The punk subculture includes a diverse and widely known array of music, ideologies, fashion, and other forms of expression, visual art, dance, literature, and film. Largely characterised by anti-establishment views, the promotion of individual freedom, and the DIY ethics, the culture originated from punk rock.
There is a wide range of punk fashion, including T-shirts, leather jackets, Dr. Martens boots, hairstyles such as brightly coloured hair and spiked mohawks, cosmetics, tattoos, jewellery, and body modification. Women in the hardcore scene typically wore clothing categorised as masculine.[1]
The punk subculture emerged in the mid-1970s; in New York in 1974 and in the United Kingdom in 1976.[2][3][4][5][6][7] Some suggest the name "punk" was borrowed from prison slang.[8]
Early punk had an abundance of antecedents and influences, and Jon Savage describes the subculture as a "bricolage" of almost every previous youth culture in the Western world since World War II, "stuck together with safety pins".[9]
The punk subculture is centered on a loud, aggressive genre of rock music called punk rock, usually played by bands consisting of a vocalist, one or two electric guitarists, an electric bassist, and a drummer. In some bands, the musicians contribute backup vocals, which typically consist of shouted slogans, choruses, or football-style chants.
While most punk rock uses distorted guitars and noisy drumming sounds derived from 1960s garage rock and 1970s pub rock, some punk bands incorporate elements from other subgenres, such as surf rock, rockabilly, or reggae. Most punk rock songs are short, have simple and somewhat basic arrangements using relatively few chords, and typically have lyrics that express punk ideologies and values, although some punk lyrics are about lighter topics such as partying or romantic relationships.
Different punk subcultures often distinguish themselves by having a unique style of punk rock, although not every style of punk rock has its own associated subculture.
The earliest form of music to be called "punk rock" was 1960s garage rock, and the term was applied to the genre retroactively by influential rock critics in the early 1970s.[11][12][13][14][15] In the late 1960s, music now referred to as protopunk originated as a garage rock revival in the northeastern United States.[16] The first distinct music scene to claim the punk label appeared in New York City between 1974 and 1976.[17] Around the same time or soon afterward, a punk scene developed in London.[18] Los Angeles subsequently became home to the third major punk scene.[19] These three cities formed the backbone of the burgeoning movement, but there were also other punk scenes in cities such as Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney in Australia, Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal in Canada, and Boston, Detroit, Cleveland, and San Francisco in the United States.
The punk subculture advocates a do-it-yourself (DIY) ethic. During the subculture's infancy members were almost all from a lower economic class, and had become tired of the affluence that was associated with popular rock music at the time. Punks would publish their own music or sign with small independent labels, in hopes to combat what they saw as a money-hungry music industry. The DIY ethic is still popular with punks.
The New York City punk rock scene arose from a subcultural underground promoted by artists, reporters, musicians, and a wide variety of non-mainstream enthusiasts. The Velvet Underground's harsh and experimental yet often melodic sound in the mid to late-1960s, much of it relating to transgressive media work by visual artist Andy Warhol, is credited for influencing 1970s bands such as the New York Dolls, the Stooges, and the Ramones.[20]
Some groups and individuals that try to self-identify as being a part of the punk subculture hold pro-Nazi or Fascist views, however, these Nazi/Fascist groups are rejected by almost all of the punk subculture. The belief that such views are opposed to the original ethos of the punk subculture, and its history, has led to internal conflicts and an active push against such views being considered part of punk subculture at all. Two examples of this are an incident during the 2016 American Music Awards, where the band Green Day chanted anti-racist and anti-fascist messages,[21] and an incident at a show by the Dropkick Murphys, when bassist and singer Ken Casey tackled an individual for giving a Nazi-style salute and later stated that Nazis are not welcome at a Dropkick Murphys show. Band member Tim Brennan later reaffirmed this sentiment.[22] The song "Nazi Punks Fuck Off" by hardcore punk band Dead Kennedys is a standout example.[23]
Early British punks expressed nihilistic and anarchist views with the slogan No Future, which came from the Sex Pistols song "God Save the Queen". In the United States, punks had a different approach to nihilism which was less anarchistic than the British punks.[24] Punk nihilism was expressed in the use of "harder, more self-destructive, consciousness-obliterating substances like heroin, or methamphetamine".[25]
Early punk fashion adapted everyday objects for aesthetic effect: ripped clothing was held together by safety pins or wrapped with tape; ordinary clothing was customised by embellishing it with marker or adorning it with paint; a black bin liner became a dress, shirt or skirt; safety pins and razor blades were used as jewellery. Also popular have been leather, rubber, and PVC clothing that is often associated with transgressive sexuality, like BDSM and S&M.[26] A designer associated with early UK punk fashion was Vivienne Westwood, who made clothes for Malcolm McLaren's boutique in the King's Road, which became famous as "SEX".
Many punks wear tight "drainpipe" jeans, plaid/tartan trousers, kilts or skirts, T-shirts, leather jackets (often decorated with painted band logos, pins and buttons, and metal studs, chains or spikes), and footwear such as high-cut Chuck Taylors, trainers, skate shoes, brothel creepers, Dr. Martens boots, and army boots. Early punks occasionally wore clothes displaying a swastika for shock value; Vivienne Westwood's DESTROY shirt featured an upside-down crucified Jesus and a swastika, notably worn by members of the Sex Pistols.[27] Most contemporary punks are staunchly anti-racist and are more likely to wear a crossed-out swastika symbol than a pro-Nazi symbol. Some punks cut their hair into mohawks or other dramatic shapes, style it to stand in spikes, and colour it with vibrant, unnatural hues.
