The Rise and Fall of Punk
Let's take a look at the rise, the fall, the resurgence of Punk and where it's headed.

In the beginning, punk music was all about one thing: blatant defiance against the mainstream music industry. While mainstream artists aimed for sold-out arenas and chart-topping releases, punk artists could care less. They made music exactly how they wanted to, and they didn’t care what you thought. Not only did their DIY-style music send the message loud and clear, but even their fashion was also a statement. One article described the punk bands of the 60s and 70s as “sounding like rebellion�.

While punk made a huge impact on music, it seemed to last only for a short time. Today, it’s making a comeback. Pop artists are taking punk and reinventing it, and the fans are loving this new development. Olivia Rodrigo, Willow Smith, and bands like Meet Me At The Altar are all part of this new punk wave.

As we watch punk rise back to the top, it gives us the chance to look back. What happened to the first generation of punk stars? Why did a genre/movement that was so influential fail to stand the test of time? In this article, we’ll take a walk down memory lane to revisit the rise and fall of punk music.

The Rise

In the beginning, punk wasn’t even a particular style of music. The movement, not genre, had many artists with different styles with only one thing in common. They didn’t like the mainstream music industry and they weren’t afraid to show it. So how did this movement come to be so influential?

The beginning

In the 1960s, garage rock was a massive movement. Along the line, however, some people began to resent what they perceived as a commercialization of rock music. This, they argued, watered down the true meaning of rock music. In response, punk rock was born. In the US, punk began to spread from the Country, Bluegrass, and BluesClubs, a bit ironically given its name.

The Ramones and Blondie were regular performers at the club and they spearheaded this new movement. Before them, however, bands like the Stooges and the MC5 laid the foundation some years before. That said, the Ramones were one of the first to blow up and show that success was achievable without bending to the mainstream. The effect was incredible.

Across the Atlantic, the Strand, later called the Sex Pistols, was one of the earliest pioneers of the punk rock movement in the UK. Incredibly, they only lasted for two years and released only one album together. In that short time, however, their effect on the UK punk scene was immense. The Sex Pistols may have lasted only a short while, but they lived on in the Bromley Contingent.

The Bromley Contingent featured a section of the Sex Pistols fans who all came from the same neighborhood. Several bands sprung from the Bromley Contingent including the Clash, The Slits, and the Damned.

The Boom

The late 70s saw punk music not just grow in popularity, but the emergence of several subgenres. A new generation of artists came with a softer and moodier version of punk music which was aptly dubbed gothic punk. The style, lyrics, and fashion were all different from their predecessors, but one thing remained constant: rebellion.

By the late 90s, another version of punk music emerged: pop punk. It featured bands such as Blink 182 and Sum 41 who fused elements of pop music into their angry rock music. This new subgenre grew so large it almost took over the entire punk movement. From pop punk, a new line of subgenres emerged. Skate punk, st-punk, and alternative rock were all part of the new movements but none of them blew up as big as emo.

Emo, short for emotional, was exactly that: emotional. It featured a heavy emphasis on emotions that every teen could relate to. It dominated the 2000s with its striking music and emotionally packed lyrics. By this time, punk music was unrecognizable from the early days of the Ramones, but it was bigger than ever.

So what happened?

The Fall

As strong as the movement was, punk rock eventually declined. For every movement, new members are essential for growth to happen. The punk rock community became too closeted for such a thing. Newcomers who wore the wrong things or looked the wrong way weren’t made to feel welcome, some were even attacked. As a result, most people avoided punk rock events.

Such was this feeling that even pop punk artists and lovers were not fully accepted by the traditional punk community. Pop punk, being heavily influenced by pop music, was much more commercially successful than hardcore punk. Some pop-punk records even got nominated for Grammys. To traditional punk lovers, it felt like pop punk was a commercialized movement in itself. Punk, they argued, should never be popular.

Being that punk was never to be popular, at least according to the purists, there was no sustainable business model to ensure its longevity. This band of teenagers started a movement and when the rest of the music world tried to embrace it, albeit with their modifications, they refused to be embraced.

So you see, punk music was set up to fail from the very beginning. There was no plan for expansion because that would require commercialization, and that was exactly what punk music stood against. Punk music, it can be concluded, declined because it never stood a chance.

Although punk music isn’t where it used to be, it still exists in the shadows. Purists argue that punk music is where it belongs but critics say the community is unhealthy because it doesn’t allow for musical diversity and expansion. To the purists, however, any attempt to make music that’s more popular is akin to selling your soul for money, and they’re not having any of it.

What Tomorrow Holds

If we’ve learned anything about punk music, it’s that hard times are the best period for it. Being that the very foundation of punk music is rebellion against the mainstream, all it needs is an environment where people are fed up and looking to revolt.

With everything that’s going on around the world, it’s safe to expect a return to the big stage for punk music. Will they be more accommodating this time or will the rise-decline trend continue? We’ll find out soon enough…