Is it wrong to be punk? Cont

As society grows, culture changes and usually the first one to go is music.But what if the music of the past still affects us? One of the known genre of music that lives in the heart of the 21st century is punk.







Punk music has become a way for teenagers to rebel from society through the the sound of guitar screeching, screaming vocals,and the hard beat of a drum. The teenagers of the 21st century have rebelled from traditional society, and been wanting to be spirits of freedom.Punk music is not new to the the 21st century as it has its roots in the 1960's and quickly revolutionized into sub-genres of punk such as alternative rock,pop punk,grunge,and post-punk that many of todays great artists have taken on as influences. Many bands such as The Ramones, Green Day,and The Offsprings brought in a blueprint to America on punk music and helped spread the angry musical style. Billie Joe Armstrong was once quoted about a conversation he had with a young man asking him "What's punk?", Armstrong's reponse was kicking a trash can and saying "That's punk", the young man kicked a trash can and said "Is that punk" and Armstrong boldly said, "No, that's trendy." The genre of punk is not based on trends, it is based on emotions such as anger,sadness,joy,and the excitement of letting them out. Punk music has affected lives in different matters and it has given memories to many, for they couldn't have ever say without punk music "Thnks fr th Mmrs" (a popular song by Fall Out Boy, a alternative band from Illinois).Teens will soon revolve to society and try to enjoy their uniqueness and soon will "Smell Like Teen Spirit" (a popular song from Nirvana, a international band in the sub-genre of grunge). Punk music is not bades only in anger, as such beauty in saying "I Miss You" (a popular song from punk band blink-182). A person even feel punk music when we feel there is something psychological wrong with us as expressed by the song "Basket Case" a popular song by punk band Green Day,expressing Billie Joe Armstrong paranoria and believing he had schizophrenia.



Punk originated from a genre now considered proto-punk.Proto-punk came in during the late 1960's to mid-1970's. Bands such as The Stooges,MC5, and New York Dolls were a few of the group of bands that would eventually influence bands such as Blondie and The Ramones who drew influence from The Stooges and New York Dolls.The Stooges' music became a great influence on future punk bands who then covered their songs, bands such as The Sex Pistols,Sonic Youth,Kurt Cobain,The Dictators.Soon The Stooges' lead singer Iggy Pop would go solo and is considered "The Godfather of Punk". MC5 came into mainstream and fame with their loud,energetic style of music,far left political ties,and anti-establishment lyrics. MC5's initial rise ended quickly but was considered as one the most important American hard rock groups of their era. The New York Dolls is a proto-punk band that became a glam-metal, who began the local New York scene that spawned The Ramones,Blondie,Television,and Talking Heads.The New York Dolls were influenced by other proto-punk bands The Stooges and MC5. Johnny Thunders, a former guitarist and vocalist for New York Dolls would soon leave and found the band The Heartbrakers and go off to a solo project.



Early punk rose up in the Unites States in New York City, where a small club known as CBGB where punk bands performed at,soon it become a iconic in punk music. The Ramones started their first performances at CBGB, where Ramone's bassist Dee Dee Ramone shouted "1-2-3-4" before every song, something many bands now do. The song "Blitzkrieg Bop" by The Ramones became an international success wiht its chorus "Hey Ho,let's go" is usually mistaken as the title of the song.Punk band Blondie was a regular performance at CBGB known where they started off their mainstream success, the band is most notably by the song "One Way or Another".Blondie became a mainstream success after performing for long at CBGB, and now are considered pioneers of punk music.The United States was not the only start of punk music,the UK punk bands are also considered pioneers of the punk genre, with strong bands such as the Sex Pistols,Buzzcocks,and The Clash.The Sex Pistols are best known for the rebellious music such as the song "God Save The Queen" where they speak of the conformity Britians went for Queen Elizabeth.The Buzzcocks were formed two audiance members and organizers of a Sex Pistols concert, heard the Sex Pistols.The Buzzcocks would go into mainstream with the heavily covered song "Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)".After their previous band London SS, members of the SS joined up to make a new band known as The Clash,a punk band taking influences from genre's such as reggae,funk,and ska.The Clash were mainstream with the start of their debut album "The Clash". Known for their promotional slogan by their record company CBS as "The Only Band That Matters", The Clash were named by Rolling Stone in 2004 as #28 of their list of "100 Greatest Artist of All Time". Bad Brains was a punk revolution by been the first all African-American punk band. Bad Brains started off as Mind Power, but soon changed names to "Bad Brains", a song by The Ramones. In 1979, Bad Brains were unofficially ban to perform at clubs and performance venues. As of 2007, Bad Brains have recorder 7 albums have performed with popular band P.O.D, and have started to work on a new album.



