Punk Rock Essay Essay, Research Paper

A Crazy Little Thing Called Punk

Sex, drugs, and rock and roll was the rallying cry for a movement that changed American culture forever. Rock and roll first startled the American scene in the mid-1950, but no one then could have predicted the remarkable vitality and staying power of this new music. The early tradition of rock has gone through many transitions. Provocative and outlandish stage attire and behavior have been an important resource since the birth of rock and roll. Decades following the birth of rock and roll, many have witnessed a steady ever changing parade of hairstyles, costumes, gestures, and props. As the level of tolerance and acceptance grew, rock stars adopted more bizarre and shocking images. It is in this context that punk rock, seen by some as a startling new direction in the late 1970 s must be considered.

Punk was rock s most notable attempt in the late 1970 s to inject angry, rebellious, risk taking notations into the music. The musical style called punk rock developed in the United States out of raw and energetic music played by the garage bands of the mid-sixties. These bands were mainly teenagers playing basic guitar chords, and flailing away at drums and cymbals in their own garages. This resulted in sounds that were rough, raw, and musically undisciplined, which expressed their interests and brought music to their level. Given that the greatest garage bands could barley play, we may assume not only that virtuosity has nothing to do the form, but also that the Utopian dream of every man and artist can come true right here, in our suburban land of opportunity- the ultimate proof that rock and roll is the most democratic and all-American of art forms.

The grandest example of a risky, aggressive, cynical yet ambitious sensibility worming it way into the rock world was the man many called a godfather of punk: Lou Reed. Lou Reed stands as crucial figure in 1970s rock. Reed wrote poetry about street life, prostitution, and drugs in New York. He was Classically trained to play the piano, but felt he could not express what he had to say about society playing the piano. Reed combined controversial common places with a profound cynicism to yield music. Reed maintained a highly adversarial relationship with his audience. He would insult them one minute and challenge them the next. Reed s influence on others, good or bad, can be heard in the work of other rockers, such as David Bowie and The New York Dolls. Before there was Lou Reed as a solo artist, there was the Velvet Underground, a band that in the midst of the utopian, freedom-loving, feel-good 1960 s, proffered apocalypse, addiction, and feel bad.

The Velvet Underground left traditional rock and roll styles aside to experiment with new forms of expression. The Velvet Underground consisted of Lou Reed, Sterling Morrision, John Cale, who was later replaced by Doug Yale, and Maureen Tucker. The Velvet Underground s first efforts influenced the development of punk as a musical style. Their emotionless portrayal of themes centering on alienation from human concerns and their use of repetitious musical ideas became characteristics of punk. This highly emotional expression of anger at the heart of most punk music came from the garage band sound. Musically, this anger was expressed though a constantly pounding eighth note beat and shouted vocals. A traditional rock beat was played behind the fast throbbing pulse of guitar and bass.

The Swedish group Millencolin has this very traditional punk rock beat and idea that punk rock started off as. They have a harsh yet melodic sound that keeps with the high tempo and big influence in the up beats. Their band, started in 1992 consists of lead singer and bassist Nicola Sarcevic, lead guitar Erik Olsson, drummer Fredrik Larsson and guitar player Mathias F rm. The band came up with their name by switching around the word Melancholy to more of a name, and hence the band name Millencolin. Since they re beginning in 92 they have come out with 5 albums, all of them very upbeat in nature with the occasional soft ballad. In my opinion there best song and my favorite has to be In A Room . It starts off with a guitar screeching and wailing away with a melancholy tone. Then drifts to a man saying, I feel as though I m in heart ach. Come to me kiss me, kiss me Then enters a nice guitar melody that repeats 3 times and the drummer comes in with the high hat tapping away at a fast beat and tempo. Then the whole band comes in leaving you tapping your feet to the beats and rhythms and the harsh rough sounds of his voice and guitars playing away while the drums keeps the steady beat, leaving you ready for the lyrics to come. The story of the song is about his dreams in his life. This song talks about his dreams of surfing in his room and how good it makes him feel to be able to dream. He is sad about the fact that he will not get very far by dreaming. He knows that dreaming will get him so far in life, it helps boost motivation but unless he does something about his life and makes him self do it he will get nowhere.