there are three types of modern Punk band. First, there are bands from the Generation X era
that continue to perform in the age of the Millennials. This includes groups such as
Subhumans, Descendents, Iggy Pop and so on. They continue to draw significant crowds, they
sing their same songs, and they promote the same lifestyle as they did in the 70s and 80s.
Second, there are underground Punk bands. This group includes bands such as Step
Right Up, Uglybones, ACxDC, and so on. They typically do not achieve mainstream success,
but they maintain an attempt at the original Punk ideology. They continue to support the Punk
ethos and even refer to themselves as “old school.” Songs about misanthropy and anger
towards political systems are common themes within their music. They simply adapt their lyrics
to the issues of the times.
The final group is the self-proclaimed modern Punk bands that do achieve mainstream
success. This includes bands like Sum 41, Blink 182, Green Day, and so on. These bands will
often achieve this status by signing onto larger record labels and altering the raw DIY-ness of
their original sound to appeal to larger audiences. Typically, they will also lose the high speed
loudly mixed aggression of traditional Punk and replace it with bratty vocals and compressed
instrumentals, as previously mentioned (Turrini and Joseph 59). Unsurprisingly, this usually
alienates their original core audience.
What is interesting about all of these groups is that they all at least started similarly to
the Generation X bands. They all even try to maintain this integrity. Regardless, if they sign to
a major label or change their styles, they still carry the Punk connotation and intentionally or
unintentionally allow the Punk ideal to stay alive. Punk bands continue to perform across the
nation (Cartwright, Hanula, and Morris). They maintain a similar fashion of spiked hair and
tattered clothes, they still use self-effacing band names and pseudonyms to represent
themselves, and they still express anger at the social structures that they disagree with. But,
the argument is not necessarily that Punk has died. The simple existence of self-labeled Punk
bands dismisses this idea. Rather, it is subculture that has died and transformed into a series
of things to be consumed. Punk becomes simply a couple hours of entertainment rather than a
political movement.
When Punk started, it shocked people (Cartwright, Hanula, and Morris). No one had
ever seen someone literally shout their opinions into a crowd as fast and loud as they could. It
was something that could not be ignored. It was the ultimate catharsis. As Jeffrey Hanula, lead
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