Punk
Punk music, or punk rock, originated in the United Kingdom in the mid-1970s, with bands such as the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Buzzcocks. It was seen as a response to the cultural sterility of progressive rock and other highly commercialized forms of rock. It quickly spread to the USA where bands such as The Ramones helped punk to continue to rise in popularity.
Contents
Musicality
Punk is charactarised by up-tempo arrangements, and seldom employs instruments other than guitar, bass, and drums. By design, the songs are usually structured to be very simplistic, with the 1-4-5 chord progression being typical. The lyrics, which are almost always written with a 1-2, 1-2 rhyme scheme, can be concerned with any topic, but usually deal with some aspect of youth culture or express some theme of "punk attitude" such as opposition to authority.
Dancing
Various methods of dancing to it have emerged, such as skanking and pogo-ing. Punk-style dance is typically designed to be synasthesically expressive of an emotion, not of a particular representational style, such as a jitterbug.
Punk Culture
Punks typically distinguish themselves from others with their unmistakable appearances. This has included things such as Mohawk hairstyles, tight pants, studded leather jackets, bullet belts, combat boots, etc. Clothing and hairstyles vary widely throughout the punk scene, and often particular outfits denote particular strains of punk or core-beliefs. Most true punks however will claim that the punk subculture is more based on the idea of non-conformity.
Subgenres of punk
As punk rock grew in popularity, several subgenres became apparent, some of which represent very fine distinctions (such as anarcho-punk), or small (Muslim punk) or localized (Nardcore) groupings. Some subgeneric names are probably useful, however, or at least well-known. Hardcore punk, usually characterized by fast tempos and a garage-band sound, was a staple of West Coast punk circa 1980, especially in the important Southern California market, and has since spread throughout the world. New Wave, despite sharing similar roots with punk, developed its own distinctive sounds and is today not usually considered punk. Forms such as grunge rock and emo grew to the point where they are arguably rock genres in their own right. Among the many punk subgenres, real or imagined, are:
Notable Punk bands
United Kingdom
- Adicts
- The Anti-Nowhere League
- The Buzzcocks
- The Clash
- Conflict
- Crass
- The Damned
- The Exploited
- The Fall
- Flux of Pink Indians
- Poison Girls
- Sex Pistols
- Siouxsie and the Banshees
- The Stranglers
- Subhumans
- U.K. Subs
United States
- Anti-Flag
- Bad Religion
- Black Flag
- Dead Kennedys
- Dropkick Murphys
- Minutemen
- Misfits
- New York Dolls
- Pixies
- The Ramones
- Television
- X
Christianity in Punk Music
There are a few bands that are considered to be Christian punk bands. Some examples are:
