Punk Rock

For this blog, I thought I would elaborate a bit on the history of punk rock music.  If you are unfamiliar, punk rock is a scene that grew out of traditional rock in the mid 1970's.  Leading bands include The Ramones in the US, along with The Clash and The Sex Pistols in the UK.  There were many groups, such as Jimi Hendrix, who had a style of playing that was difficult to compete with.  Thus, punk bands established themselves in scenes that typically rejected association with the main stream.  Below is a song written by the Clash, "Should I Stay, Or Should I Go."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqH21LEmfbQ

Much of the sound involved was short, "hard-edged" and fast paced music, and the lyrics written were often political and anti-establishment based.  A more recent song by the band Against Me, entitled "I Was A Teenage Anarchist," is a prime example.  Some lyrics that stand out are "Don't you remember, when you were young and you wanted to set the world on fire?"  Talk about anti-establishment!  As you would imagine, punk music generally appeals to young kids who don't really care much for societal norms, rules and politics.

The Ramones became influenced by The Beach Boys, and out of this "punk pop" was born.  In the late 1970's a couple bands in the U.K. infused their edgy punk music with catchy pop sounds.  One of such, being The Undertones.  They wrote a song called "Teenage Kicks," with lyrics describing calling the girl down the street "cause I'm all alone" and infusing it with catchy punk pop sounds.  These bands influenced the likes of punk pop icons Green Day and The Offspring, whose sounds have appealed to younger crowds as well.

Out of punk rock, punk pop and other genres of punk, the alternative music scene was created.  Many of today's alternative bands could give credit to the punk scene.  Kurt Cobain from Seattle's former band Nirvana, once said, "Punk is musical freedom...it's saying, doing and playing what you want."  Thus, if it wasn't for bands such as The Clash, The Sex Pistols and The Ramones, we wouldn't have half the music we do today.

By the 1990's, punk rock was well ingrained in Western culture.  Certain aspects of punk music were often used to categorize successful bands as "rebels."  Marketers used this style and "hipness" of punk to their advantage.  In 1993 the Subaru auto group had an add saying that their Subaru Impreza was "like punk rock."  Now, I must admit, I drive a Subaru Impreza.  Because of this, I have a feeling I will feel much much better about blasting some punk rock in my car!

Thanks for reading!

*Credit for much of this article goes to Wikipedia and Youtube.  Above mentioned band names are credit and copyright to respective bands mentioned.