PunkDraft

Punk: Beyond the Studded Leather Jackets and Mohawks
Amber Hovey
HS 475: Independent Research
Professor Kevin Casey

1
Abstract:
During the early 1970s, a new music style, punk, arose from the underground scene in New
York. Besides the aggressive style of music, punk had more to offer. The scene created a
community amongst its listeners and performers. Punk also created strong ideals to live by like
resistance against the status quo, disalienation, and the D.I.Y (Do-It-Yourself) ethos. Though
punk seemed to fade out in popular culture by late 1970s and early 1980s, it never truly died, it
just went underground. This research recognizes punk in it’s entirety, having both a musical and
cultural impact. It shows the continuity of punk music and culture from its origins, through its
seeming decline, to the powerful influence, culturally and musically, that it has today.
Punk, it could spark the imagery of leather jackets, mohawks, and studded clothing, as
well as an aggressive form of music. In the eyes of some, it might seem as another 1970s trend
that has faded in time. What if there was more to it than that? What if punk has moved forward
and evolved over time? What if the punk scene has cultural aspects that have gone overlooked?

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The truth is punk has grown over time, and never truly “died”, and that punk has brought forth a
subculture that is more intricate than presumed.
To get a clear grasp of its evolution and the development of punk culture and
community, there has to be a clear image of what punk is. Punk originated back in the 1970s in
America in the New York scene. The “birthplace of punk” occurred in a New York music club
known as the CBGB Club (Country, Bluegrass, Blues, and Other Music for Uplifting
Gourmandizers), founded by Hilly Kristal sometime in the late 1960s.1
CBGBs gave bands like the Ramones, New York Dolls, Talking Heads, Blondie,
Television and others, not only the opportunity to have a venue to play at, but featured their first
real concerts. Even though the genre spread internationally, CBGBs remained home to many
punk concerts throughout the 1970s and 1980s.2
In 1975, CBGBs hosted a showcase of
bands, including the Ramones, that received a good amount of attention from record
companies. Through the showcase, punk gained international recognition through the press.3
Attention from record companies and international press on the Ramones, gave them
the chance to tour Britain in 1976. The Ramones did something significant for punk. First, even
though their music was energetic and appealed to this audience, they pushed punk “beyond the
artistic realm,” making it a lifestyle.4
Through this exposure, punk also brought the British youth
a taste of this genre. By applying the New York scene punk framework, including both its
cultural and musical elements, it provided an outlet for British working class youths to express
1
However, the roots of punk start within the 1960s with bands like Velvet Underground,Iggy Pop and the Stooges,
MC5, the Kinks,and in addition to garage bands thatwere not seen in public.All of which left a legacy, and opened a
door for punk bands ofthe 1970s to establish punk.Bands like the Kinks,were the beginnings ofa hardcore genre,
and took an “in your face” approach to their music.They pushed for grungy sounds with their electric guitars and lead
vocals, and invented a substyle of rock ‘n’ roll with simplicityand passion. Brian Cogan,"CBGB," in Pop Culture
Universe:Icons,Idols Ideas.accessed January30,2015, http://0-popculture2.abc-
clio.com.topcat.switchinc.org/Search/Display/1362672?terms=cbgb;David Brackett, The Pop, Rock,and Soul
Reader:Histories and Debates,2nd ed. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press,2009),362.; Roller,Peter. Lecture,
MU310, Alverno College,WI, March 17, 2015.
2
Cogan,"CBGB," in Pop Culture Universe:Icons.
3
"Punk Rock," In Culture Wars in America:An Encyclopedia ofIssues, Viewpoints,and Voices,eds.Roger
Chapman and James Ciment(London,UK:Routledge,2013),accessed March 13,2015, http://0-
search.credoreference.com.topcat.switchinc.org/content/entry/sharpecw/punk_rock/0.
4
"Punk Rock," in In Culture Wars in America.

3
themselves. The Ramones opened the door for the UK punk scene to develop that led to
significant bands like the Sex Pistols and the Clash.5
Culturally, the punk framework, which became universal to all punk bands, relied on
three key elements: the critique or opposition to the status quo, a possibility for disalienation,
and the DIY (Do-It-Yourself) ethos.6
Regarding the first element, the opposition or critique of the
status quo refers to a resistance against normality within that society. Since punk by its nature is
rebellious, and been described by bands such as the Ramones as “rebellious rock for kids,”
there has to be a rebellion against something.7
Guy Picciotto, an American musician, described
it as the “...whole concept of punk was something that was against whatever seemed normal or
whatever seemed kind of handed down.” 8
Hence, punk’s defining element became an anti-
establishment movement, a “culture of deconstruction,” as Ryan Moore, another musician
describes it.9
At this time, punks believed the mainstream media controlled the messaging about
social, political, and cultural norms. Punk’s goal was to undermine these things, and their
dominant meaning, by using parody to dissolve some of the power behind them. In other words,
it was and continues to be, as Kevin Dunn, an Associate Professor of Political Science, who has
published several scholarly journals on punk culture, describes it, a “mocking assault on the
dominant social norms.” 10
This ideal of breaking free of the social norms, even applied to gender roles. Punk was
dominantly made up of white males.11
However, punk gave women standing, by encouraging
their participation in the music, especially in Britain. This was the first time in rock music, that
women were encouraged to start a band, write music, and produce a record. These women
5
6
Kevin C. Dunn, "Never Mind the Bollocks:The Punk Rock Politics ofGlobal Communication," Reviewof
International Studies:Cultures and Politics of Global Communication 34 (2008):197-199.
7
Punk's Not Dead,directed by Susan Dynner, produced by Susan Dynner and Todd Traina, Aberration Films,2007.
8
Dunn,"Never Mind the Bollocks,"197.
9
10
Dunn,"Never Mind the Bollocks,"197-198.
11
Michelle Dagnino.“Punk and Grunge Culture.” in Pop Culture Universe:Icons, Idols,Ideas. ABC-CLIO, 2010.
Accessed January30, 2015. http://popculture2.abc-clio.com/

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included frontwoman Siouxsie Sioux (Susan Dallin) of Siouxsie and the Banshees, frontwoman
Poly Styrene of the X-Ray Spex, and the all female trio, The Slits.12
Women’s participation was
another way in which punk could go against the accepted norms, even within rock music.13
Another defining element for punk is disalienation. Punk provided a connection with the
world that punk youths felt disconnected from. This was a world that the youth were inheriting
and there were forces that were already in place that controlled their lives. However, these
forces that controlled their everyday life felt distant, which created feelings of disconnect or
alienation.14
To critique and make sense of this dangerous world the topics covered in early
punk music included class, ethnicity, sexuality, gender identity, social, and political issues.15
Punk also served to express the concerns these youth had with society. This gave punk an
educational aspect because it taught and expressed ideas about world affairs.16
However, the defining element of punk is the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) ethos. The DIY factor
started with major records labels having no interest in this punk genre, and not wanting to take
the risk on them. Although, punk bands had no real interest in major record labels either
because major record labels were part of the establishment.17
This left punk performers to fend
for themselves. The DIY ethos turned punks from consumers of the mass media into their own
“agents of cultural production.”18
Punk stressed that anyone can be producers, regardless of
ability, lack of talent and intelligence.19
This was something anyone could do on their own
without the help of major labels. So then the question is how did punk performers learn to do
things like making their own records or even learning how to play the guitar?
12
John Covach and Andrew Flory, What's that Sound?:An Introduction to Rock and Its History, 3rd ed. (New York,
NY: W.W. Norton and Co., 2012),396.
13
Ed Ward, Geoffrey Stokes,and Ken Tucker, Rock of Ages: The Rolling Stone History of Rock & Roll (New York,
NY: Rolling Stone Press,1986),560.
14
15
Dagnino,"Punk and Grunge Culture,"in Pop Culture Universe:Icons.
16
17
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19

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To understand this, is to understand that punk formed an avenue of global
communication. Punk created a supportive community that spread knowledge amongst
members.20
Matt Davis claims, “Punk strove to eliminate the distinctions between performers
and audiences...anyone could be a punk, and punk could play in a band...publish a zine, to
organize shows, or to produce or distribute records. A punk scene is of punks, for punks, by
punks.”21
Punk circulated zines that would discuss how to make a record, distribute that records,
and book your own shows. In addition, the zines had drawings of typically three chords to play
on guitar. Bands like the Buzzcocks and Scritti Politti would print instructions on their own hand-
made album covers on how to make your own record.22
It wasn’t just the DIY ethos of learning
to do something yourself, but to promote the idea that anyone could do this. Anyone could pick
up a guitar and play, and then go on to start a band that made records without the help of major
labels. Punk ran on a very strong “we wanna run our own lives” type of vibe, which allowed
them to control what they created.23
Granted, without the help of major labels to help promote bands, punk bands had to
figure out their own way to establish a fanbase, get their merchandise out there, as well as
spread punk music and culture. Punk started within the early 1970s, long before the wide
spread of the internet, so punks developed other means to spread punk. Bands before would
used word of mouth, exposure at other shows, record stores, and zines to gain exposure not
only for themselves, but also for punk.24
Touring became an important part of punk. It gave bands the opportunity to network with
fans and other bands alike, as well as promote the flow of punk ideas and style both nationally
and internationally.25
Bands who were exchanging numbers, or placing a lot of calls trying to
20
21
22
23
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25

