Few genres of music have become quite as culture-defining, popularized and politicized as punk. With wider use, however, comes a lack of a clear definition and understanding of the concept. To understand its roots and anatomy, it is necessary to examine the historical context and key melodic genre elements alike. The term punk rock was originally coined in the 1960s to describe amateur artists who were performing in their garages. Bands like The Sonics were forming and developing with little or no musical or vocal training, which allowed them to break the existing conventions of the field since they had not known those existed.
In the mid-to-late 1960-s bands such as The Stooges and the MC5. Their lyrics were unfiltered, abrasive, and frequently political, which proceeded to later become one of the staples of the punk genre. Perhaps unsurprisingly, their concerts have often led to violence or fused with other types of performances to deliver an overarching message (Paul and Miller, 247). At the same time, the now legendary band Velvet Underground, managed by an impresario and showman Andy Warhol, started to apply heavy noise elements to their compositions.
Finally, many fundamental influences have come from the field of glam rock and its dramatically expressive performance. David Bowie and the New York Dolls were known for their extravagant clothing and experiments within the rock-n-roll genre that were considered raunchy or ‘trashy’ at the time. In summary, the lack of polish, political undertones, visual extravaganza and heavy use of noise effects in melodies became emblematic of the emerging punk-rock genre. By the middle of the 1970-s, collectives like the Ramones, Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, and Wayne County became an established early punk-rock scene, proceeding to define a generation of rebels.
Work Cited
Paul, Friedlander, and Miller Peter. Rock and roll: A social history. Routledge, 2018.