Back in the 70s when the Sex Pistols and The Clash owned the punk scene with big selling albums like ‘Never Mind The Bollocks’ and ‘Give Em Enough Rope’, punk rock shook the world with the term anarchy being thrown around as often as bricks at police. Punk rock was a chance for the everyday working man and women to have a voice. The Sex Pistols number 2 hit ‘God Save The Queen’ went as far as causing strikes in and around London and a national split between royalists and Sex Pistols fans.
But from then, punk has progressed and in many people’s opinions, not for the better. The mutation from original punk into new wave saw a by-product which was inevitable with changing music trends of the 90s and 00s. Pop-punk. Pop-punk soon became its own genre and began to grow on the music scene in the late 2000s with bands such as Blink-182 and Sum 41 entering higher up the charts. But by then it was too late as pop-punk had damaged all that original punk stood for with politically charged lyrics being swapped out for more of a pop love song theme which would prove popular among teens but, make Sid Vicious turn in his grave.
However, some bands still push on, releasing punk to the masses in all its former glory and providing some relief to those clinging onto the dwindling punk vibe. Green Day is a perfect example of punk life ring, keeping the genre afloat but despite them putting out new albums well into the late 2000s with American Idiot, 21st Century Breakdown and Revolution Radio, even the somewhat original band from the mid ’90s are being accused of turning to a more pop-punk sound. This has been turned down however by the lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong when he told Kerrang! in an interview that he wanted to ‘destroy’ the genre. A desperate attempt to keep punk alive? Definitely looks like it.
The band’s recent gig at Manchester arena shows there love for punk is still as strong as ever as they (even with all members being 43) still managed to fill the stage with energy and put across old classics like they were written yesterday. Just from drummer Tre Cool opening Know Your Enemy, the atmosphere in the whole stadium changed from a warm glow of excitement to a raw of pure punk feel. The full three-hour set didn’t stop for anything with lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong pushing on from song to song, leaving even the fittest audience members gasping for air on the packed floor. Despite the bands “non-stop” ethic, they still managed to go against what the media says about their music no longer being punk with Billie Joe giving a speech crammed full of anti-regime views over the top of their hit song American Idiot. Despite what the news may say about Green Day spiralling into pop punk, there is no doubt that they still play for the love of what punk did when it was mainstream, and they won’t change who they are for what other people want.
Even though punk is dwindling, not all hope is lost however as some pop-punk bands still give a nod to the mother genre with trying to stick in some meaningful lyrics as can be seen in Sum 41’s song ‘Fat Lip’ which talk’s about not being victim to society. But no matter how good the chorus is, and how much punk it embraces, the rapping, in the beginning, is unforgivable no matter how sarcastic it’s supposed to be.
Made In The Music 