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book their own shows, would use fake credit card numbers to buy phones or pay for the phone
calls; since it was too expensive to make all these phone calls. It was common for touring
bands to mail out merchandise to fans with a written letter asking if they could crash at the fan’s
home when they came to that city. This created a tighter bond between punk bands and their
fanbase.26
Punk, musically, was rebelling against the mainstream just as it did culturally. One of the
ideologies musically was getting back to simplified rock ‘n’ roll. The Dead Kennedy’s described
punk as the “rebirth of rock ‘n’ roll.”27
Punk aimed toward getting rid of the complexity that hippie
rock had developed.28
Hippie rock included more instruments such as the electric keyboard, a
range of influences like Indian music, and songs that extended to well beyond several minutes
like The Doors’ songs.29
Compared to this, songs by bands like the Ramones were typically no
more than two minutes.30
Punk wanted to go against elaborate instrumentation and “technical
virtuosity” that dominated rock at the time.31
By this time, bands in rock music were becoming
overproduced, and putting more into time and money into production with recordings. To keep it
simple required fewer instruments like vocals, guitar(s), bass, and drums. Instrumentation was
driven by fast tempos, with steady eighth notes coming from the guitar, bass, and/or drums.32
Punk eliminated any complex rhythms because after all these were amateurs, punk musicians
created the image anyone can do this. Punk musicians were self-acknowledged amateurs, who
were not professional trained in their craft.33
When complexity came into the picture, which was
26
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27
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28
Covach and Flory, What's that Sound?:An Introduction,396-397.
29
Covach and Flory, What's that Sound?: An Introduction,257,285.
30
Ward, Stokes,and Tucker, Rock of Ages: The Rolling,554.
31
Ward, Stokes,and Tucker, Rock of Ages: The Rolling,547.
32
Covach and Flory, What's that Sound?: An Introduction,398.
33
Punk derives from the tradition of garage bands,that started with the spread of rock ‘n’ roll in the 1950s.Garage
bands were amateur musicians,who continued to appeal to rock’s “aesthetic ofbasicness.” This included three chord
songs,with repetitive riffs, and as Peter Roller describes,“group ‘noise’ over refined musical texture.” The youth who
joined garage bands felttrapped,and wanted a way to reject middle-class,suburbs they were growing up in. Garage
bands would perform for an audience of their peers.During the 1970s,garage bands could be labelled as punk
bands.LennyKaye described these bands as “...decidedlyunprofessional...exemplified the berserk pleasure with