As the first wave of punk music passed, a new genre of punk emerged known as post-punk. The post-punk wave was brought in by bands such as U2,The Cure,and Sonic Youth. U2 bursted into radio stations with their first song "11 O'Clock Tick Tock" which became an international hit. U2 were heavily influence by early punk bands The Sex Pistols,The Buzzcocks,The Jam,and The Clash. UK post-punk band The Cure broke into success in the UK with the single "A Forest" from their second album "Seventeen Seconds", and soon they broke into worldwide success with the LP "Kiss Me,Kiss Me,Kiss Me" and even higher success in the U.S. with their third album "Disintegration".U.S. post-punk band Sonic Youth came in to fame with their hardcore punk ethics and "Do It Yourself" styles.Known for their strange guitar tunings, Sonic Youth prepared guitars with drum stick and screwdrivers to alter the instrument's timbre.Kim Gordon, the band's guitarist,vocalist,and bassist became a role model for punk loving teens during her time in Sonic Youth.



Even without the word "punk" in its title, genre alternative rock derived much of its influences from punk music.Alternative rock is highly enjoyed genre even today. Bands such as Foo Fighters,Pearl Jam,and Red Hot Chili Peppers are alternative rock and came into mainstream in the 90's, the time where alternative rock bvecame widely popular.After the death of fellow Nirvana bandmate Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl founded the band Foo Fighters as his new project and brought the band's name into homes with their second album, "The Colour and the Shape" which became Foo Fighter's biggest U.S. seller having sold 2 million copies, singles from the album "Everlong","Monkey Wrench"and "My Hero" are considered a few of the band's greatest hits. In Seattle,Washington a new alternative band rose known as Pearl Jam, known for their refusal to convert to traditional music practices such as refusing to make music videos,and boycotting Ticketmaster.Pearl Jam broke into the mainstream with their debut album "Ten" which has sold over 9,869,000 copies and is the band's most commercially successful album.Pearl Jam has sold 33 million records alone in the U.S. and a estimated 60 million records worldwide.Allmusic refers to Pearl Jam as 'the most popular American rock & roll band of the '90's". Formed in 1983 in Los Angeles, the Red Hot Chili Peppers came into fame with their first commercially successful album "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" and the band came into international fame with the album's single "Give It Away" which peaked #1 in the Billboard Modern Rock Track for two weeks.The Red Hot Chili Peppers made another success with their seven album "Californication" which included singles "Otherside","Californication" and the Grammy Award-winning "Scar Tissue".



Punk music has been criticized as a genre of sex,alcohol,and drinking, which is not true as the subculture known as Straight Edge begs to differ.The Straight Edge ideas are based on staying out of drugs and alcohol drinking, sometimes also against promiscuous sex,vegetarianism,not ussing caffeine or prescription drugs.Members of the popular punk band Rise Against are PETA members and straight edge (except member Brandon Barnes) in which the abstain from alcohol and recreational drugs.The straight edge subculture is usually represented by the icon of an "X", most of the time marked on the person's back of the hand.The striahgt edge lifestyle is a way rebellious teens can be punk without drugs and alcohol.



Punk music is the gateway for many young bands in the 21st century , as it has become a style of music that explains the emotions of expressed by the listener and how they can feel that someone can relate to their stories. Well all that can be said is that the listener can express the emotions through punk and maybe someone can tell them "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" (popular song by punk band The Offsprings).