Punk Rock From A to Z
Dec 01 '01 (Updated Apr 11 '02)
The Bottom Line How does one recommend a Punk Glossary?
One on hand this is more than a punk music glossary, since punk is much more than just music. On the other, this glossary not very complete – feel free to add what I’ve missed – or have given a wrong description for. You won’t hurt my feelings, it was a shoddy job.
’77 Style Punk Rock - Type of music that brings back waves of nostalgia/nausea as it brings back the glory days of punk's three-chord, non-poppy sound. (Not to be confused with ’78 Style punk rock.)
Anarchy – AKA that A with a circle around it. The textbook definition of ‘anarchy’ is "the absence of political authority, without cohesion and disorder". May sound appealing but my gut reaction to the basal definition is one of skepticism. It sounds appealing but there are so many unanswered questions – like who is going to do all the dirty work? Who is going to pave roads or enforce parking meters? Do we still get President’s Day off?
Crossover Bands - General term used to describe bands that blend different genres of music but usually refers to part punk, part metal and usually very fast bands. (DRI, Anthrax) Thanks to Joaquin for that one.
Crowd Surfing - Being held up and moved around by people’s hands over their heads at a punk rock show. If you’re lucky, you’ll actually get somewhere, if not, you’ll end up on the floor. (If you’re a female, you’ll probably get groped.)
Comp – Short for compilation. A variety of bands appearing on one album. Comps usually have a theme, like being in the same genre (remember all those Punk and Disorderly comps?), representing a region or locale (This is Boston, Not LA), paying tribute to old bands, etc.
Cow Punk - Country and Punk make friends.
Crust Punk - Noisy music with a lot of screaming. (Aus-Rotten) Crusty punks love Subhumans t-shirts, Oi Polloi, and pyramid spikes. Lots of ‘em.
Dancehall - Reggae on steroids, oftentimes with rappy vox. (Shabba, Beenie Man, Baby Cham)
DIY - Do It Yourself. An interesting ethic of doing as much as you can without ‘the man’ – DIY can be putting out your own records, setting up shows, making vegan mayo or even stealing cable TV.
Emo - Short for “Emotional Punk” Melodic music with profound/sappy lyrics. Usually with shifts in rhythm, voice and emotion plus hard, jangly guitars. (Sunny Day Real Estate,The Get-Up Kids) Emocore – Bands like Jawbreaker.
Flyer – A piece of paper advertising an upcoming show. Usually 8.5” x 11” and hand drawn. In the punk rock world some people covet these flyers often using them like currency. Fake flyers have found their way into many a collection.
Gutterpunk - Loosely used to describe those jobless (often homeless and/or runaways) kids that panhandle. A lot of gutterpunks have fancy punk hairdos and lots of patches and spikes, but not all gutterpunks like punk rock.
Hardcore - Louder, faster, and angrier than your basic punk rock. (Minor Threat, Sick of It All)
J-Punk - Japanese punk rock.
Mainstream - That place where bands sell out. Going mainstream often includes making MTV appearances, getting lots of radio air time, even having a radio station sponsor your show, and/or working for a major label. Mainstream bands become butts of jokes.
(Offspring, Green Day, Blink 182)
Maximum Rock ‘n Roll – 'Zine started in the Bay Area (ya, ya, Flipside is a zine too)
Mod - One of the many subcultures which originated in the UK and helped pave the way for skinhead and punk subcultures. (The Jam)
Moshing - Moshing involves pushing, kicking, and moving around with others doing the same until a fight breaks out, all done in the name of enjoying the music at a show. Moshing occurs in a mosh pit. I never knew one could mosh until I heard Anthrax’s ‘Caught in the Mosh’, I thought everyone was slamdancing. Pits in the east and west coast differ.
Oi! - street punk allegedly started within the working class in England's pubs. Often associated with skinheads, but mohicans and others can Oi as well. It may be hard to tell the difference between plain ol' punk and Oi - oi tends to be chantier (so everyone can sing along!) Oi is also filled with beers, boots, and braces. Oi! is also fun to say. (The Business, Sham 69, Cocksparrer)
Old School - is a funny thing used to describe the original punk-rock sound; it’s much more mellow with simple, lo-tech vocals. Not to be confused with Old Skool – bow wow wow yippee yo, yippie yay. (999)
Pogoing - Jumping around as if on a pogostick at a show. It helps to have a friend to pogo with for leverage.
Pop Punk - Kid-friendly punk rock, often more mainstream and heard on college radio. (The Ataris)
Poseur – AKA “Poser” – One who is posing as a punk. Punks often call other punks a poser when they are arguing about who the first punk band was.
Pyschobilly - Punk rock rockabilly, with a strong influences from skinhead sub-culture and trashy horror B Movies. (Guana Batz, Demented Are Go, Frantic Flintstones.) While often credited with starting the whole Psychobilly thang, the Cramps do not sound like a psychobilly band.
Punk Rock – According to Merriam-Webster it is “rock music marked by extreme and often deliberately offensive expressions of alienation and social discontent”
Riot Grrrl - A fairly recent movement that created a sound which started as a network of new bands, labels, and zines by and about girls and women. The music is a loud, aggressive and mostly about empowerment. (Bikini Kill and Babes in Toyland)
Sellout - Going mainstream.
Ska - Dancey music which originated in Jamaica. (Madness, Specials, English Beat)
Skacore - Mr. Ska, meet Miss Punk. (Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Less Than Jake)
Skanking - A funny dance found at ska shows.
Skate Rock - Blanket term given to bands back in the 80's whose members were skaters; usually music to skate to. (The Faction) Thanks to Joaquin for that one too.
Skinhead - Offshoot from the Mod/Ska scene of the 60’s. Skinheads were rougher and more practical than Mods, which some hypothesize as reasons behind wearing simpler (better) clothes and being active in work protests… which some believe also led to the hair shaving thing to show unity. (I know that sentence is loaded with junk – what do protests have to do with hair?) Often with shaved heads for males and funny feathered short hair for females. In the punk rock world skinheads share a similar look (Londsdale, Ben Shermans, bomber jackets, braces) and style of music (oi). A good healthy scuffle, unity, beer, and soccer are also associated with skinheads. Skinhead is not synonymous with racist.
Slamdancing - A group of show goers jostling, pogoing and happily dancing into each other at a show.
Stage Diving - Diving off the stage into the audience (who will theoretically catch you) below. I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting older or not but I see less and less stage diving at shows.
Straight Edge - A movement centered around no drugs, smoking, drinking, or casual sex. Many straight-edgers are Vegan and protest things. X is the official symbol of the straight edge scene. (Minor Threat)
Zine - a small, cheaply-produced and often irregularly-issued magazine about anything (usually music reviews, silly commentaries, and crappy poetry).
And there you have it.
Sheesh, I’m tired!
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