Meet the Oakland Guy Making Fun of Your Favorite California Punk Bands

His name is Gabe Katz. He’s 37 years old and lives in Oakland. And for weeks, punks all over the Bay Area (and beyond) have been sharing his hilarious impersonations of California’s favorite punk bands.

Katz, a music teacher by day and guitarist and punk rock drummer by night, also co-hosts Turd Polisher: a podcast that relentlessly (and gloriously) dismantles guests’ least favorite songs of all time. In short, the man understands song structure. And punk rock. And hilarity. Which is how he came up with the now-widely shared, supremely knowing, one-minute takedowns.

It all started back in January with the Rancid one. “Every Rancid Song” expertly captures the essence of the East Bay quartet in five easy steps:

✓Enunciation that’s just a little bit British
✓Talking about walking
✓References to drab infrastructural entities
✓A vague suggestion of poverty
✓Gratuitously mentioning geographic locations (Rancid does this so often, someone on Reddit made a map)

@gabekatz_ Every Rancid Song #punk #punkrock #rancid #rancidpunks #funny #music #punkrock #oakland #hellcatrecords #thisiswhatgetsmecancelled #comedy ♬ original sound – Gabe Katz

(If you have no idea why this is funny, go and listen to Rancid’s “Olympia, WA,” “Lulu” and “Nihilism.”)

Next up is Katz’s “Every NOFX Song,” which perfectly encapsulates the San Francisco pop punks using the following elements:

✓A reference to drugs
✓At least one person’s full name
✓A reference to a bar
✓A reference to another band
✓A reference to pee

Boom!

@gabekatz_ Every NoFX song. #nofx #fatmike #fatmikeddude #punk #punkrock #fatwreckchords #sanfrancisco #sf #fishermanswharf #vanswarpedtour #warpedtour #theeparkside #funny #comedyvideo #music #thisiswhatgetsmecancelled #whythefuckwouldtheydothisshit ♬ original sound – Gabe Katz

(If you have no idea why this is funny, go and listen to NOFX’s “Kids of the K-Hole,” “Seeing Double at the Triple Rock” and “See Her Pee.”)

Finally, there’s “Every Bad Religion Song,” which captures the So-Cal legends using the following formula:

✓A staccato delivery
✓References to scientific pursuits
✓Rolling your eyes at God
✓Relentless assonance
✓Throwing shade at mindless mainstream culture

@gabekatz_ Every Bad Religion song. #badreligion #epitaphrecords #punk #punkrock #comedyvideo #funny #thisiswhatgetsmecancelled #gabekatzcomedy ♬ original sound – Gabe Katz

(If you have no idea why this is funny, go and listen to Bad Religion’s “American Jesus,” “Atomic Garden” and “Modern Day Catastrophists.”)

Katz says we can definitely expect more videos like these from him in future, but asked which other bands he has in his sights, he says simply: “I cannot divulge that information at this time.”

Katz is hoping to move into comedy writing and voice acting full-time soon. Asked why he started making fun of these beloved bands in the first place, he is firm. “They had it coming,” he says.

Place your bets now on who’s got it coming next. Lagwagon? Dead Kennedys? Green Day? Pennywise? Black Flag? Fingers crossed for all of the above.