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the case with many popular rock bands of the time, not anyone could pick up a guitar a start
playing along to the music. Punk could be as simple as playing three chord songs, with a
repetitive riffs. Punk also went back to simple verse/chorus song structure. The simplicity in
song form and instrumentation has strong traces to early rock ‘n’ roll and rhythm and blues. It
also has traces of traditional folk music by including political and social lyrical content in songs.34
Lyric content in punk provided, as Kevin Dunn describes, a “sonic soundtrack.”35
Punk
on a large scale provided political and social commentary about the world around them.
Commentary would include critiques and responses to the environment around them. This
commentary could be as large as world affairs, but it also took on local issues. Punk could
develop around the local scenes depending on their social resources and political needs,
creating a “cultural hybridity.”36
Bands from around the country, depending on the scene and
area, could offer different commentary in their lyrics. However, lyrics didn’t just focus on the
large scale topics, but it could be as simple as focusing on their daily life and the boredom or
dissatisfaction of popular youth culture that punk musicians felt.37
With punk rebelling against the normalcy of popular culture, it’s easy to see why it was a
target for criticism from the mass media. Media portrayed punk as a hazardous thing to children
because it was considered to be a violent form of music. Punk was also seen as a social and
political disruption that posed a real threat, as many would see it, to the established order of
society. This made many parents fearful of the rising genre.38
Over time, punk shifted from a
feared genre by the general public to a commodity of popular culture. A way to undermine punk
being onstage outrageous,the relentless middle-finger drive and determination offered onlyby rock and roll at its
finest.” Garage bands,like punk bands,act as the everyman artist, that gave youth a way to express themselves
withoutmuch talent. Bands who started out in this way couldn’tforget where they started,like Joe Strummer ofthe
Clash.On the Clash’s debutalbum,their final song paid homage to garage band life with a track titled “Garagela nd,”
aboutplaying in a practice space with his friends. Peter Roller, Milwaukee Garage Bands:Generations of Grassroots
Rock (Charleston,SC:The HistoryPress,2013),11-19.
34
Covach and Flory, What's that Sound?: An Introduction,398.
35
36
37
38
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was through commodification. A process that began to convert elements of punk such as punk
fashion into mass-produced objects. This was a way to trivialize punk, turning it into, as Kevin
Dunn describes, “meaningless exotica.” Basically, making punk the joke of popular culture.39
Members of the punk community recognized this shift. Wayne Kramer of MC5 outlines this shift
as “...Like every creative movement starts [out] with an underground base, that attracts people
that are like-minded, and if it has enough depth to it this it becomes co-opted by the
main[stream] culture.”40
By the late 1970s, punk fashion was popping up in shopping malls across America and
the U.K.41
An example of this was when a store called Hot Topic was founded in the late 1980s.
The store sold and still does pieces of punk fashion and music. It started out as a way to bring
alternative style to malls. It also allowed fans who didn’t go to punk shows the chance to
purchase punk bands’ merchandise. Punk became the new cool look for society, inspiring the
trend of punk fashion. Tattoos and piercings could no longer be seen as a rebellious thing
because everyone was getting them. Punk no longer carried the shock value because it became
a widespread style statement. Punk music was also being played in commercials, making
society accustomed to hearing punk music. Even today, hair dying and wearing band shirts can
be considered “cute” because the teenagers, in today’s society, are most likely children of
parents who were punk rockers themselves.42
The hype around punk may have died out by late 1970s and early 1980s, but punk still
continued on. Many may see the initial end of punk when the Sex Pistols disbanded in January
1978. Punk seemed to fade away after that, and then 15 years later, boom, Nirvana. However
punk didn’t fade away completely, it just went back underground. There wasn’t a revival of punk
because it never truly went away. Punk only vanished if you lived in and participated in the
39
40
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42
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mainstream culture. Old- school punk bands over the last couple decades continue to perform,
such as Television, Black Flag, Misfits, Bad Religion, and NOFX. These bands kept punk alive,
and inspired generations to follow, introducing a new wave of audience members. Once these
bands gained a level of popularity and recognition, they were able to reach a level of legacy.
With each level the bands reached, it provided more longevity for the band, and for punk music
as well. Until they reached the final level of historical longevity and notoriety like The Clash, Sex
Pistols, and the Ramones, who became models for punk music. Punk still kept the ideals of
rebellion, and rejection of the status quo.43
However, changes occurred in punk culture and
music after punk faded from the mainstream.
During the 1980s, many clubs stopped booking punk bands as metal bands began to
take control of the rock music scene. Many punk bands wound up quitting, others would play at
backyard parties. Some punk bands that stayed together began to change things up in the punk
scene. The first change started with the music. During the late 1980s, Bad Religion released
their new album, Suffer. The record became an important album for punk because it reignited
the punk scene, but it also was the first melodic punk album. This helped transformed punk from
just shouting, loud noise, anything goes sounds to melodic textures.44
However, the album still
carried traditional punk music elements. The 15 song album has short songs that run no longer
than two minutes, making the whole album less than 30 minutes. It still centered its tone around
heavy distorted guitars, and heavy, driven drums with political commentary in the lyrics. The
lyrics were focused on human condition and the human evolution as a species. Operation Ivy,
another influential punk band, put out a record the same year as Bad Religion, titled The Thing
That Ate Floyd. From the west coast came two “killer” records that helped re-establish punk,
inspiring bands like Rancid, Green Day, and The Offspring.45
43
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Punk musicians, like Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day, wanted to focus more on
songwriting, and to break away from the punk-inspired genre, hardcore. Punks felt that hardcore
was getting away from meaningful songwriting. Armstrong hits on this describing the scene at
the time Green Day first started. “When we [Green Day] first started, it was like everyone was
playing fast, everyone was playing aggressive, everyone was macho, you know? ...That was
everyone was taking off their shirt,and showing off their muscles to other young boys taking off
their shirts, and showing off their muscles…”46
Derf Scratch of Fear complained, “...they only
way they [punks] can prove to themselves and their friends that they’re punks is to beat
somebody up.”47
Even though hardcore bands like X, Black Flag, and the Germs had heavy
distortion sounds, political and social commentary lyrics, the scene itself seemed to become
focused on violence, where at concerts fans would slam into each other, moshing, and fans
leaping off the stage in the mass of moshers.48
This violence, and overt macho-ness drove punk
musicians to focus on songwriting, to break away from something that was weakening the punk
scene. The new wave of punks saw and understood that chaos, like that in hardcore, could
never bring about a political or social change.49
With punk inspiring new melodic texture in the music, and the refocus of lyrics, splashes
of punk in the mainstream grew to new levels. During the early 1990s, punk broke into the
mainstream in a large way. With thousands of punk records sold independently, punk began to
be played on the radio. Punk’s aggressive sound may have been the reason why it took so long
for punk to be played on radio. Bands struggled to get their music on the radio during the
1980s, which prevented punk bands from getting their message out to a larger audience. When
1990s punk bands heard themselves on the radio for the first time, it was weird because punk
was finally being played on the radio. The difficulty with being played on the radio is, as Dexter
46
Punk's Not Dead.
47
David P. Szatmary, Rockin'in Time:A Social History of Rock-And-Roll,2nd ed.(Englewood Cliffs,NJ:Prentice
Hall,1991), 244.
48
Szatmary, Rockin'in Time: A Social,244.
49

