Anarcho-punk
For more details on this topic, see Anarcho-punk.
Crass were the originators of anarcho-punk.[103] Their all-black militaristic dress became a staple of the genre.
Anarcho-punk developed alongside the Oi! and American hardcore movements. With a primitive, stripped-down musical style and ranting, shouted vocals, British bands such as Crass, Subhumans, Flux of Pink Indians, Conflict, Poison Girls, and The Apostles attempted to transform the punk rock scene into a full-blown anarchist movement. As with straight edge, anarcho-punk is based around a set of principles, including prohibitions on wearing leather, eating meat, and drinking milk.[104] The movement would spin off several subgenres of a similar political bent. Discharge, founded back in 1977, established D-beat in the early 1980s. Other groups in the movement, led by Amebix and Antisect, developed the extreme style known as crust punk. The anarcho-punk scene also spawned bands such as Napalm Death and Extreme Noise Terror that in the mid-1980s defined the heavily distorted grindcore style, a close relative of the early death metal sound.[105]
[edit] Pop punk
For more details on this topic, see Pop punk.
With their love of the Beach Boys and the classic girl group sound, the Ramones had pointed the way to what would become known as pop punk from the earliest days of the punk scene. In the late 1970s, UK bands such as the Buzzcocks and The Undertones, the latter strongly influenced by glam rock, combined pop-style tunes and lyrical themes with punk's speed, concision, and chaotic edge.[106] In the early 1980s, some of the leading bands in southern California's hardcore scene emphasized a more melodic approach than was typical of their peers: Bad Religion "layered their pissed off, politicized sound with the smoothest of harmonies"; the Descendents "wrote almost surfy, Beach Boys–inspired songs about girls and food and being young(ish)".[107] Epitaph Records, founded by members of Bad Religion, was the base for many future pop-punk bands, including NOFX, who brought their ska-influenced skate-punk rhythms to the mix. Groups that fused punk rock with pop melodies—such as The Queers and Screeching Weasel—began appearing around the country, in turn influencing bands like Green Day and blink-182, who would bring pop punk to the mainstream. Bands like The Vandals and Guttermouth were also influential for blending pop melodies with humorous and offensive lyrics. Pop punk bands like Simple Plan, Good Charlotte and Sum 41 maintained the popularity of the genre into the early 2000s. The music of such mainstream latter-day bands is criticized by many punk devotees; in critic Christine Di Bella's words, "It's punk taken to its most accessible point, a point where it barely reflects its lineage at all, except in the three-chord song structures."[108]
[edit] Other fusions and directions
From 1977 forward, punk crossed lines with many other popular music genres. Los Angeles punk bands laid the groundwork for a wide variety of styles: The Flesh Eaters with deathrock; The Plugz with Chicano punk; and Gun Club with punk blues. The Meteors, from South London, and The Cramps, from New York by way of Cleveland, were innovators in the psychobilly fusion style. Social Distortion, from southern California, helped spark the related punkabilly form. Milwaukee's Violent Femmes jumpstarted the American folk punk scene, while The Pogues did the same on the other side of the Atlantic, influencing many Celtic punk bands. The Mekons, from Leeds, combined their punk ethos with country music, greatly influencing the later alt-country movement. In the United States, varieties of cowpunk played by bands such as Nashville's Jason & the Scorchers and Arizona's Meat Puppets had a similar effect.
Other bands pointed punk toward future rock styles or its own foundations. New York's Suicide, who'd played with the New York Dolls at the Mercer Arts Center, and L.A.'s The Screamers and Nervous Gender were pioneers of synthpunk. Chicago's Big Black was a major influence on noise rock, math rock, and industrial rock. Garage punk bands from all over—such as Medway's Thee Mighty Caesars, Chicago's Dwarves, and Adelaide's Exploding White Mice—pursued a version of punk that was close to its roots in 1960s garage rock. Seattle's Mudhoney, one of the seminal grunge bands, has been described as "garage punk".[
For more details on this topic, see Anarcho-punk.
