Reason for Warning: This article makes brief mention of white supremacy, Neo-Nazism, rape, sexual assault, and other sensitive topics.
Punk is a subculture that encompasses music, ideologies, fashion, and various forms of artistic expression. It originated from punk rock, a genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Punk rock's musical characteristics include short, fast-paced songs with stripped-down instrumentation. The genre drew inspiration from 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, while rejecting the commercial aspects of mainstream 1970s rock. Lyrical themes often revolve around anti-establishment and anti-authoritarian viewpoints.
The punk ethos emphasizes non-conformity, anti-capitalism, anti-authoritarianism, and a do-it-yourself ethic, including a refusal to "sell out" by compromising artistic or ideological integrity. Punk fashion incorporates diverse elements such as ripped T-shirts, leather jackets, studded accessories, and hairstyles like mohawks or brightly colored hair. Visual art associated with punk often employs minimalist and satirical techniques, including collage and stenciling. Punk has also generated a significant body of literature and poetry, and fostered the development of independent publications known as zines, which serve as platforms for alternative voices and ideas.
Early punk rock bands included Television, Patti Smith, Richard Hell and the Voidoids, and the Ramones in New York City; the Saints in Brisbane; and the Sex Pistols, the Clash, and the Damned in London. By the late-1970s, punk had spread globally, leading to the development of subgenres such as hardcore punk, Oi!, street punk, and anarcho-punk.
Punk's influence extended beyond music, contributing to movements such as post-punk, new wave, thrash metal, and alternative rock. In the 1990s, bands like Green Day and the Offspring brought punk rock to mainstream attention. The anti-government and anti-capitalist sentiment prevalent in the 1970s United Kingdom punk scene was also shared by other bands in the 1970s and 1980s.
History[]
It's unclear exactly when punk started to form but it's largely attributed to the 1970s, following the footsteps of the Hippie movement. But while the Hippies were more from the white upper middle class, Punk was born from those who were a part of the working class and angry. Which is why most Punks realized that the system was the problem itself, not just creating issues. This led many to preach anarchism, far-left politics, and spitting in the face of the establishment by rejecting the prevailing capitalist philosophy of the time. It's these things that enable Punk as a symbol of rebellion.
Punk and what it represents is why some aesthetics with the "-punk" suffix generally share an attitude of defiance and/or rejection of mainstream society, but there are some which are completely unrelated.
Meanwhile, some people enjoy the visual aspect that came from the 1970s Punk of the USA and UK and reject the philosophy. However most actual Punks would refer to these people as posers since they dress solely for the "look" and not what Punk is about. A popular example of this is the 1998 film SLC Punk!, which specifically made fun of people who wore the fashion, but didn't adhere to the ethos, with main character Stevo (played by Matthew Lillard), famously saying towards the beginning of the film:
"Posers were people who looked like punks but they did it for fashion. And they were fools, they'd say "anarchy in the UK." What the fuck's that? Anarchy in the UK. What good is that to those of us in Utah, America? It was a Sex Pistols thing. They were British, they were allowed to go on about Anarchy in the UK. You don't live your life by lyrics."
Later on, during the 1980s, the movement of Goth was born from the subgenre of Post-Punk. It's the reason why that subculture has many similar values to Punk, because of that shared history.
Common Aesthetics & Fashion[]
General Associated Fashion[]
The fashion commonly associated with the Punk subculture is typically different from other subcultures. Unconventional clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, jewelry, and even body modifications are popular within many punk scenes because of how society often finds them inappropriate due to not adhering to the beauty standard.
Although clothing features tartan plaid pants, band shirts, leather jackets, mohawks, and multi-colored hair, the key element of Punk was the anti-consumerist ideology of wearing clothes either bought at thrift stores or handed down from older family members and modifying it. This is actually where a lot of the plaid and leather came from, it was what was available to them through thrifting and dumpster diving. Something to note is how combat boots are often worn by many Punks. This is because at the time, they were cheaper, durable, and easy to get. Boots such as Doc Martens were considered a standard due to this reason.
