American musician and singer-songwriter of the Ramones, Jeffrey Ross Hyman, known to the public as Joey Ramone, once said “To me, punk is about being an individual and going against the grain and standing up and saying 'This is who I am’” (BrainyQuote). Punk has been present in music since the 1960s, where it was starting to form in the garages of starting out musicians that did not have any regulations to follow, simply because of the fact they didn’t know the ‘rules’ of music. Most of this early punk music was unadulterated and often political, showing the thoughts and feelings of the writer (Cooper). Meanwhile, about a decade later in the 1970s, a new style of punk was forming. Combining elements of punk and mainstream music styles established a new genre of music, commonly known today as ‘pop punk’ (B.). While pop punk music branched off of punk, they both have their distinct features of what makes them unique. Although the two genres share the same artists, there is a distinct difference between the styles. Songwriter, actor, and singer and guitarist of Green Day tweeted in late December of 2015, “my mission for 2016? to destroy the phrase "pop-punk" forever” [sic] (Armstrong). Armstrong, like many other punk band members, dislikes being referred to as ‘pop punk’. This phrase can be considered insulting to specific artists that do not want to be known for upbeat and preppy music. They want to be strictly known for more original music that does not fit certain criteria
Punk rock music has been used for decades to express dissatisfaction with society, government, or any idea common in mainstream media. Yet punk rock is not simply a tangent of the mainstream, it is a dynamic and fluid genre with many distinct songs. Don Letts, a mainstay in the London punk scene during the 70’s and 80’s, went as far to say that hip-hop was essentially “black” punk. While punk and hip-hop music are stylistically different, the fundamental tone of the two genres is the same. Even throughout the decades, hip-hop has sang the same issues as punk, including the plight of the lower class, police brutality, and gang violence.
The information that has been provided about the subcultures of Hip Hop and Punk shows there are many differences between Hip Hop and Punk and several contributing factors that shape these subcultures but ultimately each one’s existence serves a similar purpose: a form of escape and expression. Prior to research, I was an outsider looking in on the two subcultures. Assumed no similarity at all, but I learned, when you take a deeper look and explore the pages they are different books carrying the same message.
In order to understand why punk came about the preceding periods will be considered. The baby boom after the war had resulted in a large amount of people being born at the same time. A knock on effect later down the line resulted in mass unemployment for young people. The punk era showed angry,
What is punk rock? How many people know the real definition? Punk rocks values, attitude, and ideologies? Punk rock isn’t just a style or a scene but a way of life. It all started in the late 1970s, originating from the working class angst and frustrations many youth were feeling about the economic inequality. One of punks’ main oppositions was rejection of mainstream, corporate mass culture and its values. It continued to evolve its ideology of anti-racist and anti-sexist belief systems as the movement spread from its origins in England and New York to Northern America.
Both disco and punk “encouraged energetic public action”.[3] Disco entertained people, and punk led youth aggressive. These built the rise of punk and disco in the late
“He [Pearson’s father] would freak out when he read the song titles to the cassettes that my friends and I would shoplift from the mall…He was certain that I’d become a Junkie if I listened to that kind of music. But with an alcoholic wife-beater father who didn’t give a shit about his son I was bound to avoid the cliched, nihilist aspects of punk culture” (Pearson 12).
Music, in the past, has often spelled bad news to society at large. It can challenge norms and invoke a sense of hype in places that modern culture may be uncomfortable with, such as sex, sexuality, and drugs. Personally, when I think of punk music, I see a genre that stands to be individualistic, aggressive, and rebellious. Phrases such as ‘anti-establishment’ also come up. This notion comes from many aspects of punk subculture, including dress, music, performance, and my interpretations.
Punk rock became popular due to the record industry’s split from the major recording companies. Smaller independent recording labels indorsed underground artists. This divided mainstream rock, like Elvis Presley, and alternative rock, like The Grateful Dead. Other hard rock groups that got there start in the 1970s were Kiss, Aerosmith, AC/DC, Rush, Journey, and Van Halen.
Though many will jokingly argue that “punk is dead” Punk is still very much alive in today’s society. From Mohawks to mosh pits punk has had an impact on today’s culture. Ironically enough punk once known as being a counterculture to the mainstream has now become a large part of it. It can be seen in fashion and dance and especially music. Overtime punk has changed and evolved. It has branched out into numerous sub genres such as pop punk, glam punk, skate punk, and many more. Bands like Fall Out Boy, Greenday, Paramore, The Wonder Years, and All Time Low are modern examples of punk. These bands continue to draw in the younger audiences, because they still exemplify the free and rebellious nature of punk. Punk will continue to live as long
Mike Ness is the lead singer and has seen how the “punk rock style” changed from being looked down upon and then slowly became culturally accepted. The “punk rock style” in 2014 is very criticized and looked down upon within our society. In my experiement culture shcok was probably the most prevalent sociological
For example, Hip hop focuses on the poorer populations and areas where there was struggle for the American dream. The music was inspired by the struggle of American Americans and is the root of Hip hop. Punk is different in that it attracted audiences that were of the middle to upper class. These were people who had jobs and were able to go to college. Eventually both genres gained fans of all financial backgrounds but this was a major difference in the culture of Hip hop and Punk.
Most of the original rebellion was directed towards the British class structure. They wanted to express their disapproval of the structure that governed their country. In The Jam’s “Eton Rifles”, the band sarcastically attacks the upper class, calling them arrogant and preaching to them that rugby is the only thing making them strong (Punk 68). The Sex Pistols’ album “God Save The Queen” portrays the Queen of England with a safety pin through her nose on their cover. The reaction to this outburst of shocking rebellion from the mainstream society was a strong, displeased one. American writer Greil Marcus defined punk as, “…refusing the future society has planned for you.” Thousands of social misfits attempted just that. Through the many causes for this rebellious political expression: communism, anarchy, feminism, etc., the punks of England had a focus and a reason. It was this that made the “punk” a valid, yet undesired member of society, and the British public got to see this sociological change first hand (Chamberlain par.8). Although this movement was short lived, its impact was a phenomenon, and its effects were long- lasting, which distinguished this group from previous generations.
With the economic decline and availability of jobs with upward movement, a culture of youths formed in Britain that challenged the ideals and cultural norms of the generations that came before them. A consistent movement from traditional society through youth subcultures brings light through the eyes of the musicians that describe their generation’s feelings of homelessness in an era filled with unemployment, low wages, and violence. The insurgence of the counterculture movement, poor economic conditions, and the commercialization of previous Rock and Roll music in Britain directly led to the punk subculture because it allowed youths to speak up about their conditions and frustrations through an easily understood and accessible medium while maintaining a different stance than their predecessors.
Green Day, along with several other bands such as The Offspring, Sublime, Rancid, and Blink-182, is widely credited for bringing the attention of mainstream popularity to punk rock in the United States, benefiting punk rock in the end regardless of technical musical classification. These bands characterized the pop punk of the mid to late 1990s. Although pop punk music has waned throughout the years, but its culture is still ubiquitous in many venues from the Vans Warped Tour to the Bamboozle Festival.
The punk subculture was one of the influential revolutions on the 20th century, which originated in in the 1970s and spread across countries that included the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Australia. This subculture was based on a loud, aggressive genre of music called punk rock, and it intended to gain individual freedom for the working class. This essay explains the journey from the evolution and widespread of the punk subculture in the UK in 1980s. As the title suggests, punk fashion has been ruptured, tweaked and re interpreted by individuals and fashion designers over and over again, and its style has been re adapted to juxtapose on contemporary trends.