Significant stages in the development of punk rock

Posted by Australia ETA on December 20th, 2020

The musical direction of punk rock emerged in the very early 1970s. The USA is considered to be the homeland of punk. In England, this genre gained popularity a little later. The word Punk in English initially had a sharply negative connotation. In jargon, girls of easy virtue were called so. In America, such a designation was branded the prisoners of the lower caste of the underworld. Having entered the everyday lexicon, the term got the meaning of "dirty", "rotten", "garbage".

The era of "garage rock"

At the very end of the 50s, a large number of amateur musical groups and collectives emerged. This phenomenon had a very simple basis. The popularity of the great Beatles and The Rolling Stones forced young performers to take up musical instruments.

"Garage rock" is also called "proto-punk", because it was he who became the basis for the future mass movement. It received the name "garage" due to the fact that novice groups rehearsed in ordinary garages on primitive equipment. The music was distinguished by compositional simplicity, roughness, harshness and extreme negligence during performance. There was practically no concept of musical theory . The main thing was the desire, not the ability to play. The performers created for themselves and a narrow circle of acquaintances and friends. This is how the first preconditions for a punk scene began to form.

The most popular in proto-punk are The Sonics, Monks, The Who. Future world stars such as Iggy Pop and Patti Smith began to hone their craft during this early period.

The sonics

The first swallows of punk rock

American New York became the center of punk rock in the late 60s. The Ramones are deservedly considered the first real punks in this style. Their music was very simple and fast paced. The songs could be no more than 30 seconds, based on the cry of just a few phrases of the vocalist to the deafening noise of the instruments.

Sex Pistols

English punk rock music has grown into a global protest, opposing a rich existence, shaking the canons and respectable foundations. A significant social burden, which was demonstrated by the style of punk rock, was the political overtones and dissatisfaction with the rules and regulations. The lyrics were distinguished by social appeals and statements.

A huge number of young bands copied the Sex Pistols, finding in this process a completely new color and sound. The main ideology remained the idea of ​​the “lost generation”, which protests against everyone and everything. The music remained loud, brutal, harsh and simple.

Style development: second wave
Punk rock of the 1980s, after a violent explosion, slowly began to lose popularity. Many famous bands broke up, and the most talented members of the bands began to look for themselves in other musical directions. But the lull was temporary. The search for fresh sound led to the emergence of Black Flag and Circle Jerks. So the derivative genre of hardcore began to gain momentum. There was also a mixture of punk rock with heavy metal. The result can be appreciated in the work of The Exploited. Aggression and protest persisted steadily. Most bands, however, could be content only with a deep underground and a narrow circle of fans.

A new impetus to punk music could be given by the growing movement of post-punk and alternative rock in musical circles. Pixies and Sonic Youth became prominent representatives.

In the 90s, the most significant were the mega-popular bands The Offspring and Green Day. The sound of these world-scale bands has become more melodic, amateur musicians have been replaced by real professionals in their field. The energy and high tempo of punk rock, the accessibility and simplicity of the compositions for the listener went punk to the bands from the punk of the first wave. The main additions can be considered professionalism of performance, high-quality sounding of instruments and vocals. Ideas of protest and aggression were replaced by unrestrained musical fun and complete separation, having received the definition of "California punk rock". The softest offshoot of pop punk can be considered today.