Some punks are anti-fashion, arguing that punk should be defined by music or ideology. Punk clothing choices challenge the way in which individuals in a nation dress, and the ideals of a traditionalist nation.[28] This is most common in the post-1980s US hardcore punk scene, where members of the subculture often dressed in plain T-shirts and jeans, rather than the more elaborate outfits and spiked, dyed hair of their British counterparts. Many groups adopt a look based on street clothes and working-class outfits. Hardcore punk fans adopted a dressed-down style of T-shirts, jeans, combat boots or trainers, and crewcuts. Women in the hardcore scene typically wore army trousers, band T-shirts, and hooded jumpers.[1]
The style of the 1980s hardcore scene contrasted with the more provocative fashion styles of late 1970s punk rockers (elaborate hairdos, torn clothes, patches, safety pins, studs, spikes, etc.). Circle Jerks frontman Keith Morris described early hardcore fashion as "the...punk scene was basically based on English fashion. But we had nothing to do with that. Black Flag and the Circle Jerks were so far from that. We looked like the kid who worked at the gas station or submarine shop."[29] Henry Rollins echoes Morris' point, stating that for him getting dressed up meant putting on a black shirt and some dark pants; Rollins viewed an interest in fashion as being a distraction.[30] Jimmy Gestapo from Murphy's Law describes his own transition from dressing in a punk style (spiked hair and a bondage belt) to adopting a hardcore style (i.e. boots and a shaved head) as being based on a need for more functional clothing.[1] A punk scholar states that "hardcore kids do not look like punks", since hardcore scene members wore basic clothing and short haircuts, in contrast to the "embellished leather jackets and pants" worn in the punk scene.[31]
In contrast to Morris' and Rollins' views, another punk scholar claims that the standard hardcore punk clothing and styles included torn jeans, leather jackets, spiked armbands and dog collars, mohawk hairstyles, and DIY ornamentation of clothes with studs, painted band names, political statements, and patches.[32] Yet another punk scholar describes the look that was common in the San Francisco hardcore scene as consisting of biker-style leather jackets, chains, studded wristbands, pierced noses and multiple piercings, painted or tattooed statements (e.g. an anarchy symbol), and hairstyles ranging from military-style haircuts dyed black or blonde to mohawks and shaved heads.[33]
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2013 hosted a comprehensive exhibit, PUNK: Chaos to Couture, that examined the techniques of hardware, distress, and re-purposing in punk fashion.[34]
In the United Kingdom, the advent of punk in the late 1970s with its "anyone can do it" ethos led to women making significant contributions.[35][36] In contrast to the rock music and heavy metal scenes of the 1970s, which were dominated by men, the anarchic, counter-cultural mindset of the punk scene in mid- and late 1970s encouraged women to participate. "That was the beauty of the punk thing," Chrissie Hynde later said. "[Sexual] discrimination didn't exist in that scene."[37] This participation played a role in the historical development of punk music, especially in the US and UK at that time, and continues to influence and enable future generations.[38]
Rock historian Helen Reddington states that the popular image of young punk women musicians as focused on the fashion aspects of the scene (fishnet stockings, spiky blond hair, etc.) was stereotypical. She states that many, if not most women punks were more interested in the ideology and socio-political implications, rather than the fashion.[39][40] Music historian Caroline Coon contends that before punk, women in rock music were virtually invisible; in contrast, in punk, she argues "[i]t would be possible to write the whole history of punk music without mentioning any male bands at all – and I think a lot of [people] would find that very surprising."[41][42]Johnny Rotten wrote that 'During the Pistols era, women were out there playing with the men, taking us on in equal terms ... It wasn't combative, but compatible.'[43] Women were involved in bands such as The Runaways, The Slits, The Raincoats, Mo-dettes, Dolly Mixture, and The Innocents.
Others take issue with the notion of equal recognition, such as guitarist Viv Albertine, who stated that "the A&R men, the bouncers, the sound mixers, no one took us seriously. So, no, we got no respect anywhere we went. People just didn't want us around."[44][45] The anti-establishment stance of punk opened the space for women who were treated like outsiders in a male-dominated industry. Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon states, "I think women are natural anarchists, because you're always operating in a male framework."[46]
Body and appearance
For some punks, the body was a symbol of opposition, a political statement expressing disgust of all that was "normal" and socially accepted.[47] The idea was to make others outside of the subculture question their own views, which made gender presentation and gender identity a popular factor to be played with. In some ways, punk helped to tear apart the normalised view of gender as a dichotomy. There was a notable amount of cross-dressing in the punk scene; it was not unusual to see men wearing ripped-up skirts, fishnet tights, and excessive makeup, or to see women with shaved heads wearing oversized plaid shirts and jean jackets and heavy combat boots. Punk created a new cultural space for androgyny and all kinds of gender expression.[48]
In trying to reject societal norms, punk embraced one societal norm by deciding that strength and anger was best expressed through masculinity, defining masculine as the "default", where gender did not exist or had no meaning.[49] However, the main reasoning behind this argument equates femininity with popular conceptions of beauty. Everything that was normally supposed to be hidden was brought to the front, both literally and figuratively. This could mean anything from wearing bras and underwear on top of clothing to wearing nothing but a bra and underwear. Although that act can seem sexualised, to punks it was just a way of self-expression.[49] Punk seemed to allow people to sexualise themselves and still be taken seriously.
The nature of punk allowed many to create a non-gender-conforming style. Punks could be free to use femininity or masculinity to make what they were doing even more shocking to their audience. It became popular for some punks to accentuate societal norms.[50] At one concert, Donita Sparks, lead singer of the band L7, pulled out her tampon and threw it into the audience.