Battle Jackets[]
Battle jackets are a jacket adorned with patches related to the wearer's subculture or general interests. These are generally made using denim jackets or leather jackets, sometimes with the sleeves cut off. They are a prominent part of various subcultures but originated from the United States Army Air Corps during World War II, where airmen would sew patches onto their regulation flight jackets. Upon returning from war, the practice was continued by former airmen who became a part of motorcycle clubs. From there, it eventually made its way to the punk subculture.
Typically punk battle jackets will feature bands, political phrases or symbols, as well as other interests. It is also common to see pins added on as well as studs and/or spikes.
Lace Code[]
Lace Code, although largely defunct now, was a way to indicate certain messages depending on the color of your shoe laces on your combat boots. This, of course, only counted if ladder-laced. It started in the skinhead subgroup within the punk movement but soon expanded outside of it. Lace Code also varies from local punk scene to local punk scene. Although it's generally accepted that black laces are no affiliation for example, some lace colors are not as universal. It's always best to ask your local scene to get an idea if there's an active lace code and what that lace code is for this reason.
Music & Art[]
The punk music genre is a massive one and includes over twenty subgenres. Punk is raw and typically played at a fast tempo with aggressive vocals. Lyrical content for punk music ranges from humorous, nonsensical topics to overt statements on political and social issues. Punk embraces a DIY ethic; many bands self-produce recordings and distribute them through independent record labels.
The term "punk rock" was first used by American rock critics in the early 1970s to describe 1960s garage bands and subsequent acts understood to be their stylistic inheritors. When the movement now bearing the name developed between 1974-1976, acts such as Television, Patti Smith, and the Ramones in New York City, the Sex Pistols, the Clash, and the Damned in London, and the Saints in Brisbane formed its vanguard. As 1977 approached, punk became a major cultural phenomenon in the UK. It spawned a punk subculture expressing youthful rebellion through distinctive styles of clothing and adornment (such as deliberately offensive T-shirts, leather jackets, studded or spiked bands and jewelry, safety pins, and bondage and S&M clothes) and a variety of anti-authoritarian ideologies.
Subgenres[]
Hardcore Punk[]
Hardcore Punk is a derivation of punk that is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk scenes in San Francisco and Southern California. Primal screaming, faster tempos and heavily distorted sounding guitar are the major characteristics found in this genre. Lyrics were generally politically charged, and therefore too controversial to air on mainstream media. Hardcore would aim to be very anti-commercial and anti-mainstream. As a result, hardcore is highly influential on a lot of genres, with the most notable being post-hardcore (and everything related to it).
Hardcore punk also developed moshing, a style of dance in which audiences participates in “slam dancing” to express anger and a rejection of conformity. The term originated from Bad Brains's lead singer, who commanded his audience to “mash” – but misinterpreted to be “mosh” due to his Jamaican accent. Moshing is now engaged by fans from many genres, such as metal, grunge, and rap.
Notable hardcore punk bands include: Bad Brains, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, D.R.I., Minor Threat, Dead Kennedys, S.O.B., SS, The Stalin, and Gauze.
Some genres born from hardcore include:
- Melodic Hardcore, a more melodic form of hardcore punk, it is related to skate punk and pop punk and was in force between the 1990s and 2000s. Bands such as Bad Religion, NOFX and Pennywise stand out in this aspect.
- Emotional Hardcore or Emocore spawned from the post-hardcore movement, though emo began to merge into pop punk in the 2000s.
- Queercore, which is centered LGBT+ experiences and issues.
