Smells Like Teen Spirit
The term "punk rock" usually conjures a particular image in people's head. The first thing that comes to my head is the Ramones. Then afterwards any leather-wearing, angry teenagers with crazy hair and piercings. The music is loud, angry, and characteristically reductive in terms of rock. Everything is cut down: simple chord progressions with no real soloing guitar, complex drum parts, and a simple bass line. The songs are fast-paced, lyrically focused and almost always incredibly short.
There's much arguing about what exactly defines this sub-genre of rock came from and who created it, but the sound originally came about in the late 1960s, a time of much political movements and social unrest. Many bands, later referred to as "proto-punk" bands, like the Velvet Underground, MC5, and the New York Dolls were making music very unlike the other rock of this period.
The shouting at the beginning of this live version of "Ramblin Rose" is a good example of the feeling behind this new type of music. It reminds me of the trademark counting out the song "1, 2, 3, 4" that was later popularized by the Ramones.
This song, "Personality Crisis", is much like the future punk songs. The music itself was much harsher and more violent sounding and talks about the controversial topic of being transgender.
The time that this genre was born of one was incredibly rebellious. In the world of 1960s radical politics many social movements, including the Civil Rights movement and the Women's rights movements were taking place. This rebellious (nature) coming from the young people in America was reflected in the subject matter of the music. The incredibly reductive and aggressive style seemed mostly just to support the rebellious themes in the lyrics.
Then, came the defining moment for punk rock as a genre: The Ramones. The Ramones took the themes from these bands that stemmed from these garage band type rock bands and almost codified the sound of the genre. The most well known of their songs is probably "Blitzkrieg Bop".
The Ramones were incredibly influential in their music and their performance. Unlike the well-styled and groomed bands of the 1970s, the Ramones wore worn-out jeans and leather jackets. While Jimmi Hendrix was revolutionizing the guitar world, the guitar was essentially background noise. They weren't carefully organized in their music; their songs were fast paced and had catchy lyrics that were mostly catchy nonsense containing adversarial slogans.
Though the punk rock style went mostly underground in America, it became a huge success in England, where the most influential and popular band was, hands down, the Sex Pistols.
In England, the 1970s was a period was full of social unrest, with the financial burden of a recession and disputes with the police and the civilians in the streets. The anti-authoritarian themes of punk rock and it's often contrarian lyrics became the voice of many young people in Britain during these years, best summed up by the Sex Pistol's "Anarchy in the UK".
Often times the music would stir crowds into violence, and the antics of the performers, the most well-known being the lead singer of The Sex Pistols, Johnny Rotten, swearing out a presenter on live television. This was when the term "punk" often used in a derogatory manner became common in referring to this music.
With the Sex Pistols and the entrance of punk rock to the UK came a more exaggerated style derived from the look of the Ramones. Worn out clothes, often thrifted and safety pinned together became a symbol of the avant-garde style of music, which was then expanded upon and popularized by Vivienne Westwood.
Vivienne Westwood herself had striking white hair and intense makeup. The clothes she made were more creative, sometimes a bit outrageous or encumbering, and the new look of the genre.
Her boutique was called SEX - or the Strand to the Sex Pistols. Through fashion, the genre of punk rock became even more popular with young people.
The themes of anti-consumerism, anti-capitalism, and the anger towards large institutions inevitably took a darker turn. Many of these bands' performances became the site of physical aggression and violence, as well as self-destruction in the form of drugs in some spheres. This side of the Sex Pistols was personified in Sid Vicious, the bassist of the sex pistols died from an overdose while waiting for trial for the second-degree murder of his girlfriend Nancy Spungen.
The influence of punk rock came back to America in regional bursts, in Washington D.C. and California, some notable bands being the Dead Kennedys or Black Flag. During the 1980s, a subculture of punk rock music was popularized in D.C. by Ian MacKaye in response to the harder lifestyle of musicians like Sid Vicious. But for the most part, the punk genre stayed pretty underground until it's resurgence in the nineties.
Many bands in the 90s continued the spirit of punk rock and fused them with a large number of other genres. Rage Against the Machine fused this style with rap and gained a substantial following during this period. This continued, creating new sub-genres like EMO music, gothic rock, and (likely the most famous) grunge. Nirvana took over the world with their similar philosophical values and continued the of the Sex Pistols through grunge music. Their main claim to fame, "Smells Like Teen Spirit", is still well known internationally.
Today, punk rock is still very influential in many places, including in the all-girl group the Linda Lindas. In the male-dominated world of punk rock, these girls became well-known for their song "Racist, Sexist, Boy", which went viral after they performed it at the Los Angeles Public County Library. (Side note: I love that they gained recognition from a library performance.)
Originally starting as a pickup cover band, the group continues to make music in the spirit of original punk rock, self-producing their first LP and performing on Jimmy Kimmel live.
The reach of punk rock, despite going underground for years has stretched for almost half a century and continues into the next generation.
Sources
Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. "the Ramones." Encyclopedia Britannica, December 27, 2023, https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Ramones.
Kendall, E.. "straight edge." Encyclopedia Britannica, November 18, 2022,
https://www.britannica.com/topic/straight-edge.
Maultsby, Portia K. and Tate, Greg. "Punk & Alt-Rock." A History of African American
Music, Carnegie Hall, 2021, https://timeline.carnegiehall.org/genres/punk-alt-rock.
Savage, J. "punk." Encyclopedia Britannica, November 12, 2023,
https://www.britannica.com/art/punk.
The Linda Lindas. "About." https://www.thelindalindas.com/about.
Ingram, Simon. "What was punk - and why did it scare people so much?" National Geographic, July 1, 2022, https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/history-and-civilisation/2022/07/what-was-punk-and- why-did-it-scare-people-so-much.
The name Blitzkrieg Bop goes crazy also I find it really interesting that music gets affected by politics you mentioned that the Civil and Women's rights movements were going on at the time of punk rock which influenced some of their rebellious lyrics which is a great example of politics and music meshing.
ReplyDeleteI'll admit that I've never put much thought into this genre in general and kind of tend to rope different groups into the same big category. This helped me understand the differentiation as well as the origins and the things punk musicians stand for.
ReplyDeleteThanks for shedding light onto this genre that lots of people overlook! And I love that the Linda Lindas gained popularity from a library performance, of all things.
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