Riot grrrl is an undergroundfeministhardcore punk movement that originated in the early 1990s in Washington, D.C.,[51] and the Pacific Northwest, especially Olympia, Washington.[52] It is often associated with third-wave feminism, which is sometimes seen as its starting point. It has also been described as a musical genre that came out of indie rock, with the punk scene serving as an inspiration for a musical movement in which women could express themselves in the same way men had been doing for the past several years.[53]
Queercore is a punk movement that focuses on LGBT issues. Queercore is an anti-establishment subculture based around a rejection of heteronormativity. This rejection extends beyond mainstream society and resists homophobia in the larger punk scene. Queercore is an offshoot of the hardcore punk scene and draws its name from a combination of the words "queer" and "hardcore." As in the larger punk scene, DIY is an integral component of the queercore subculture. Many zines that came out of the riot grrrl movement explored issues of queer identity, contributing to the queercore subculture. The queercore and riot grrrl subcultures are often considered to be connected. These two punk scenes are intertwined, with many bands being both queercore and riot grrrl.[54]
Punk aesthetics determine the type of art punks enjoy, usually with underground, minimalistic, iconoclastic, and satirical sensibilities. Punk artwork graces album covers, flyers for concerts, and punk zines. Usually straightforward with clear messages, punk art is often concerned with political issues such as social injustice and economic disparity. The use of images of suffering to shock and create feelings of empathy in the viewer is common. Alternatively, punk artwork may contain images of selfishness, stupidity, or apathy to provoke contempt in the viewer.
Much of the earlier artwork was black and white, because it was distributed in zines and reproduced by photocopying at work, school, or at copy shops. Punk art also uses the mass production aesthetic of Andy Warhol's Factory studio. Punk played a hand in the revival of stencil art, spearheaded by Crass. The Situationists also influenced the look of punk art, particularly that of the Sex Pistols created by Jamie Reid. Punk art often uses collage, exemplified by the art of Jamie Reid, Crass, The Clash, Dead Kennedys, and Winston Smith. John Holmstrom was a punk cartoonist who created work for the Ramones and Punk.
Dance
A crowd of fans at a punk show in Italy in 2006
Two dance styles associated with punk are pogo dancing and moshing.[55] The pogo is a dance in which the dancers jump up and down, while either remaining on the spot or moving around; the dance takes its name from its resemblance to the use of a pogo stick, especially in a common version of the dance, where an individual keeps their torso stiff, their arms rigid, and their legs close together. Pogo dancing is closely associated with punk rock and is a precursor to moshing. Moshing or slamdancing is a style of dance where participants push or slam into each other, typically during a live music show. It is usually associated with "aggressive" music genres, such as hardcore punk and thrash metal. Stage diving and crowd surfing were originally associated with protopunk bands such as The Stooges, and have appeared at punk, metal, and rock concerts. Ska punk promoted an updated version of skanking. Hardcore dancing is a later development influenced by all of the above-mentioned styles. Psychobillies prefer to "wreck", a form of slam dancing that involves people punching each other in the chest and arms as they move around the circle pit.
Punk has generated a considerable amount of poetry and prose. Punk has its own underground press in the form of punk zines, which feature news, gossip, cultural criticism, and interviews. Some zines take the form of perzines. Important punk zines include Maximum RocknRoll, Punk Planet, No Cure, Cometbus, Flipside, and Search & Destroy. Several novels, biographies, autobiographies, and comic books have been written about punk. Love and Rockets is a comic with a plot involving the Los Angeles punk scene.
Just as zines played an important role in spreading information in the punk era (e.g. British fanzines like Mark Perry's Sniffin Glue and Shane MacGowan's Bondage), zines also played an important role in the hardcore scene. In the pre-Internet era, zines enabled readers to learn about bands, shows, clubs, and record labels. Zines typically included reviews of shows and records, interviews with bands, letters to the editor, and advertisements for records and labels. Zines were DIY products, "proudly amateur, usually handmade, and always independent", and during the "'90s, zines were the primary way to stay up on punk and hardcore."[56] They were the "blogs, comment sections, and social networks of their day."[56]
In the American Midwest, the zine Touch and Go described the regional hardcore scene from 1979 to 1983.[57]We Got Power described the LA scene from 1981 to 1984, and included show reviews of and interviews with such bands as Vancouver's D.O.A., the Misfits, Black Flag, Suicidal Tendencies, and the Circle Jerks.[58]My Rules was a photo zine that included photos of hardcore shows from across the US. In Effect, which began in 1988, described the New York City scene.[59]
The documentary film Afro-Punk covers the black experience in the punk DIY scene.[63]
Perspectives on drugs and alcohol
Inhalable solvents
"[Glue] sniffing was adopted by punks because public perceptions of sniffing fitted in with their self-image. Originally used experimentally and as a cheap high, adult disgust and hostility encouraged punks to use glue sniffing as a way of shocking society."[64] Model aeroplane glue and contact cement were among the numerous solvents and inhalants used by punks to achieve euphoria and intoxication. Glue was typically inhaled by placing a quantity in a plastic bag and "huffing" (inhaling) the vapour. Liquid solvents were typically inhaled by soaking a rag with the solvent and inhaling the vapour. While users inhale solvents for the intoxicating effects, the practice can be harmful or fatal.
Straight edge is a philosophy of hardcore punk culture, adherents of which refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs, in reaction to the excesses of punk subculture.[65][66] For some, this extends to refraining from engaging in promiscuous sex, following a vegetarian or vegan diet, and not drinking coffee or taking prescribed medicine.[65] The term straight edge was adopted from the 1981 song "Straight Edge" by the hardcore punk band Minor Threat.[67]
Straight edge emerged amid the early-1980s hardcore punk scene. Since then, a wide variety of beliefs and ideas have been associated with the movement, including vegetarianism and animal rights.[68][69] Ross Haenfler writes that as of the late 1990s, approximately three out of four straight edge participants were vegetarian or vegan.[70] While the commonly expressed aspects of the straight edge subculture have been abstinence from alcohol, nicotine, and illegal drugs, there have been considerable variations on how far to take the interpretations of "abstaining from intoxicants" or "living drug-free". Disagreements often arise as to the primary reasons for living straight edge. Straight edge politics are primarily left-wing and revolutionary but there have been conservative offshoots.[71]
In 1999, William Tsitsos wrote that straight edge had gone through three eras since its founding in the early 1980s.[72]Bent edge began as a counter-movement to straight edge by members of the Washington, D.C. hardcore scene who were frustrated by the rigidity and intolerance in the scene.[73] During the youth crew era, which started in the mid-1980s, the influence of music on the straight edge scene was at an all-time high. By the early 1990s, militant straight edge was a well-known part of the wider punk scene. In the early to mid-1990s, straight edge spread from the United States to Northern Europe,[74] Eastern Europe,[75] the Middle East,[76] and South America.[77] By the beginning of the 2000s, militant straight edge punks had largely left the broader straight edge culture and movement.[78]
Lifestyle and community
A band plays on the tiny stage at the Berkeley, California punk venue at 924 Gilman Street
Punks come from all culture and economic classes. Compared to some subcultures, punk ideology is much closer to gender equality. Although the punk subculture is mostly anti-racist, it is overwhelmingly white.[79] However, members of other groups (such as African Americans, other black people, Latinos, and Asians) have contributed to the development of the subculture.[79] Substance abuse has sometimes been a part of the punk scene, with the notable exception of the straight edge movement. Violence has also sometimes appeared in the punk subculture, but has been opposed by some subsets of the subculture, such as the pacifist strain anarcho-punk.[80]
Punks often form a local scene, which can have as few as half a dozen members in a small town, or as many as thousands of in a major city.[81] A local scene usually has a small group of dedicated punks surrounded by a more casual periphery. A typical punk scene is made up of punk and hardcore bands, fans who attend concerts, protests, and other events, zine publishers, reviewers, and other writers, visual artists illustrating zines, and creating posters and album covers, show promoters, and people who work at music venues or independent record labels.[81]
Squatting plays a role in many punk communities, providing shelter and other forms of support. Squats in abandoned or condemned housing, and communal "punk houses" often provide bands a place to stay while they are touring. There are some punk communes, such as Essex's Dial House. The Internet has been playing an increasingly large role in punk, specifically in the form of virtual communities and file sharing programs for trading music files.[82]
Authenticity
In the punk and hardcore subcultures, members of the scene are often evaluated in terms of the authenticity of their commitment to the values or philosophies of the scene, which may range from political beliefs to lifestyle practices. In the punk subculture, the epithet poseur (or "poser") is used to describe "a person who habitually pretends to be something [they are] not." The term is used to refer to a person who adopts the dress, speech, and/or mannerisms of a particular subculture, yet who is deemed to not share or understand the values or philosophy of the subculture.[83][84]
Never one to shy away from criticising the music industry[85][86] and even punk culture, in Chickenshit Conformist[87][88] Dead Kennedys opined that "Punk's not dead It just deserves to die When it becomes another stale cartoon...Ideas don't matter, it's who you know.", saying punk was in danger of becoming a "meaningless fad" because people had stopped caring about what they saw as the core values of punk ("Change and caring are what's real"). In particular, metal bands, which were seen as an offshoot, they saw as not only as a sell-out, but as morally repugnant to the core values of punk saying labels were making money by signing "the most racist queerbashing bands they can find."[89][90][91]
While this perceived inauthenticity is viewed with scorn and contempt by members of the subculture, the definition of the term and to whom it should be applied is subjective. An article in Drowned in Sound argues that 1980s-era "hardcore is the true spirit of punk", because "after all the poseurs and fashionistas fucked off to the next trend of skinny pink ties with New Romantic haircuts, singing wimpy lyrics", the punk scene consisted only of people "completely dedicated to the DIY ethics".[92]
Proto-punk bands such as the Who, the Stooges, the Velvet Underground, Pink Fairies, the Deviants, and Edgar Broughton Band came out of garage-rock during the late 1960s. Usually, white working-class boys are credited for pioneering the genre, however, there were many women (Patti Smith, Siouxsie Sioux) and people of colour (the Specials member) who contributed to the original punk sound and aesthetic.[93] Because the original subculture meant to challenge to the mainstream, and punk movement became major it was brought to the mainstream. If punk is commercialised, it is far from street culture.[94] This is the paradox of punk; as a subculture, it must always be evolving to stay out of the mainstream.
Punk Girls written by Liz Ham is a photo-book featuring 100 portraits of Australian women in the punk subculture, and it was published in 2017 by Manuscript Daily.[95][96][97] Discrimination against punk subculture is explored with her photographs in the book; these girls who are not mainstream, but "beautiful and talented".[98]
The skinhead subculture of the United Kingdom in the late 1960s – which had almost disappeared in the early 1970s – was revived in the late 1970s, partly because of the influence of punk rock, especially the Oi! punk subgenre. Conversely, ska and reggae, popular among traditionalist skinheads, has influenced several punk musicians. Punks and skinheads have had both antagonistic and friendly relationships, depending on the social circumstances, time period, and geographic location.[100]
The punk and heavy metal subcultures have shared some similarities since punk's inception. The early 1970s protopunk scene had an influence on the development of heavy metal. Alice Cooper was a forerunner of the fashion and music of both the punk and metal subcultures. Motörhead, since their first album release in 1977, have enjoyed continued popularity in the punk scene, and their now-deceased frontman Lemmy was a fan of punk rock. Genres such as metalcore, grindcore, and crossover thrash were greatly influenced by punk rock and heavy metal. The new wave of British heavy metal influenced the UK 82-style of bands like Discharge, and hardcore was a primary influence on thrash metal bands such as Metallica and Slayer. The early 1990s grunge subculture was a fusion of punk anti-fashion ideals and metal-influenced guitar sounds. However, hardcore punk and grunge developed in part as reactions against the heavy metal music that was popular during the 1980s.[101]
In punk's heyday, punks faced harassment and attacks from the general public and from members of other subcultures. In the 1980s in the UK, punks were sometimes involved in brawls with Teddy Boys, greasers, bikers, mods, and members of other subcultures. There was also considerable enmity between Positive punks (known today as goths) and the glamorously dressed New Romantics.
In the late 1970s, punks were known to have had confrontations with hippies due to the contrasting ideologies and backlash of the hippie culture.[102] Nevertheless, Penny Rimbaud of the English anarcho-punk band Crass said that Crass was formed in memory of his friend, the hippie Wally Hope.[103] Rimbaud also said that Crass were heavily involved with the hippie movement throughout the 1960s and 1970s, with Dial House being established in 1967. Many punks were often critical of Crass for their involvement in the hippie movement. Like Crass, Jello Biafra was influenced by the hippie movement and cited the yippies as a key influence on his political activism and thinking, though he did write songs critical of hippies.[80][104]
The industrial and rivethead subcultures have had several ties to punk, in terms of music, fashion, and attitude.
Power pop music (as defined by groups such as Badfinger, Cheap Trick, The Knack, and The Romantics) emerged in mostly the same time frame and geographical area as punk rock, and they shared a great deal musically in terms of playing short songs loud and fast while trying to emphasise catchy feelings. More melodic and pop-influenced punk music has also often been wrapped alongside power pop bands under the general "new wave music" label.[105] A good example of a genre-straddling "power pop punk" band is the popular Northern Ireland group Protex.[106] However, stylistically and lyrically, power pop bands have tended to have a very "not-punk" top 40 commercial pop music influence and a flashier, heavily teen-pop sense of fashion, especially modern power pop groups such as Stereo Skyline and All Time Low.
Persecution
East Germany
The punk scene began to emerge in communist East Germany in the late 1970s. It shared many similarities with that of the West and was considered by the ruling authorities to be a spread of an international youth sub-culture which had its roots in the US and Western Europe. Indeed, this was an assessment many East German punks shared themselves. According to one, Mario Schulz, "The start was that I liked the music. I did not quite understand the English texts, but this ostentatious experience as an outsider, this capacity to shock, that pleased me. I was already – someone else would probably express it differently- an awkward sod."[107] By the authorities, punk was seen as representing a way of life which was contrary in nature to existing social conventions and values. Punks were, however, not the only youth sub-culture to be considered 'negative decadent'[108] and a threat to the stability of communist society: heavy metallers, skinheads, and goths were also targeted. While it is hard to ascertain an exact figure, the punk scene in East Germany in the early 1980s was still relatively small. For example, 'In 1981, the Stasi (secret police) identified 1,000 punks and a broader group of 10,000 sympathisers.'[109] Punks, whether considered as individuals or as groups, were persecuted by both the regular police and the Stasi. More overt methods of persecution by the regular police – such as enforced haircutting, arrest, and physical beatings – were combined unofficially with the more insidious and far-reaching decomposition methods (trans. Zersetzung) of the Stasi: these involved various forms of infiltration, false flag type acts, framing, psychological harassment methods designed to cause mental health problems, and incarceration on the basis of mental health legislation or on the basis of crimes ostensibly committed.[110] As the methods of the Stasi were difficult to detect and even harder to prove, it allowed them to circumvent international condemnation in regard to the persecution of their own citizens. Aside from being designed to harm people, the methods were also designed to discredit and isolate individuals and break up the various bands and groupings. They relied heavily on the hiring of collaborators who were of a similar disposition to those who were being targeted. According to Stasi officers, this was a task which was harder to achieve with punks due to their 'feeling of belonging together.'[111] Nonetheless, the Stasi did have notable success in the repression and decomposition of the punk scene. Former member of the band Namenlos, Jana Schlosser, stated in 1984 when she came out of jail, that "The Stasi had pretty well managed to smash punk."[111][112]
Global perspectives
The punk subculture has spread to many countries around the world. The fluidity of musical expression in particular makes it an ideal medium for this cross-cultural interpretation.[113]
Mexico
In Mexico, punk culture is primarily a phenomenon among the upper-middle class, many of whom were first exposed to punk music through travel to England, but rapidly shifted to the lower-class youth.[114] Because of low fees at public universities in Mexico, a significant majority of Mexican punks are university students.[115] It is estimated approximately 5,000 young people are active punks in Mexico City, hosting two or three underground shows a week.[115] These young people often form chavos banda—youth gangs—that organised subculture activity by creating formal meeting spaces and rituals and practices.[116]
Oral nicknames are a distinguishing feature of Mexican punk, where the tradition of oral culture has influenced the development of nicknames for almost all Mexican punks. Patches are widely used as an inexpensive way to alter clothing and express identity. Though English-language bands like the Dead Kennedys are well known in Mexico, punks there prefer Spanish-language music or covers translated into Spanish. The slam dance style common in the California punk scene of the early 1980s is thoroughly adopted as part of the movement and continues to be the most popular dancing style among punks.[115]
Performance and ideology practices often reflect the socioeconomic circumstances of Mexican punks. Live shows, called "Tocadas" are generally held in public spaces like basketball courts or community centers instead of places of business like venues, bars, and restaurants, as is more common in the United States and Europe. They usually take place in the afternoon and end early to accommodate the two or three hours it takes many punks to return home by public transit. Mexican punk groups rarely release vinyl or CD recordings, usually cassettes are the preferred format.[115]
Punk arrived slowly in South Africa during the 1970s when waves of British tradesmen welcomed by the then-apartheid government brought cultural influences like the popular British music magazine NME,[117] sold in South Africa six weeks after publication.[117]
South African punk developed separately in Johannesburg, Durban, and Cape Town and relied on live performances in townships and streets as the multi-racial composition of bands and fan bases challenged the legal and social conventions of the apartheid regime.[117]
Political participation is foundational to punk subculture in South Africa. During the apartheid regime, punk was second only to Rock music in its importance to multi-racial interactions in South Africa.[117] Because of this, any involvement in the punk scene was in itself a political statement. Police harassment was common and the government often censored explicitly political lyrics. Johannesburg-based band National Wake was routinely censored and even banned for songs like "International News", which challenged the South African government's refusal to acknowledge the racial and political conflict in the country.[118] National Wake guitarist Ivan Kadey attributes the punk scene's ability to persevere despite the legal challenges of multi-racial mixing to punk subculture's DIY ethic and anti-establishment attitude.[118]
In post-apartheid South Africa, punk attracted a greater number of white middle-class males than the more diverse makeup of the subculture during the apartheid era. Thabo Mbeki's African Renaissance movement has complicated the position of white South Africans in contemporary society. Punk provides young white men the opportunity to explore and express their minority identity.[119] Cape Town band Hog Hoggidy Hog sings of the strange status of white Africans:
It's my home it's where I'll stay and where I belong,
I didn't choose to be here I was born I might seem out of place
but everything I hold dear is under the African sun.[119]
Post-apartheid punk subculture continues to be active in South African politics, organising a 2000 festival called Punks Against Racism at Thrashers Statepark in Pretoria. Rather than the sense of despondency and fatalism that characterised 1970s British punk subculture, the politically engaged South African scene is more positive about the future of South Africa.[119]
Peru
In Peru punk traces its roots to the band Los Saicos, a Lima group that played the unique blend of garage and break dance music that would later be labelled punk as early as the 1960s. The early activity of Los Saicos has led many to claim that punk originated in Lima instead of the UK, as is typically assumed.[7] Though their claim to be the first punk band in the world can be disputed, Los Saicos were undoubtedly the first in Latin America and released their first single in 1965.[120][121] The group played to full houses and made frequent television appearances throughout the 1960s. Throughout the 1970s, the band was completely forgotten. Years later, a plaque that declares "here the global punk-rock movement was born" was placed at the corner of Miguel Iglesias and Julio C. Tello Streets in Lima.[122]
By the 1980s the punk scene in Peru was highly active. Peruvian punks call themselves subtes and appropriate the subversive implications of the English term "underground" through the Spanish term subterraneo (literally, subterranean).[123] In the 1980s and 1990s subtes made almost exclusive use of cassette recording as a means of circulating music without participating in formal intellectual property and musical production industries. The current scene relies on digital distribution and assumes similar anti-establishment practices.[123] Like many punk subcultures, subtes explicitly oppose the Peruvian state and advocate instead an anarchic resistance that challenges the political and mainstream cultural establishment.
Cuba
A punk subculture originated in Cuba in the 1980s, referred to as Los Frikis.[124] As Cuban radio stations rarely played rock music, Frikis often listened to music by picking up radio frequencies from stations in nearby Florida.[125] While many Frikas in the early-1990s entered AIDS clinics by knowingly injecting HIV-positive blood into them, others began congregating at El patio de María, a community centre in Havana that was one of the few venues in the city that allowed rock bands to play.[118] Some Frikis also participate in squatting as an act of political defiance.[126]
In its beginning, the subculture was seen as a threat to the collectivism of Cuban society, leading to Frikis becoming victims of discrimination and police brutality.[127] According to the New Times Broward-Palm Beach some Frikis were "rejected by family and often jailed or fined by the government",[128] the 1980s Friki woman Yoandra Cardoso, however, has that argued that much of the response was verbal harassment from law enforcement.[129] Dionisio Arce, lead vocalist of Cuban heavy metal band Zeus spent six years in prison due to his part in the Frikis.[130] Some schools would forcibly shave the heads of young Frikis as a form of punishment.[125]
Punk rock is a music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced short, fast-paced songs with hard-edged melodies and singing styles with stripped-down instrumentation. Lyricism in punk typically revolves around anti-establishment and anti-authoritarian themes. Punk embraces a DIY ethic; many bands self-produce recordings and distribute them through independent labels.
A skinhead or skin is a member of a subculture that originated among working-class youth in London, England, in the 1960s. It soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working-class skinhead movement emerging worldwide in the late 1970s. Motivated by social alienation and working-class solidarity, skinheads are defined by their close-cropped or shaven heads and working-class clothing such as Dr. Martens and steel toe work boots, braces, high rise and varying length straight-leg jeans, and button-down collar shirts, usually slim fitting in check or plain. The movement reached a peak at the end of the 1960s, experienced a revival in the 1980s, and, since then, has endured in multiple contexts worldwide.
Hardcore punk is a punk rock subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk scenes in San Francisco and Southern California which arose as a reaction against the still predominant hippie cultural climate of the time. It was also inspired by Washington, D.C., and New York punk rock and early proto-punk. Hardcore punk generally eschews commercialism, the established music industry and "anything similar to the characteristics of mainstream rock" and often addresses social and political topics with "confrontational, politically charged lyrics".
Anarcho-punk is an ideological subgenre of punk rock that promotes anarchism. Some use the term broadly to refer to any punk music with anarchist lyrical content, which may figure in crust punk, hardcore punk, folk punk, and other styles.
Punk fashion is the clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, jewellery, and body modifications of the punk counterculture. Punk fashion varies widely, ranging from Vivienne Westwood designs to styles modeled on bands like The Exploited to the dressed-down look of North American hardcore. The distinct social dress of other subcultures and art movements, including glam rock, skinheads, greasers, and mods have influenced punk fashion. Punk fashion has likewise influenced the styles of these groups, as well as those of popular culture. Many punks use clothing as a way of making a statement.
Queercore is a cultural/social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of the punk subculture and a music genre that comes from punk rock. It is distinguished by its discontent with society in general, and specifically society's disapproval of the LGBT community. Queercore expresses itself in a DIY style through magazines, music, writing and film.
Hardline is a subculture that has its roots in the vegan straight edge hardcore punk scene. It is commonly seen as a more extreme version of straight edge, with influences from deep ecology philosophy. From its outset, hardline adherents put out statements and literature pushing a biocentric view of the world, which advocated for veganism, animal rights, pro-life, anti-homosexuality, and a much more militant version of the straight edge philosophy, which advocates for a no alcohol, no drugs, no tobacco lifestyle. The hardline worldview has been accused by critics as ecoauthoritarian. Hardline co-founder Sean Muttaqi adamantly rejected racism and fascism.