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Holland, frontman of the Offspring, described it: “Once we actually had a record that did well,
becoming sort of successful, then it’s even much harder to defend the idea that you’re a punk
band. You have a song heard on the radio, you’re sort of in the mainstream, you know, maybe
it’s a contradiction in terms.”50
This became a growing problem for 1990s punk bands because
how can you reject the mainstream when you are becoming immersed in it.
The debate between punks in the scene was should they accept their way into the
mainstream, and utilize the reach of major record labels. Independent record labels, like
Dischord Records and Epitaph Records, as Kevin Dunn describes, were the “hallmark of punk
rock’s success as they have led to a degree of freedom from the dictates of the corporate music
industry.”51
With the growing interest in punk, major labels began to take notice and sign more
punk bands, and bands that were offshoot genres of punk like grunge and emo. Many punks
saw this action as punk bands selling out. Bands like Green Day were one of the targets of the
sell out title. However, bands like Green Day had put a lot of hard work into building up an
audience before signing with a major record.52
Something they had done on their own, but they
still wanted to appeal to wider audience, something that couldn’t be fully done through to DIY
ethos. Punk bands saw this as a chance to take advantage of the major labels in order to get
their music out into the world on a larger scale.53
One prime example of taking advantage of the
corporate music industry is Vans Warped Tour.
Starting in the mid-1990s, the Warped Tour became the punk rock summer camp, where
punk bands from all around would play in this punk inspired music festival. The festival
promotes the DIY ethos by excluding the fabulous rock star lifestyle on tour. Bands slept in their
vans and buses, not luxurious hotels. Everyone was welcomed to the festival that has traveled
around the world since 1998. This allowed new audiences to come to shows, but also crossover
50
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51
52
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fans, since the tour included bands and unknown artists from an array a genres. Fans also had
the chance to meet the bands and have merchandise signed by the band members. Again this
created a close relationship and strong community with fans and the bands because it offered
the chance of interaction between the two. However, the hypocrisy, as some punk bands saw it,
is even though this was a punk rock music festival, the tour was sponsored by major
companies. Even though, these bands are suppose to be against major corporations, they were
making money for these corporations. Granted, corporations like Vans feel like they are coming
from the scene, and are just trying to support the scene in a larger way.54
Ben Holtzman, a punk rocker in Long Island, talks about the anti-sellout mentality and
how it has began to change during the late 1990s, and 2000s. “Punk and hardcore have always
had an anti-sellout mentality- that you don’t want to be a rock star, that that’s a bad thing. But
with the rise of emo recently, that attitude has sort of washed away.” 55
The growth of punk with
corporate involvement helped get punk to wider audience, and this was a plus in many punk
rockers’ eyes. Joe Carroll, another punk from Long Island, talks about this growth in a positive
light: “I definitely don’t think that punk should stay on some small level. I think it should always
be accessible to anyone at all that’s interested, anytime, anywhere...Punk needs to grow and
expand and do new things. It need new voices; it need new ideas. Otherwise it just becomes
stagnant.”56
By the 2000s, punk would be able to shy away from signing to major record labels by
increasing the use of the internet to spread punk music and culture. Prior to the internet age,
54
Vans is mainlya sportfootwear company that creates shoes for skateboarders,BMX riders,surfers,
snowboarders,motocross riders,and others.During the mid to late 1990s,Vans became the main sponsor for
Warped Tour. The Vans Warped Tour promotes skate culture and their productline,as well as political activism
through the use of music.Typical featured bands come from independentrecord labels like Epitaph and Fat Wreck
Chords like Bad Religion and NOFX. Punk's Not Dead.; Brian Cogan,"Vans Warped Tour," in Pop Culture Universe:
Icons,Idols,Ideas,accessed April 27, 2015, http://0-popculture2.abc-
clio.com.topcat.switchinc.org/Search/Display/1363144?terms=vans+shoe+company.;Steven J. Overman and Kelly
Boyer Sagert, "Cara-Beth Burnside,"in Pop Culture Universe:Icons,Idols,Ideas,accessed April 27, 2015,http://0-
popculture2.abc-clio.com.topcat.switchinc.org/Search/Display/1732960?terms=vans+shoe+company.
55
GreenWald, Nothing Feels Good: Punk,145.
56
GreenWald, Nothing Feels Good: Punk,148-149.

