Punk

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Punk

In the mid-to-late 1970s a radical youth culture called punk emerged out of the larger rock 'n' roll scene, and developed its own music, attire, and ideology. The Sex Pistols are the best known of the punk bands; their music, like all punk rock, was aggressive, fast, and loud. Punk attire is characterized by dark clothes, outlandish costumes and ornamentation such as colored hair and earrings and bracelets made from assembled items (the quintessential punk earring was a safety pin). Punk ideology is explicitly at odds with mainstream society and rails against contemporary civilization, which is seen as sterile and banal. Punk is heavily critical of existing political, economic, and cultural institutions, yet is ambivalent about creating alternatives.

The earliest forms of punk rock developed in the United States. The Velvet Underground's minimalist music and commentaries about life outside mainstream society inspired a number of bands, but the first group to be considered a punk rock band was the Ramones. Formed in 1974, the Ramones gained a following around New York City by stripping rock down to its bare essentials and playing with near-anarchic energy. Their first album, Ramones (1976) featured a string of songs, most shorter than two minutes, including "Blitzkrieg Bop" and "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue." The album became a minor hit in the U.S. and a major hit in England, where a number of bands began to pick up on the energetic rock played by the Ramones and fellow New York-bands the Stooges and the New York Dolls that played at clubs like Max's Kansas City and CBGB's. While punk was a minor sensation in the United States, it gained real popularity in the United Kingdom. The first British punk band was the Sex Pistols, which in the three short years of its existence largely created the ideal of the punk rock band.

The Sex Pistols, led by singer Johnny Rotten (formerly John Lydon) and bassist Sid Vicious and managed by Malcolm McLaren, took the music scene by storm when they began playing in 1976, singing about anarchy, abortion, and fascism in some of the most violent live shows and recordings ever heard. The band alienated several recording labels and frightened the establishment, but they also encouraged the rapid growth of the punk scene in England and sparked the creation of such bands as the Clash, the Damned, the Buzzcocks, and others.

Punk made a very visible, shocking, public display. However, with the drug-related death of Sex Pistols' bass player Sid Vicious in 1979 and the demise of several punk bands, some proclaimed that punk was a short-lived fad that had come to an end. The rumors of punk's death were unfounded, and many bands set about to defend the true meaning of punk and extend its musical influence. The most direct development from early punk is the hardcore punk movement that developed during the 1980s, foremost in the United States, but also in England, France, Italy, and other countries, with bands like the Dead Kennedys, Social Distortion, the Misfits, and Upright Citizens. Since the 1980s there have been any number of bands that have echoed the influence of punk, including Hüsker Dü, the Replacements, Soul Asylum, Green Day, Sonic Youth, and the Minutemen, among others. Though the era of punk rock is generally considered to be the years between 1975 and 1980, the punk ethos lives on.

Musically, rock 'n' roll provided an important foundation for punk, as youths who came of age in the 1970s and 1980s were well acquainted with rock bands like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin. Many punk bands learned music by playing other people's songs and it was commonplace among young punks, and even well-known bands, to release cover songs. The Dickies, for example, played fast but melodic versions of Led Zeppelin's "Communication Breakdown" and the Moody Blues' "Nights in White Satin." Bands often performed cover versions of older songs that had historical significance or that made a particularly salient political point. Generation X, for example, performed a cover version of John Lennon's "Gimme Some Truth." While cover songs often signaled respect for past music, cover songs could also represent an ironic comment on or critique of rock and roll. Although cover songs were common, punk ideology derided cover bands that did not play original songs for a lack of creativity.

Despite the powerful influence of rock, punk music differs significantly from its predecessor. Punk songs are generally short, fast, and loud, and place increased emphasis on distorted guitars. Many punk bands use "power" or bar chords, and speed is often emphasized over intricacy. The musical skills of punk musicians are often rudimentary and this lack of virtuosity is connected to an ideology that anyone can write and play songs. Fairly simple songs with basic four-four drum beats are common and many punk bands form with friends picking up instruments and learning as they play. Punk's minimalist three-chord approach and shouted vocals stand in clear opposition to the melodic singing of earlier styles.