Crass were the originators of anarcho-punk.[103] Their all-black militaristic dress became a staple of the genre.
Anarcho-punk developed alongside the Oi! and American hardcore movements. With a primitive, stripped-down musical style and ranting, shouted vocals, British bands such as Crass, Subhumans, Flux of Pink Indians, Conflict, Poison Girls, and The Apostles attempted to transform the punk rock scene into a full-blown anarchist movement. As with straight edge, anarcho-punk is based around a set of principles, including prohibitions on wearing leather, eating meat, and drinking milk.[104] The movement would spin off several subgenres of a similar political bent. Discharge, founded back in 1977, established D-beat in the early 1980s. Other groups in the movement, led by Amebix and Antisect, developed the extreme style known as crust punk. The anarcho-punk scene also spawned bands such as Napalm Death and Extreme Noise Terror that in the mid-1980s defined the heavily distorted grindcore style, a close relative of the early death metal sound.[105]
[edit] Pop punk
For more details on this topic, see Pop punk.
With their love of the Beach Boys and the classic girl group sound, the Ramones had pointed the way to what would become known as pop punk from the earliest days of the punk scene. In the late 1970s, UK bands such as the Buzzcocks and The Undertones, the latter strongly influenced by glam rock, combined pop-style tunes and lyrical themes with punk's speed, concision, and chaotic edge.[106] In the early 1980s, some of the leading bands in southern California's hardcore scene emphasized a more melodic approach than was typical of their peers: Bad Religion "layered their pissed off, politicized sound with the smoothest of harmonies"; the Descendents "wrote almost surfy, Beach Boys–inspired songs about girls and food and being young(ish)".[107] Epitaph Records, founded by members of Bad Religion, was the base for many future pop-punk bands, including NOFX, who brought their ska-influenced skate-punk rhythms to the mix. Groups that fused punk rock with pop melodies—such as The Queers and Screeching Weasel—began appearing around the country, in turn influencing bands like Green Day and blink-182, who would bring pop punk to the mainstream. Bands like The Vandals and Guttermouth were also influential for blending pop melodies with humorous and offensive lyrics. Pop punk bands like Simple Plan, Good Charlotte and Sum 41 maintained the popularity of the genre into the early 2000s. The music of such mainstream latter-day bands is criticized by many punk devotees; in critic Christine Di Bella's words, "It's punk taken to its most accessible point, a point where it barely reflects its lineage at all, except in the three-chord song structures."[108]
[edit] Other fusions and directions
From 1977 forward, punk crossed lines with many other popular music genres. Los Angeles punk bands laid the groundwork for a wide variety of styles: The Flesh Eaters with deathrock; The Plugz with Chicano punk; and Gun Club with punk blues. The Meteors, from South London, and The Cramps, from New York by way of Cleveland, were innovators in the psychobilly fusion style. Social Distortion, from southern California, helped spark the related punkabilly form. Milwaukee's Violent Femmes jumpstarted the American folk punk scene, while The Pogues did the same on the other side of the Atlantic, influencing many Celtic punk bands. The Mekons, from Leeds, combined their punk ethos with country music, greatly influencing the later alt-country movement. In the United States, varieties of cowpunk played by bands such as Nashville's Jason & the Scorchers and Arizona's Meat Puppets had a similar effect.
Other bands pointed punk toward future rock styles or its own foundations. New York's Suicide, who'd played with the New York Dolls at the Mercer Arts Center, and L.A.'s The Screamers and Nervous Gender were pioneers of synthpunk. Chicago's Big Black was a major influence on noise rock, math rock, and industrial rock. Garage punk bands from all over—such as Medway's Thee Mighty Caesars, Chicago's Dwarves, and Adelaide's Exploding White Mice—pursued a version of punk that was close to its roots in 1960s garage rock. Seattle's Mudhoney, one of the seminal grunge bands, has been described as "garage punk".[
