What IS Punk?

[Monkster]

Or to put it another way, what makes a punk band punk?

I always hear alot of "they think they are punk but they aren't" so what actually defines a band as being Punk?

 

[bringbackschwarter5]

Having flowers in your hair

 

[johnnyhoward]

It's not Good Charlotte - I heard someone label them as 'punk'.

 

[Hanis]

GG Allin

End this f@rkin scumfuc thread now - as GG would say - err sorry would have said!!

 

[deeman12]

It's not Good Charlotte - I heard someone label them as 'punk'.

Im a GC fan, and i know they arent punk, more pop punk then anything. Even recently their stuff should'nt have the word punk in it at all.

 

[Bourky23]

the sex pistols, ramones and the clash are just about as punk as you'll get...

 

[Dal-Las Mav'a Riq]

Fall Out Boy

You are xtra punk if u spell it 'phall out boi'

 

[deeman12]

the sex pistols, ramones and the clash are just about as punk as you'll get...

Thats about right. I dont think having alot tatoos makes you punk. Alot of other things such as your lyrics i guess.

 

[Sherrinator]

Punk in it's true 80's/90's form is dead apart from some undergound bands. Today punk is a sad excuse for music, where they no longer hate the system because they are too busy hating themselves. See: Emo.

 

[Upgrayedd]

Anti-Social Music, a big "**** you" to all the catchy, technically gifted bands

 

[Damp Squarie]

Try listening to the Sex Pistols or look at Chad Cornes

 

[utility]

Or to put it another way, what makes a punk band punk?

I always hear alot of "they think they are punk but they aren't" so what actually defines a band as being Punk?

Go see The Exploited when they tour in a couple of weeks... you'll see for yourself what makes punk.

 

[BomberGal]

Not needing to call yourself punk.

 

[kolchak]

Reggae gone wrong.

 

[Monkster]

the sex pistols, ramones and the clash are just about as punk as you'll get...

What do The Sex Pistols and The Clash have in common with The Ramones that defines them all as being punk?

 

[AndSmithMustScore]

Or to put it another way, what makes a punk band punk?

I always hear alot of "they think they are punk but they aren't" so what actually defines a band as being Punk?

Punk wasn't really a musical genre perse, it was a social genre.

Which is why a famous reporter in a 1977 NME stated "Punk died the day The Clash signed to CBS records".

Mick Jones(of the Clash) stated in a doco the whole punk thing for him only lasted 100 days in total because things went so fast.

I don't view it as being a musical style because bands that are called "punk bands" even during the 70's were so diverse in their sounds you couldn't pinpoint it to one musical style.

To the outside world punk was about loud noise and strange looking fashion.


PUNK IS DEAD

 

[John]

Punk wasn't really a musical genre perse, it was a social genre.

Which is why a famous reporter in a 1977 NME stated "Punk died the day The Clash signed to CBS records".

Mick Jones(of the Clash) stated in a doco the whole punk thing for him only lasted 100 days in total because things went so fast.

I don't view it as being a musical style because bands that are called "punk bands" even during the 70's were so diverse in their sounds you couldn't pinpoint it to one musical style.

To the outside world punk was about loud noise and strange looking fashion.


PUNK IS DEAD

I have been thinking about this question and you put it well. I guess you just had to be there in the end. Punk to me was listening to The Saints (I'm) Stranded and being gob smacked by the intensity of the song and then having to put up with being told that they couldn't play. Yeah?? Well it sounded frickin great to me and that was what counted and the reality is is that is what counts. I loved Punk/new wave. It opened my mind to tolerance of musical genre/style.

 

[BigD_Calhoon]

Not knowing how to play your instruments properly and making alot of noise.

 

[AndSmithMustScore]

Not knowing how to play your instruments properly and making alot of noise.

Not so.

There were some talented musos found throughout "punk" bands of that time.

That's the false misnomer that they were all awful players.

It's almost because so many people base punk on the raw garage punk like the Cockney Rejects and their ilk.

The Sex Pistols would have been a great band had Glen Matlock not bailed only to be replaced by Sid the toss.

The Stranglers are good example of a band thrown under the "punk" genre and yet they were fair musos, espcially their keyboardist Dave Greenfield, and i always liked Jean-Jacques Burnel's work on the bass.

 

[Jabso]

There is a certain musical aspect. Fast simple heavy distorted music with mostly angry lyrics (that question many conventions) and a singer who has a voice with character (aka a voice that wouldn't get you past the auditions of Australian karoke championships on channel 10).

You don't have to have tatoos, a mohawk, shout like a maniac to be a punk rock band. Look at Bad Religion (the lead guitarest is the owner of the biggest independ record label, the lead singer is a professor of life sciences with a PhD), Propagandhi, NoFX to a lesser extent and Pennywise.

Pop-punk is used to describe bands like Descendents, Blink 182 to an extent and Green Day, not bands like Simple Plan, My Chemical Romance, Good Charlotte who are just pop or rock. Pop punk doesn't necessarily mean punkesque bands that are popular, it can mean punk rock that's a bit slower or have more mellow themes.

As far as the attitude goes, I think the attitude and the music can be seperated. However this is a good interpretation of what punk attitude means from Greg Graffin from Bad Religion:
"punk is the personal expression of uniqueness that comes from the experiences of growing up in touch with our human ability to reason and ask questions".

 

[Crosby87]

Dead. Or deformed.

 

[superfraser]

Ray Gange.

 

[oxx]

What do The Sex Pistols and The Clash have in common with The Ramones that defines them all as being punk?

"tood"

 

[Underdog]

As far as the attitude goes, I think the attitude and the music can be seperated. However this is a good interpretation of what punk attitude means from Greg Graffin from Bad Religion:
"punk is the personal expression of uniqueness that comes from the experiences of growing up in touch with our human ability to reason and ask questions".

That's a pretty cool description

To be honest, I think a lot of people confuse punk with punk music.

They don't go together hand in hand.

For example, Bodyjar - they play punk rock music but are far from punks.

I don't think there are too many genuine punk bands around at the moment...Frenzal Rhomb would be the only Australian one. The rest just play punk music.

 

[Underdog]

Not so.

There were some talented musos found throughout "punk" bands of that time.

That's the false misnomer that they were all awful players.

It's almost because so many people base punk on the raw garage punk like the Cockney Rejects and their ilk.

The Sex Pistols would have been a great band had Glen Matlock not bailed only to be replaced by Sid the toss.

The Stranglers are good example of a band thrown under the "punk" genre and yet they were fair musos, espcially their keyboardist Dave Greenfield, and i always liked Jean-Jacques Burnel's work on the bass.

Chris Cheney is Australia's best guitarist.

Lindsey McDougall isn't bad - Zoran Trivic from Gyroscope has won WAMi's for his guitar work...the list goes on