- Post-Hardcore (sometimes abbreviated as PHC) - rooted both as in hardcore punk, as in post-punk, began as to denounce the violence of the current hardcore scene and to promote musical diversity. One of the first post-hardcore scenes was D.C.'s genre-pioneering Revolution Summer (which, as some may say, spawned "emocore") in mid-80s. After most of those bands broke up, Rites Of Spring and Embrace's members formed Fugazi, perhaps the most innovative and influential band in post-hardcore. Ian Mackaye's label, Dischord Records, signed a lot of important post-hardcore bands in 80s and 90s - such as Jawbox, Girls Against Boys and The Nation Of Ulysses. Post-hardcore is not really defining as a particular genre - there are bands named that which used elements of funk, reggae, jazz and other genres in their music. Although some bands were popular in the 90s, post-hardcore became much popular in 00s as in general, showing more commercialized and alike sound, which is why 00s PHC is commonly separated from 80s/90s. Also, it influenced a lot of not-really-PHC bands in 00s in some way - take My Chemical Romance (especially their first two albums) or Fall Out Boy for example. As a result of irony, now the post-hardcore legacy is a part of pop-culture - 00s or current. 80s/90s Post-Hardcore bands include: Fugazi, At The Drive-In, Unwound, Drive Like Jehu, The Jesus Lizard, Rites Of Spring. 00s/10s ones: Enter Shikari, Alexisonfire, Alesana, Underoath, Escape The Fate, From First To Last, Thursday.
- Metalcore, also known as Metallic Hardcore, is the subgenre that fuses extreme metal with hardcore punk.
- Digital Hardcore, characterized by the fusion between hardcore punk and electronic music. Atari Teenage Riot stands out in this subgenre.
- Crossover Thrash, is a subgenre that fuses thrash metal with hardcore punk. Suicidal Tendencies, D.R.I., Discharge and Ratos de Porão are among the bands in this subgenre. It should not be confused with "Thrashcore", which is used to refer to faster and more aggressive hardcore, close to power violence and crust punk.
- Thrashcore, a subgenre characterized by being very fast and more aggressive hardcore punk. Some bands in this genre include Gang Green, Deep Wound, Adrenalin O.D, Mob 47 and D.R.I.
- Power Violence (also known powerviolence), is a subgenre closely related to thrashcore and grindcore. Powerviolence bands include Siege, Man Is the Bastard, Dystopia and Spazz.
- Straight Edge (sometimes abbreviated as sXe or signified by XXX or X), which isn't a genre, but more of a separate subculture, originated from hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, other recreational drugs and engaging in eating animal products - in reaction to the excesses of punk subculture. Since then, a wide variety of beliefs and ideas have been associated with the movement, including veganism and animal rights. Important sXe bands include: (The) Teen Idles, S.O.A., Minor Threat, The Faith, Youth Of Today, Earth Crisis.
Horror Punk[]
Horror Punk is a genre that takes punk, and adds a dash of proto-gothic morbidity to it. Some themes include monster-based stories and sci-fi metaphors. Because of its themes, it often overlaps with (and may even be mistaken for) deathrock. Another genre similar to horror punk is psychobilly, which is horror punk mixed with rockabilly (the most famous example being The Cramps). Horror Punk bands include The Cramps, The Misfits, Blitzkid, and Wednesday 13.
Pop Punk[]
Pop Punk is a fusion genre that takes the fast tempo and guitars of punk, with the melodies and chord progression of pop. Due to its mainstream and commercial nature, pop punk is a controversial genre within the punk scene, and entire bands are discredited if they are associated with the genre. However, its often ignored how pop-punk was with punk from the start - Buzzcocks and the Descendents are the most notable examples and have paved the way for the 90s pop-punk bands and their MTV popularity - like The Offspring, Green Day, Blink-182 and NOFX. Since 90s, most pop-punk bands are being criticized for signing to major labels and "selling out" by making mainstream version of punk rock and MTV music videos.
Post-Punk[]
Post-Punk is a genre that formed that averts the standard punk sound. Instead of being fast and aggressive, post-punk has a more muted guitar, prominent bass and a steady drumbeat. Post-Punk singers are also more melancholic rather than energetic. Post-punk bands include Joy Division, Wire and Public Image Ltd. Post-punk is associated with New Wave and dance-punk.
Nu-Punk[]
Nu-Punk emerged in the late 1990's and came to prominence in the early 2000's, primarily in the Chicagoland area and New Jersey, but later spread to other regions. It's generally much less overtly political than other punk genres and tends to focus more on general themes of personal struggle, feeling downtrodden, and having a good time, not a long time.
Crustpunk[]
Crustpunk (also known as crust) is a form of music influenced by English punk rock and extreme metal. The style, which evolved in the early-1980s in England, often has songs with dark and pessimistic lyrics that linger on political and social ills. Crustpunk differs slightly from punk in general, as the “crust” comes from being dirty or making things yourself, sometimes out of trash. This makes it similar to grunge.
Art Punk[]
Art Punk is a diverse and experimental subgenre of punk, linked to the Avant-garde, among the bands are: Crass, Fugazi, Wire and Viagra Boys.
Egg Punk[]
Egg Punk is a subgenre that emerged as a meme around 2017, which consisted of a comparison between the subgenre itself and "chain punk" (which, according to several sources, would be the name for an aggressive aspect of punk, basically hardcore punk). Egg Punk is also called "Devocore", as it borrows much of its influences from the band Devo in its sound. Is characterized by being experimental and containing elements of garage punk, synthpop, minimal wave, post-punk and indie music, in addition to covering satirical themes. The main egg punk bands are Beta Boys, The Coneheads, Urochromes and Lumpy & The Dumpers.
Noise Rock[]
Noise rock is a subgenre that merges with noise music. Some bands in the genre are Sonic Youth (in the beginning), Lightning Bolt, Boredoms and Melt Banana.
Anarcho-punk[]
Anarcho-punk or Anarchopunk, is a subgenre that promotes anarchist ideals. The main ones of the movement were Crass, Conflict, Subhumans, Oi Polloi and Poison Girls.
Street Punk/Oi![]
Street Punk (also called Oi!), is a subgenre that emerged from the suburbs, with the ideals of being a revitalization of aggressive punk. Emerging in the late 70s in England, the main street punk bands are Sham 69, Cockney Rejects, Cock Sparrer, The 4-Skins, The Casualties, The Varukers, The Devotchkas and The Distillers. Street Punk/Oi! is associated with skinhead culture.
Folk Punk[]
Folk punk is a subgenre that fuses punk rock with folk music, folk punk encompasses subgenres such as Celtic punk and gypsy punk. The first subgenre merges with Celtic music and the second merges with Romani music from Slavic peoples. The bands are Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly, The Real McKenzies and Gogol Bordello.
Cowpunk[]
Cowpunk, also known as Country Punk, is a subgenre that emerged in the late 80s that has elements of country music in its sound. The main cowpunk bands are The Cramps and The Gun Club. It is related to garage punk and blues punk, as it also contains elements of blues in its sound.
Jazz Punk[]
Jazz Punk or Swing Punk is a subgenre that fuses punk rock with jazz, it is linked with ska-punk. The band Cherry Poppin' Daddies is considered well-known in this subgenre.
Garage Punk[]
Garage Rock is a subgenre that fuses garage rock with punk rock. The Hives and The Cramps are the most notable bands in this style.
Riot Grrrl[]
Riot Grrrl- The '90s Movement that Redefined Punk
Video discussing Riot Grrrl.
Riot Grrrl is punk, but through a more feminist lens. What originally started with zines calling for women to be allowed into punk spaces, Riot grrrl turned into a revolutionary music movement of its own in the 90s. Despite proclaiming to be progressive, many females still felt the punk scene was predominantly male. Therefore, the goal of Riot grrrl was to allow female punks to be heard, and have a space of their own. Riot grrrl bands include Bikini Kill and Bratmobile, all the way to Sleater-Kinney. Riot Grrrl bands often address feminist issues in songs, such as sexual-assault, rape, beauty expectations, image issues, and more.
Ska Punk[]
Ska Punk is another fusion genre between punk, with the Jamaican-born genre ska. In late 70s, a new wave of ska was born - nowadays called 2 Tone. It reached it highest point of mainstream in the 90s as being more influenced by hardcore - the originating bands are Fishbone and Mighty Might BossTones - and more famous are - No Doubt, Rancid, Reel Big Fish and Less Than Jake.