A punk zine is a zine related to the punk subculture and hardcore punk music genre. Often primitively or casually produced, they feature punk literature, such as social commentary, punk poetry, news, gossip, music reviews and articles about punk rock bands or regional punk scenes.
Youth crew is a music subculture of hardcore punk, which was particularly prominent during the New York hardcore scene of the late 1980s. Youth crew is distinguished from other punk styles by its optimism and moralistic outlook. The original youth crew bands and fans were predominantly straight edge and vegetarian.
Punk ideologies are a group of varied social and political beliefs associated with the punk subculture and punk rock. It is primarily concerned with concepts such as mutual aid, against selling out, hierarchy, white supremacy, authoritarianism, eugenics, class and classism, while supporting anti-consumerism, anti-corporatism, anti-war, anti-imperialism, leftism, anti-globalization, anti-gentrification, anti-racism, anti-sexism, gender equality, anti-homophobia, racial equality, animal rights, free-thought and non-conformity. One of its main tenets is a rejection of mainstream, corporate mass culture and its values. It continues to evolve its ideology as the movement spreads throughout North America from its origins in England and New York and embraces a range of anti-racist and anti-sexist belief systems. Punk does not necessarily lend itself to any particular political ideology as it is primarily anti-establishment although leftist punk is more common due to the prevalence of liberal and conservative ideologies in the status-quo.
The 20th century saw the rise and fall of many subcultures.
New York hardcore is both the hardcore punk music created in New York City and the subculture and lifestyle associated with that music. The scene established many aspects that are fixtures of hardcore punk today, including its simplified name "hardcore", its hardcore skinhead and youth crew subcultures, the moshing style hardcore dancing, its association with street gangs and its prominent influence of heavy metal.
J.D.s was a Canadian queer punk zine which started in 1985 and ran for eight issues until 1991. The zine was co-authored by G.B Jones and Bruce LaBruce and is credited as being one of the first and most influential queer zines. The zine's content was centred around anarchic queer-punk themes and heavily discussed queer-skewed punk music from the late 1980s.
The history of the punk subculture involves the history of punk rock, the history of various punk ideologies, punk fashion, punk visual art, punk literature, dance, and punk film. Since emerging in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia in the mid-1970s, the punk subculture has spread around the globe and evolved into a number of different forms. The history of punk plays an important part in the history of subcultures in the 20th century.
Since the mid-1970s, California has had thriving regional punk rock movements. It primarily consists of bands from the Los Angeles, Orange County, Ventura County, San Diego, San Fernando Valley, San Francisco, Fresno, Bakersfield, Alameda County, Sacramento, Lake Tahoe, Oakland and Berkeley areas.
A number of overlapping punk rock subgenres have developed since the emergence of punk rock in the mid-1970s. Even though punk genres at times are difficult to segregate, they usually show differing characteristics in overall structures, instrumental and vocal styles, and tempo. However, sometimes a particular trait is common in several genres, and thus punk genres are normally grouped by a combination of traits.
Straight edge is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and recreational drugs in reaction to the punk subculture's excesses. Some adherents refrain from engaging in promiscuous or casual sex, follow a vegetarian or vegan diet and do not consume caffeine or prescription drugs. The term "straight edge" was adopted from the 1981 song "Straight Edge" by the hardcore punk band Minor Threat.
The scene subculture is a youth subculture that emerged during the early 2000s in the United States from the pre-existing emo subculture. The subculture became popular with adolescents from the mid 2000s to the early 2010s. Members of the scene subculture are referred to as scene kids, trendies, or scenesters. Scene fashion consists of skinny jeans, bright-colored clothing, a signature hairstyle consisting of straight, flat hair with long fringes covering the forehead, and bright-colored hair dye. Music genres associated with the scene subculture include metalcore, crunkcore, deathcore, electronic music, and pop punk.
Animal rights are closely associated with two ideologies of the punk subculture: anarcho-punk and straight edge. This association dates back to the 1980s and has been expressed in areas that include song lyrics, benefit concerts for animal rights organisations, and militant actions of activists influenced by punk music. Among the latter, Rod Coronado, Peter Daniel Young and members of SHAC are notable. This issue spread into various punk rock and hardcore subgenres, e.g. crust punk, metalcore and grindcore, eventually becoming a distinctive feature of punk culture.
Los Frikis or the Frikis is a Cuban punk subculture that originated in the 1980s. As Cuban radio stations rarely played rock music, Frikis often listened to music by picking up radio frequencies from stations in nearby Florida. Many Frikis in the early 1990s entered AIDS clinics by knowingly injecting HIV-positive blood into themselves in order to have enough to eat and a safe place to sleep and live. Others began congregating at a community centre in Havana called El patio de María which was one of the few venues in the city that allowed rock bands to play live music. It was shut down by the Cuban government in 2003 because too many Frikis sang too many songs with lyrics against the Castro regime.
↑ Moore, Thurston (1996). "Grabbing Ankles". Bomb Magazine. Archived from the original on 25 October 2006. Retrieved 19 November 2006.
↑ Robb, John (5 November 2005). "The birth of punk". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 27 April 2006. Retrieved 17 December 2006.
↑ Australian Broadcasting Corporation (2 October 2003). "Misfits and Malcontents". Australia: ABC. Archived from the original on 24 May 2006. Retrieved 1 November 2006.
