punk rock

Rock music with deliberately offensive lyrics expressing anger and social alienation; in part a reaction against progressive rock. Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement that began about 1976, exemplified by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols and The Clash. The term is also used to describe subsequent music scenes that share key characteristics with those first-generation "punks". The term is sometimes also applied to the fashions or the irreverent "DIY" ("do it yourself") attitude associated with this musical movement. Punks and punk rock were once denigrated by the overwhelming majority of the population, including young people. To be a punk rocker and play punk rock music was to ostracize yourself from your peers and be the subject of scorn. Today it is relatively socially acceptable to be punk and play punk rock music. Thus, some maintain that the punk scene has lost the very heart of its former nature as one of explosive creativity, rebellion, anger, hate, and individualism and that it has become a mere caricature of what once was.