Punk music developed "scenes" centered on bands, clubs, and fans in a particular area, such as Manchester and London, England. The Damned, Stiff Little Fingers, the Jam, and Sham 69 were particularly influential, as were the Gang of Four, the Mekons, and the Delta 5 from Leeds, England. In the United States, the Los Angeles, California, scene produced such bands as Black Flag, Fear, the Germs, X, and the Circle Jerks. Two documentaries—The Decline of Western Civilization (1981) and Another State of Mind (1984)—document the lives of various L.A. punk bands both on stage and off. The Dead Kennedys (San Francisco), the Teen Idols, State of Alert (S.O.A.), and the Bad Brains (all Washington, D.C.), and Hüsker Dü (Minneapolis) were all especially important early punk bands.

Punk was always about more than music, however. For both fans and musicians punk amounted to a kind of lifestyle. From the beginning, punk haircuts and clothing stood in stark contrast to the appearance of rock 'n' rollers. As Dick Hebdige describes, punks rebelled by wearing ripped clothing, black leather, and assembling cultural icons as decoration. Mohawk haircuts, dyed hair, or extremely short cropped haircuts distinguished punks from the typically long-haired rockers. Hardcore attire followed directly from punk, although it tended to be more subdued. Dark clothes, black leather jackets, ripped jeans, sneakers, or boots (especially Doc Martens) were common; however, the outlandish costumes of punk—bright clothes and colored hair—were often toned down. Many hardcore fans simply wear jeans, a tee-shirt (often with a band insignia), and sneakers. In some sense this was a rebellion against the mainstream cooptation of punk dress but it was also an attempt to get beyond an anti-fashion style that was not only a lot of work, but made punks subject to verbal, and occasionally physical, harassment. Less dramatic attire allowed hardcore punks to move more easily between mainstream and alternative cultures. Thus hardcore, while characterized by a louder and more aggressive music, began a tendency back to more mainstream attire.

Punk has offered a radical critique of society and has been noted for its unique ideological characteristics; however, punk has not presented a coherent philosophy but rather a series of related critiques. Punks have been particularly hostile to authority and questioned rules and rulemakers. Rather than focussing simply on politics in the conventional sense, punk challenged the patterns and norms of contemporary social relations. As Dick Hebdige writes, punk has "signified chaos at every level." The politics of everyday life were most central to punk and lyrics question social rules and relationships. Many lyrics are centered on love, relationships, jobs, and so on, but punks put a radical spin on such issues. Punks have aimed to shock and offend and are particularly anti-romantic in their sentiments. Love is frequently referred to only in sexual terms and often quite graphically, as in the Dead Boys' "Caught with the Meat in Your Mouth." Some punks have used Nazi images and ornaments in their outfits, and have made callous reference to such tragedies as the Holocaust in such songs as "Belsen Was a Gas." However, such practices generally reflect an attempt to use images in an ironic sense to question conventional meanings. Furthermore, punks have been by and large anti-Nazi and anti-fascist and have frequently espoused left-wing and humanitarian concerns.

Political issues have been important for many in the hardcore punk scene as well. War, social inequality, and capitalism are common topics of punk lyrics. Maximum Rock and Roll, one of the foremost hardcore fanzines, covers these and other topics in its columns, letters, and interviews. Leftist, anarchist, and communist leanings are prevalent as punks express concerns about politics, the military, censorship, corporate crime, and other issues. The band Millions of Dead Cops (MDC) has attacked government and police authority. MDC also railed against corporate capitalism, calling McDonald's hamburgers "corporate death burgers." While a wide range of political views have emerged from the hardcore movement, most of these political statements were rudimentary, as few had worked out the complexities of the many issues they discussed. Typical of a punk political critique was a catch phrase such as "Reagan sucks."