Christian Punk[]
Christian Punk is a subgenre of punk music that has Christian lyrical themes, it is considered controversial as much disagreement persists over the boundaries of the subgenre and the extent of explicitly Christian lyrics varies between bands. Given the nature of punk's aggressive sound, many bands in the subgenre ended up being rejected by the Christian music industry. However, Christian punk was widely explored and successful between the 1990s and 2000s, with the prominence of the Tooth & Nail record label featuring artists such as MxPx, Dogwood, Slick Shoes, Ghoti Hook and The O.C Supertones.
Also part of Christian punk are bands such as The Crucified, Five Iron Frenzy, Zao, XdiscipleX A.D, Norma Jean, Society's Finest, Ninety Pound Wuss and Relient K.
Taqwacore[]
Taqwacore is a subgenre of punk music dealing with Islam beliefs, its culture, and its interpretation. The scene is composed mainly of young Muslim artists living in the US and other Western countries, many of whom openly reject traditionalist interpretations of Islam, and thus live their lifestyle within the religion or without.
While the name Taqwacore was coined by Michael Muhammad Knight in his 2003 novel The Taqwacores, Taqwacore has roots in Muslim punk music from the 1990s. Bands in Taqwacore include The Kominas, Secret Trial Five, and Al Thawra.
Basque Radical Rock[]
Basque Radical Rock (Basque: Euskal Rock Erradikala; Spanish: Rock Radical Vasco; RRV) is an underground musical movement that originated in the regions of the Basque Country and Navarre during the 1980s. Rooted in protest songs, it developed during the Spanish post-Francoist era as a reaction to the social unrest and political context of the region at the time, as many Basque people felt betrayed by the new Spanish government. RRV bands used politically charged and provocative lyrics in their music, often with an element of satire or irony, to address issues like police brutality, terrorism, government repression, and the struggle for Basque independence. Key bands include Kortatu, Eskorbuto, La Polla Records, and Hertzainak.
It should be noted that this genre is not always considered a subgenre of Punk Rock because true Punk is considered to be "nationless." Most Basque Radical Rock bands emphasized Basque nationalism, which is a primarily left-wing political movement, but technically still doesn't fit the punk idea of no nation.
Politics[]
Despite being somewhat varied in political and social beliefs, punk political identity consists primarily of individual freedom and anti-establishment beliefs. Punk also largely follows Do It Yourself / DIY ideals, in rejection of corporate ownership of the music scene. Many use second-hand equipment, and/or clothing, as a statement against consumerist ideologies. Some participate in direct action in both peaceful, and more violent means of achieving goals; protest, rioting, eco-sabotage, squatting, legal and illegal graffiti, boycotting, vandalism, and other methods are used to express their ideologies. Punk also promotes concepts like gender equality, racial equality, health rights, civil rights, animal rights, disability rights, and LGBT+ rights. Overall, punk ideologies are mainly leftist, and anti-capitalist, with focuses on equality.
Frequently it can be found that punk subculture is opposed to "Selling Out", meaning abandoning social values, musical style, or political ideology in order to gain status, wealth or power.
Punk has grown over time and its ideologies have expanded in variety, and now it is more common than before to find punks that follow and/or fight for concepts such as animal rights/veganism, Straight Edge and leftism.
There are certain groups and individuals identify as part of punk subculture while holding fascist, racist or Neo-Nazi views. This, alongside some other groups such as conservative punks, is seen by almost all of punk subculture as opposed to punk's history and ethos, and there is an active, heavy push to reject it from punk subculture altogether. This can be seen time and time again, for example Green Day's anti-racist and anti-fascist messages during the 2016 American Music Awards, and the Dead Kennedys song "Nazi Punks Fuck Off".
Gallery[]
References[]
- https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/aug/04/islamic-punk-muslim-taqwacores
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taqwacore