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“that one kid” who knew about punk bands was ground zero to help spread punk through word
of mouth and mixtapes. Internet in 2000s was taking on that role of ground zero to help expand
and spread punk. Punk was able to transcend from a regional scene to a national force because
punks could communicate back and forth with simply logging online. It’s vital for punk to have a
personal connection because a high percentage of the fandom is more interested in the
communal aspects, rather than the actual music.57
With the internet, punks, especially the youth
who felt different from those in their peer groups in their region, had a way to connect with other
punks. The expansion of punk in this way helped younger kids to have their voices heard and
presence felt by participating in the punk online culture. There was now easy access to allow
trading of music, ideas, news, feelings and support amongst punk fans.58
Through the use of the internet, a listener can become immersed in the culture quicker,
than ever before.59
With websites like Youtube, a listener could be listening to Bad Religion’s full
album, Suffer, and not only have suggestions to listen to their other albums in the “Suggestions”
Column, but have other bands listed like the Descendents and Circle Jerks. Bands and
independent labels can now have their own sites that allows they to promote themselves without
the backing of a major label. These websites also allow bands to directly communicate with a
global audiences. Bands or labels could also distribute music and merchandise through the use
of their website.60
From a local New York underground scene to an international force, punk has made a
mark on both culture and music. Starting out as an underground scene with music never played
on the radio, it is now played widely on the radio after the commodification of punk. Punk has
always given youth a place to freely express themselves about their social and political
concerns with the world they were coming into. Author Andy Greenwald described it best: “No
57
58
59
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matter the era, punk-rock kids will always be punk-rock kids, the quiet loners or exuberant
exhibitionists who sneer at society and reject anything that’s been handed to or forced onto
them. These kids have their relief from whatever it is that plagues them. There will always be
hardcore scenes because there will always be those sorts of kids who need them.”61
Punk
strongly pushed the DIY ethos, and established the ideal that anyone can do this no matter the
lack of talent in a time where music was becoming overproduced. Punk’s welcoming
atmosphere gave the misfit youth a place, a voice, and a community where they could share
those feelings of alienation. This still holds true for punk today. By today’s standard, punk can
spread widely due to the internet allowing punks to communicate instantly with other punks and
punk culture. Punk has always offered more than an aggressive music style, and edgy clothing.
It has impacted youth making them feel like they could express themselves musically even if
they lack the talent to do so, and rebel against societal norms, critiquing the adult world they
were coming into. What differed overtime was the communication methods in which punks were
operating. They went from working within smaller scenes allowing word of mouth and zines to
spread punk, to building a fanbase then signing with a major record label to help further their
reach, to the using of the internet as a means to communicate directly with fans and other
punks. Punk continues to grow and reach youths across the globe, thus passing punk music,
culture, and community along to future generations to come.
61
GreenWald, Nothing Feels Good: Punk, 55.

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Bibliography
Brackett, David. The Pop, Rock, and Soul Reader: Histories and Debates. Second ed.
New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2009.
Cogan, Brian. "CBGB." In Pop Culture Universe: Icons, Idols Ideas. Accessed January
30, 2015. http://0-popculture2.abc-
clio.com.topcat.switchinc.org/Search/Display/1362672?terms=cbgb.
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