by Ian Loft

Created on: February 02, 2007   Last Updated: April 26, 2007

Punk rock a failed experiment? Perhaps, yet punk rock has a place in history books as the 1970's answer to the hippy protest generation of the 1960's. Punk has little by way of musical structure or form, is highly discordant and requires very little talent for lead singers' to get up and scream their stuff.

The point of punk rock at inception was for a generation in the 1970's to identify with something unique, something anti-social and to one-up the exploits of the previous generation with their own statement. This statement was invariably hostile, anti-establishment and critical of institutions. As a form of protest, it was extreme and certainly attracted a strong following from the outcast or despondent. In many ways it was an adventure into the dark side of music with song structure and form that disregard any known and accepted musical style, and more importantly punk made a point of breaking the rules' in the most extreme "in-your-face" manner as possible.

Indeed it was impossible to ignore punk was loud, crowds were loud and the more outrageous the band members became, the more notoriety they attracted. Sid Vicious from the band "Sex Pistols" achieved such notoriety with his behaviour on aircraft, in hotel rooms he was generally as difficult and deliberately anti-social as he could and so became the face of the punk rock era. Unfortunately, his example was mirrored with anti-social behaviour by disaffected youth that chose to accept him as their role model.

From punk rock, off-shoots of gothic styles, acid rock and other extreme experimental musical forms soon began to polarise adherents, and some unfortunate consequences resulted with the suicide of some that chose to interpret messages' in the lyrics, or that allowed themselves to become completely obsessed with the underlying messages of death, dark forces and even to the point of glorifying thrill-kill violence.

As a style, punk in the 21st century is history yet there are some die-hard followers that generally seem to find pleasure in the screaming harsh tones of anti-social blasting music. The overall effect on the human psyche is aggression, and punk rock found an unusual re-emergence with combat soldiers in hostile engagements. The music pumped them up, boosted moral and gave them some context in a theatre of violent explosions and ferocious weapon exchanges between two hostile forces.

Irrespective of the fact punk characterises violence, death, antisocial behaviour and general anarchy, it has a place in musical history and is a valid form of musical expression.

Learn more about this author, Ian Loft.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.