Punk has tended to be very cynical regarding political activism, and emphasizes chaos rather than concerted action. While for some punks this has meant an attempt to avoid politics or just to have fun, for others this critique meant an emphasis on social or personal politics rather than large-scale political concerns. Many emphasize personal politics and promote difference as a value; the Big Boys sang: "I want to be different, I want to make you see, I want to make you wonder is it you or is it me?" Adherence to the local scene for its own sake is important and punks have tried to establish a core set of values that set punk off from mainstream society. Bands like Reagan Youth, Minor Threat, Youth of Today, and Youth Brigade promote youth power as an ideology opposed to conventional adult married and working life.

Anger is common in punk lyrics. Henry Rollins of Black Flag yelled: "Everybody just get away/I'm gonna boil over inside today/they say things are gonna get better/all I know is they fucking better." Void growled: "I'm so fucking filled with hate/I want to decapitate." Boredom is also a common complaint, as Tony of the Adolescents sang: "We're just the wrecking crew/bored boys with nothing to do." Punks launched critiques against hippies and consumerist yuppies alike: the Teen Idles sang "Deadhead deadhead, take another toke/deadhead, you're a fucking joke." "Die yuppie scum" was also a common punk mantra.

While many punks were critical of "hippie burnouts," drug use was and is an element of punk culture and a symbol of punk excess. Punk lore has tended to glorify some of the more outrageous events that transpired under the influence of drugs. Scott Asheton, in Please Kill Me, recounts a story about Iggy Pop: "He was walking down the street and he finally just collapsed. It was from massive amounts of drugs—I mean, you can't take acid and Quaaludes at the same time, it just doesn't work." Similarly, in Please Kill Me, one person describes the night of the death of Nancy Spungen:

Nancy was stoned. She was stoned and she was bragging. She's talking in that fucking cockney accent, you know, being Mrs. Sid Vicious. But it wasn't much of a party because Sid was passed out. Sid did not look like he was going to get up. He wasn't moving. I said, "What's wrong with Sid?" Someone said, "Oh, he just ate about thirty Tuinals." I said, "Oh, he's going to be fun tonight."

The deaths of Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen (the subject of the movie Sid and Nancy, 1986) were particularly vivid reminders of the presence of drug use and violence in the punk scene. Many other drug-related deaths occurred among punks, particularly in connection with heroin use.

However, in response to frequent cases of addiction and overdose, and in the face of legal restrictions, some punks rejected the use of drugs. The Washington, D.C., straight-edge scene, opposed to drinking, drugs, and casual sex, developed alongside the refusal of clubowners to let underage kids into shows. As a compromise, underage kids were allowed in but were marked with X's on their hands to signify that they couldn't buy alcohol. The kids took this would-be stigma and turned it into a symbol of positive self-identification.

Punk identity has been strengthened by the social networks that developed to organize concerts, start 'zines, and spread ideas. Bands and fans established ties across the country (as well as through much of the world) through which they could share common interests, book shows, or find a needed place to sleep. Many punk musicians, ignored by major record labels, produced their own music on independent labels like Dischord, SST, Touch and Go, and SubPop. Punk was particularly critical of the rock and roll establishment. While rock began as a non-conformist youth culture, punks voiced opposition to the cult of rock stardom and the large stadium concerts that clearly separate the audience from musicians. Punk, by contrast, is premised on the idea that anyone can start a band. Punks have also been critical of major record labels and large-scale industry in general and espoused a "Do-It-Yourself" (D.I.Y.) philosophy that emphasizes independent actions and personal creativity.

Centered around punk rock music, the punk movement was an important development in the youth culture of the late 1970s and it remained an identifiable element in youth culture in the late 1990s. Punk was unique for its aggressive and fast musical style, its purposefully shocking visual impact, and its ideological emphasis on chaos, nonconformity, and radical criticism. Punk rock developed as an ideological, musical, and stylistic critique of modern society, and while it is a movement that may be self-limiting in its effectiveness in reaching out to other groups, it has nonetheless had a powerful influence on youth cultures, in particular the emergence of alternative rock and grunge.

—Perry Grossman