Days of Punk | Fashion
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In the early days of rock n’ roll, song refrains shouted out what became mottos. Rock n’ roll will never die, and long live rock are just two of the many slogans that evolved from rock n’ roll, the music of rebellion. Punk rock was more than a genre of rock, it was a mindset, a movement, and a challenge to the status quo of society and rock itself. It has now evolved into Modern Punk, where the new punk bands are keeping the spirit alive.

The DIY ethos of punk stuck its finger up to the corporate raiders who co-opted rock. The original seeds of punk were sown in the early 1970s, but each succeeding band struck their own chords and screamed their own lyrics of rebellion to mold the core into something new. Just as rock n’ roll will never die, punk as music, a lifestyle, a culture, an art form, an interpretation of living itself will never die.

Punk Lives

After six decades the core principle of the original punk scene, the DIY ethos is undergoing a resurgence. The punk identity has never died even when it risked being swallowed by the very corporate raiders that the roots of Punk were challenging.

Lux Interior of The Cramps Photographed by Michael Grecco

The 1970s punks cut, printed, and distributed their own albums and gained a following in the scene through self-promotion and performance. Technology has opened new doors for the DIY ethos of Punk today. Bandcamp, YouTube, and social media platforms are essential tools for the self-promotion and distribution of punk music.

The punk culture has gone full circle by co-opting the tools of the corporate raiders and turning them into DIY tech for the masses. The gatekeepers of the music industry are easily bypassed allowing punks to access and grow their audiences organically. On the flip side audiences can bypass the music pushed by record labels and find their own genre.

The Activism Music of Punk

At its peak during the first evolution, Punk quickly splintered into political punk, eccentric punk, artistic punk, party punk, skate punk, urban punk, garage punk, and so many subgenres that have continued to flourish and morph in the 2020s.

IDLES, a UK-based band known for their cathartic performances and raw lyricism, embodies this soul of the ethos of punk activism. Their themes include toxic masculinity, mental health, and political unrest explored with the raw unpolished energy embraced by the soul of punk.

Down under in Australia, Amyl and the Sniffers have amassed a following reminiscent of early punks like The Clash, Sex Pistols and Dead Kennedys. They are channeling the essence of the chaotic energy of early punk with brash, high-energy performances and sharp, satirical, activist lyrics.

Mick Jones of The Clash Photographed by Michael Grecco

The Politics of Experience

Early Ramones were not political per se, but the evolution of punk itself was, is and shall remain a political statement of a culture. Punks today embrace the genres of the past and sharpen others in response to a changing political climate.

Down in Baltimore War on Women, a feminist punk group supercharged the genre to light the fires of topics like gender equality, and reproductive rights. The Punk anthem is alive and well with bands like Anti-Flag blending the driving sounds of traditional punk music with activist message lyrics.

Punk Will Never Die

As a culture, a lifestyle, an art form, a philosophy, a worldview and a music, Punk is alive and well over a half-century after its incarnation. While early bands paved the way for the DIY ethos and then took the record company money and went on orchestrated world tours, the core of Punk survived. The DIY ethos of Punk is a purity of spirit that will continue to flourish even as political and cultural changes happen around it.