and apparently you can also buy tickets for various gigs around the South East through the front desk: a great little service.
In the end, I can’t really say much more than that about The Punker Bunker. If you like punk, it’s definitely for you, although if you’re anything more than a fanatic, you might find it a bit much.

Whaaaaaaat? How has this place not been reviewed hundreds of times? For anyone that wants to experience a Brighton institution you must head into Immediate Clothing on Sydney Street and venture downstairs into the basement. That is where you’ll find the Punker Bunker, selling LPs, tickets and T-​shirts it’s the primary place for fans of punk and skacore to get their kicks.

Punker Bunker was one of those shops that had me feeling just a tad like I didn’t belong. The closest I’ve ever come to participating in punk culture was watching Punky Brewster in the 1980s, and I assure you (in case you didn’t get that delightful sitcom in the UK) it’s not close.
Still, I played it cool, checking out the CDs and vinyl as though I might be inclined to purchase something. A sign let me know the sales clerk would let me listen to anything I was interested in. Other than the music, Punker Bunker offered gig tickets, t-​shirts, badges, and other punk band memorabilia. For a small, basement shop, there was quite a large selection. It’s probably best that I refrained, but I found myself tempted to say to one of the other customers, «That Sid Vicious was a bit of a nogoodnik, wasn’t he?»

Situated underneath the Immdiate Clothing shop, the Punker Bunker is a root and basis for the local underground scene. Selling vinyl, CDs, t-​shirts and fanzines from everywhere and about everything, the store is a haven for the local underground scene.
Many bargins to be found if you like loud guitars, especially in the vinyl section, with classic punk and ska being available for a good price.