Punk: Evolution

The history of punk rock music is one that is most debated of all musical genres. Everything from its origin, to what it was really all about. The truth is, the evolution and spirit of punk really just depends on who you're listening to; who the story is coming from. In this case, the story is being told from an 18 year-old punk enthusiast who lived in the Bay Area of California for 17 years, attended many punk shows at Gilman, and is now living in the Inland Empire of California. Aka, yes, I live in the state known for being the Yoko Ono of punk rock to some. In any case, please.. read and enjoy.

The beginning is highly disputed. Again, because of the undefined definition of punk. The first band to officially be called "punk" was The Ramones. However, the evolution of punk starts way before the Ramones. During the '60s, there were some bands that can definitely be connected to the influences of punk rockers. The Stooges, The Sonics, The Who; all of these bands had elements in their music that contributed to the growth of punk.

The Stooges and MC5 played raw garage rock that a lot just called noise because of their lack of musical skill. They also later joined the punk rock ranks. The Who had the political, rebellious lyrics in their songs such as "My Generation". Proving its influence is how many covers have been done by various punk bands.

From there, a major protopunk band was formed and produced by artist Andy Warhol: The Velvet Underground. This band was very experimental, just like their producer. They crossed lines in music that were already stepping on the territory of future punk rock.

The last influence, before punk rock itself emerged, is glam rock. Glam rock defined bands like David Bowie, Roxy Music, and the New York Dolls. It brought the style to punk rock. The New York Dolls started the scene in New York that spawned punk.

The '70s was when punk rock started in the U.S. The first band to emerge as full-out punk rock, was The Ramones. Bands that followed, include Patti Smith, The Heartbreakers (not associated with Tom Petty), The Voidoids, and Blondie. The New York scene rallied around the club in Manhattan, CBGB. CBGB was the venue to go to see punk rock. It was the scene's headquarters. The unity seen in New York influenced the start of punk across the world.

England was going through some rough economic times when punk perked up. A lot of people were unemployed, and politics weren't on the good side of most over there. The youth became rebellious and wore outrageous clothing. Things like safety pins, patches, new hairstyles, all the bondage-style clothing, etc; all of this started in England at a shop called SEX.
The owner, Malcom McLaren, had recently traveled to and from New York (to try and reinvent the New York Dolls), and witnessed the punk scene emerging in Manhattan. When he came back to England, he was approached by the lead singer of a band called The Strand, for help. They became his new project; later named The Sex Pistols.
Fans of the Sex Pistols grew into the new punk bands of the English scene. These included The Clash, Generation X, Siouxsie & the Banshees, and The Slits.

By the time the '70s had passed, punk rock was in full swing. It was moving across the United States, and it was growing rapidly across the pond. New subgenres were already beginning to form from punk, and new scenes were following.
California began to create their own large punk rock scene, only they had a completely different sound from New York. Around the hotspots of Los Angeles and San Francisco was where most of the action took place. Bands like The Germs, The Dickies, The Avengers, and The Dead Kennedys all started in California. Around the early '80s, Southern California's scene became known as "hardcore punk" and was made up of a younger fanbase than earlier punk bands. Black Flag, Suicidal Tendencies, and Circle Jerks were part of this new sound.
A sort of rivalry between the older crowd and the newer crowd erupted, and the definition of punk was changed. The older scene was concerned with the "narrowminded", "violent" younger scene, while the younger scene thought the older scene was lacking in the "intensity"the new crowd had.
By the mid-'80s, however, the two sounds began to merge together, evolving punk rock some more. Moshing became the main dance at punk shows, and the hardcore was more dominant as far as expression went in punk.

Punk still continued in England past the '70s, but it became much more introverted and experimental. They began to incorporate keyboards into their music and create pure energy. The band Joy Division was a huge influence on this new English sound. The music became more poppy and was much more acceptable in the mainstream. The Smiths, The Cure, and Adam and the Ants are examples. Post-punk made use of visuals such a music videos, and quickly moved over to the United States with the new television channel, MTV. It is still around, mostly in the form of indie and alternative music.

The 80s also brought pop punk. Bands like The Undertones and Bad Religion started to change their sound to have more melodies and harmony while keeping the edgy lyrics. Again, the southern California scene brought a big part of this new genre. All of the beaches in California, and extreme sports like skateboarding and surfing, morphed with genre. NOFX, The Offspring, Blink-182, etc, all are part of this scene. This genre is the most popular out of all the subgenres in the United States, and is still seen today.

Punk rock has pretty much been taken over by pop-punk today, but I don't find that much of a bad thing. A lot of it sounds the same, but there are also some gems among the masses. Subgenres upon subgenres are still emerging from the original punk rock sound. The evolution is still going, and in the end... it is too big for this small article.

So, I will end it with this: listen to your local bands, buy some punk cds, and support. Punk rock is not dead, it is just evolving. Just because it isn't screaming, yelling, moshing, etc, doesn't mean it's not punk anymore. Just support what we still have and keep the scene alive!