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Old School Punk

 
 

Description of Old School Punk

 
Punk's Old School is populated by its original shock troops and those steeped in their sound: the Ramones in the U.S., plus a veritable army in the U.K. including the Buzzcocks, the Clash and, of course, the infamous Sex Pistols. The Old School Punk of the 1970s was fairly straightforward in its delivery. If it broke any new musical ground, it was in showing that a song could be grand without being grandiose, a notion that had been lost in the heyday of heavily produced rock acts like Styx, ELO, and Journey. Old School Punk's guitars, vocals and rhythms were ragged, but the music's fervent intensity jump-started a revolution. The Old School influence is clearly evident in the sound of the late '90s Punk-Pop acts like Rancid and Green Day.
 

Filed Under

 
Alt/Punk  >  Punk  >  Old School Punk
 

Old School Punk Key Artists

 
Buzzcocks

A keystone of UK punk, the
Buzzcocks' smart use of
melody set them apart from
the rest of the lot. The
Buzzcocks formed in Engl...

Dead Boys

Though together for two
years, Dead Boys' seering
nihilism and catchy, yet
dangerous music continues
to inspire Punk bands. Th...

Dead Kennedys

West Coast punk
iconoclasts whose name
alone (nevermind the
music) continues to raise
the hackles of parents an...

Fear

Expertly capturing the of
in-your-face rowdiness of
'80s LA Hardcore, Fear
specialized in drunken
belligerence. John Belus...

G.B.H.

G.B.H. (aka Gratuitous
Bodily Harm) were one of
the first bands to merge
metal with punk The band
emerged in 1978 but is ass...

Generation X

During their time,
Generation X were often
criticized for sounding too
poppy and being too
commercially-minded. Fr...

Minutemen

One of the LA punk scene's
most idiosyncratic bands,
the Minutemen played
"scientist rock" -- clean,
smart and literate. The Mi...

Misfits

With horror motifs running
through their simple,
anthemic songs, the Misfits
are fittingly larger in death
than in life. Glenn Danzig...

Richard Hell

Classic NY Punk. Hell's
strangely affecting wail and
darkly poetic lyrics
clattered against Robert
Quine's guitar seizures.

Stiff Little Fingers

Named after a Vibrators
song, this Belfast group led
an impressive (yet largely
overlooked) pack of '70s
Irish Punk bands. Stiff Littl...

Subhumans (UK)

England's Subhumans draw
reggae and Ska into their
feisty melodic Punk that's
boiling with scathing
political diatribes.

Television

Television may not have
found mainstream success
in the '70s, but in terms of
influence they rank behind
very few.

The Avengers

Led by Penelope Houston,
the Avengers' melodic, yet
sneering and forceful music
sounds as relevent today as
it did in 1979. A band for b...

The Clash

From angry three-chord
anthems to more thoughtful
riddim explorations, they
earned the title, "The Only
Band That Matters." Singer...

The Dickies

Like a comic book version
of a Punk band, the Dickies'
specialized in sometimes
goofy, often bouncy,
catchy as hell Punk.

The Exploited

Thanks to their striking
mohawks and thrashing,
political music, the
Exploited are living
stereotypes of Punk.

The Germs

L.A.'s most infamous band,
the Germs' legend of loud,
dangerous shows and
unparalleled nihilism long
outlived the band. Nirvan...

The Jam

Born of the U.K. Punk
scene, the Jam stood at the
forefront of the Mod
Revivalists. The Jam toured
America for the second ti...

The Ramones

The Ramones were the first
punk band. Period. Their
simple, catchy and raucous
sound is an unmistakable
keystone. The Ramones f...

The Sex Pistols

The Sex Pistols turned
England -- and the world --
upside down with their
shocking looks and
incendiary punk music. T...

The Vibrators

The Vibrators sharp
songwriting and killer
melodies made them
instantly stand out as one of
the best U.K. Punk bands i...

U.K. Subs

Despite forming in 1976, the
U.K. Subs are associated
with English punk's second
wave. Led by singer Charlie
Harper, the group combin...

X

Fronted by John Doe and
Exene Cervenka, this L.A.
band helped jump start both
Punk and Roots scenes on
the West Coast.

X-Ray Spex

Formed in 1976, X-Ray Spex
became known for Poly
Styrene's piercing vocals,
matched by Lora Logic's
screeching saxophone. X...

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