↑ Bangs, Lester. Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung. Anchor Books, a division of Random House. 2003. pp. 8, 56, 57, 61, 64, 101: reprints of articles which appeared in 1971 and 1972, that refer to garage bands such as the Count Five and the Troggs as "punk"; p. 101 associates "Iggy" and "Jonathan of Modern Lovers" with the Troggs and their ilk (as being punk); pp. 112–113 speak of the Guess Who as "punk" – The Guess Who had made recordings (i.e. their hit version of Shakin' All Over," 1965) as a garage rock outfit in the mid 60s; p. 8 makes a general statement about "punk rock" (garage) as a genre: "...then punk bands started cropping up who were writing their own songs but taking the Yardbirds' sound and reducing it to this kind of goony fuzztone clatter...oh, it was beautiful, it was pure folklore, Old America, and sometimes I think those were the best days ever."; p. 225 is a reprint from article which appeared in late-70s, that refers back to garage bands as "punk"
↑ Laing, Dave. One Chord Wonders: Power and Meaning in Punk Rock. PM Press. Oakland, CA 2015, 1984. pp. 22–23. "Ellen Willis stated ... that 'the word punk was not used generically until the early seventies when citics began applying it to unregenerate reock-and-rollers with an aggressively lower-class style' ... Greg Shaw wrote that: 'Punk rock in those days was a quaint fanzine term for a transient form of mid-60s music'"
↑ Marsh, D. Creem. May, 1971—from a review of live show by? & the Mysterions – Marsh refers to their style as "a landmark exposition of punk rock."; >Christgau, Robert. Village Voice. October, 1971 – refers to "mid-60's garage rock as "punk"
↑ Shaw, Greg. Who Put the Bomp. 1971. – In 1971 article in Who Put the Bomp, Greg Shaw wrote about "...what I have chosen to call 'punk rock' bands—white teenage hard rock of '64–66 (Standells, Kingsmen, Shadows of Knight, etc.)"
↑ Kaye, Lenny. "Headed, Decked, and Stroked..." – original liner notes for Nuggets LP. (Elektra, 1972): uses the term "punk rock" to describe whole genre of 60s garage bands: "..the name that has been unofficially coined for them – "punk rock" – seems particularly fitting in this case..." >Shaw, Greg. Rolling Stone, 4 January 1973 – review of original Nuggets LP: speaks of whole phenomenon of 60s garage bands as an actual genre called "punk rock": "Punk rock at its best is the closest we came in the 60's to the original rockabilly spirit of Rock 'n Roll..."
↑ Lauraine Leblanc. Pretty in Punk: Girls' Gender Resistance in a Boys' Subculture. Rutgers University Press, 1999. p. 52
↑ Skinheads: A Guide to an American Subculture. By Tiffini A. Travis, Perry Hardy. ABC-CLIO, 2012. p. 123 (section entitled "From San Francisco Hardcore Punks to Skinheads")
↑ Cogan, Brian (2006). Encyclopedia of punk music and culture. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. ISBN978-0-313-33340-8.
↑ Moore, Jack (1993). Skinheads shaved for battle: a cultural history of American skinheads. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press. ISBN978-0-87972-583-9.
↑ Mike Dennis, Norman LaPorte (2011). "Sub-cultures: Punks, Goths, and Heavy Metallers". State and Minorities in Communist East Germany. Berghahn Books. p.161. ISBN978-0-857-45-195-8.
↑ Mike Dennis, Norman LaPorte (2011). "Sub-cultures: Punks, Goths, and Heavy Metallers". State and Minorities in Communist East Germany. Berghahn Books. p.157. ISBN978-0-857-45-195-8.
↑ Mike Dennis, Norman LaPorte (2011). "Sub-cultures: Punks, Goths, and Heavy Metallers". State and Minorities in Communist East Germany. Berghahn Books. p.159. ISBN978-0-857-45-195-8.
↑ Mike Dennis, Norman LaPorte (2011). State and Minorities in Communist East Germany. Berghahn Books. pp.8–9, 164–167. ISBN978-0-857-45-195-8.
1 2 Mike Dennis, Norman LaPorte (2011). "Sub-cultures: Punks, Goths, and Heavy Metallers". State and Minorities in Communist East Germany. Berghahn Books. p.167. ISBN978-0-857-45-195-8.
↑ Mike Dennis, Norman LaPorte (2011). "Sub-cultures: Punks, Goths, and Heavy Metallers". State and Minorities in Communist East Germany. Berghahn Books. pp.153–170. ISBN978-0-857-45-195-8.
↑ Huq, Rupa (2006). "Euoprean youth cultures in a post-colonial world: British Asian underground and French hip-hop music scenes". In Pam Nilan and Carles Feixa (ed.). Global Youth?: Hybrid identities, plural worlds. New York: Routledge. p.14. ISBN978-0-415-37070-7.
↑ Feixa, Carles (2006). "Being a punk in Catalonia and Mexico". In Pam Nilan and Carles Feixa (ed.). Global Youth?: Hybrid identities, plural worlds. New York: Routledge. pp.159–160. ISBN9780415370707.
↑ Serrano, Ignacio (21 November 2010). "Perú, cuna del punk". ABC.es. Archived from the original on 19 July 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
1 2 Greene, Shane (December 2012). "The Problem of Peru's Punk Underground: An Approach to Under-Fuck the System". Journal of Popular Music Studies. 24 (4): 578–589. doi:10.1111/jpms.12008.
Haenfler, Ross (2006). Straight Edge: Hardcore Punk, Clean Living Youth, and Social Change. Rutgers University Press. ISBN0-8135-3851-3.
Kuhn, Gabriel (2010). Sober Living for the Revolution: Hardcore Punk, Straight Edge, and Radical Politics. PM Press. ISBN978-1-60486-051-1.
Tsitsos, William (October 1999). "Rules of rebellion: slamdancing, moshing, and the American alternative scene". Popular Music. 18 (3): 397–414. doi:10.1017/S0261143000008941. S2CID159966036.
Wood, Robert T. (1999). "Nailed to the X: A Lyrical History of Straightedge". Journal of Youth Studies. 2 (2): 133–151. doi:10.1080/13676261.1999.10593032.
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