Punk: The Music of Rebellion

Preface
My relationship with music is fairly new. I didn’t develop any strong favor towards a particular artist until my freshman year of high school, and even then, I was heavily influenced by my friend’s preferences, taking their advice and developing my own opinions. Or, to quote a dead Scott Pilgrim meme, “I didn’t even know there was good music until two months ago!”

Exploring music has developed a huge part of my identity, bringing many friends and introducing new places, especially in Denver, along with it. Even more with music though, I want to understand the roots of how some of my favorite genres came to be and to compile my favorite songs here to share with you. All in all, let me be your teacher for this brief history lesson :)

Punk History

Punk rock emerged in the 1970s to sidestep the overproduced rock n’ roll that dominated the industry with loud, aggressive beats, drawing in society’s youth. In 1975, punk bands played in the New York CBGB (Country, BlueGrass, and Blues) music club, where bands like The Ramones and The Sex Pistols emerged to glory.

The sweeping eras of punk music, from the Hardcore Era of the 1980s to the Emo Era of the early 2000s, brought to light political and social issues, a DIY reform to music, art, and fashion. A huge contrast to the commercialization of band T-shirts and merchandise seen today, artists and fans used to fashion safety pins and patches to their clothes, ripping or writing on their pants and sporting leather jackets to make their style their own. The punk hair movement was another byproduct of the music, intended to be statements against the feathered, pixie, and voluminous curls common at the time—shaved and spiky hair dominated, from mohawks to liberty spikes.

In the present-day Revival Era, subgenres of punk continue to live on through popular bands such as Nirvana and Green Day, which uphold punk’s roots of energetic beats, individuality, and the attitude to push against societal norms.

Sources

https://www.soundoflife.com/blogs/mixtape/history-punk-music
https://www.rareformaudio.com/blog/birth-of-punk-rock
https://sartorialmagazine.com/beauty/2024/5/21/the-punk-hair-movement?format=amp

Check out a punk mix here: