Punk blues
Encyclopedia
Punk blues denotes a fusion genre of punk rock
and blues
. Punk blues musicians and bands usually incorporate elements of related styles, such as protopunk
and blues rock. Its origins lie strongly within the garage rock
sound of the 1960s and 1970s.
Punk blues can be said to favor the common rawness, simplicity and emotion shared between the punk and blues genres. Chet Weise, singer/guitarist of The Immortal Lee County Killers
stated, "Punk and blues are both honest reactions to life. It's blues, it's our blues. It's just a bit turned up and a bit faster."
, The Who
, The Sonics
, Captain Beefheart
and the New York Dolls
displayed a fascination with American blues.
Allmusic states that punk blues draws on the influence of the "garage rock sound of the mid-'60s, the primal howl of early Captain Beefheart
, and especially in the raw and desperate sound of the Gun Club's landmark Fire of Love
LP from 1981." Also according to Allmusic.com, "...punk blues really came to life in the early '90s with bands like the seminal Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
, The Oblivians, The Gories
and the Gibson Brothers", and "continued into the 2000s with even more visibility thanks to the popularity of The White Stripes
". John Doe
of L.A. punk band X claims that frontman Jeffrey Lee Pierce
and The Gun Club invented a completely new style of music by mixing punk and blues.
, the punk band Social Distortion
began incorporating rockabilly, country and blues influences into their music. In the early 1990s, British musician PJ Harvey
also explored an avant-garde variant of the style.
The Detroit garage rock scene that bore bands such as The White Stripes continues to thrive with punk blues musicians and bands that can be tied to the style, such as The Detroit Cobras
, Geraldine, Mystery Girls, The Reigning Sound, Soledad Brothers, The Von Bondies
, and countless others. The Boston band Mr. Airplane Man also plays in this style.
The indie rock
bands The Gossip
, The Kills
, Deadboy & the Elephantmen
, and Big John Bates
have been associated by the media with a punk/blues sound.
Cage The Elephant
is also a known band that includes songs like In One Ear
, Aint no rest for wicked
, or Back Against The Wall
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
and blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
. Punk blues musicians and bands usually incorporate elements of related styles, such as protopunk
Protopunk
Protopunk is a term used retrospectively to describe a number of musicians who were important precursors of punk rock in the late 1960s to mid-1970s, or who have been cited by early punk musicians as influential...
and blues rock. Its origins lie strongly within the garage rock
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
sound of the 1960s and 1970s.
Punk blues can be said to favor the common rawness, simplicity and emotion shared between the punk and blues genres. Chet Weise, singer/guitarist of The Immortal Lee County Killers
The Immortal Lee County Killers
The Immortal Lee County Killers were an American rock band from Auburn, Lee County, Alabama. Playing in the punk blues style, as well as garage punk, the band consisted of Chetley "Cheetah" Weise on vocals/guitar, plus assorted musicians over its roughly three incarnations.Weise had formerly...
stated, "Punk and blues are both honest reactions to life. It's blues, it's our blues. It's just a bit turned up and a bit faster."
Origins
Before the beginning of the punk movement of the late 1970s, several important forerunners such as the MC5, The StoogesThe Stooges
The Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...
, The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, The Sonics
The Sonics
The Sonics are an American garage rock band from Tacoma, Washington, originating from the early and mid-1960s. Among The Sonics' contemporaries were The Kingsmen, The Wailers, The Dynamics, The Regents, and Paul Revere & the Raiders...
, Captain Beefheart
Captain Beefheart
Don Van Vliet January 15, 1941 December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982, with whom he recorded 12...
and the New York Dolls
New York Dolls
The New York Dolls is an American rock band, formed in New York in 1971. The band's protopunk sound prefigured much of what was to come in the punk rock era; their visual style influenced the look of many new wave and 1980s-era glam metal groups, and they began the local New York scene that later...
displayed a fascination with American blues.
Allmusic states that punk blues draws on the influence of the "garage rock sound of the mid-'60s, the primal howl of early Captain Beefheart
Captain Beefheart
Don Van Vliet January 15, 1941 December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982, with whom he recorded 12...
, and especially in the raw and desperate sound of the Gun Club's landmark Fire of Love
Fire of Love
Fire of Love is the debut album of the American punk band The Gun Club, released in 1981 on Ruby Records. The album is considered groundbreaking in being the first of its kind to combine the hard, stripped-down sound of punk rock with American roots musics...
LP from 1981." Also according to Allmusic.com, "...punk blues really came to life in the early '90s with bands like the seminal Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion are an American alternative rock trio, formed in 1991 and based out of New York City, New York. The band consists of Judah Bauer on guitar, backing vocals, harmonica and occasional lead vocals, Russell Simins on drums and Jon Spencer on vocals, guitar and theremin...
, The Oblivians, The Gories
The Gories
The Gories are an American garage rock trio that formed in Detroit in 1986. They were among the first 1980s garage punk bands to incorporate overt blues influences...
and the Gibson Brothers", and "continued into the 2000s with even more visibility thanks to the popularity of The White Stripes
The White Stripes
The White Stripes was an American rock band, formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consisted of the songwriter Jack White and drummer Meg White . Jack and Meg White were previously married to each other, but are now divorced...
". John Doe
John Doe (musician)
John Doe is an American singer, songwriter, actor, poet and bass player. Doe founded the much-praised L.A. punk band X, of which he is still an active member. His musical performances and compositions span the rock, country and folk music genres...
of L.A. punk band X claims that frontman Jeffrey Lee Pierce
Jeffrey Lee Pierce
Jeffrey Lee Pierce was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He was one of the founding members of the 1980s punk band The Gun Club...
and The Gun Club invented a completely new style of music by mixing punk and blues.
Related bands
Beginning with their 1988 album Prison BoundPrison Bound
Prison Bound is the second studio album by Social Distortion, was released in 1988. This is the first album with bass guitarist John Maurer and drummer Christopher Reece...
, the punk band Social Distortion
Social Distortion
Social Distortion is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Fullerton, California. The band currently consists of Mike Ness , Jonny Wickersham , Brent Harding and David Hidalgo, Jr...
began incorporating rockabilly, country and blues influences into their music. In the early 1990s, British musician PJ Harvey
PJ Harvey
Polly Jean Harvey is an English musician, singer-songwriter, composer and occasional artist. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments including piano, organ, bass, saxophone, and most recently, the autoharp.Harvey began her career in...
also explored an avant-garde variant of the style.
The Detroit garage rock scene that bore bands such as The White Stripes continues to thrive with punk blues musicians and bands that can be tied to the style, such as The Detroit Cobras
The Detroit Cobras
The Detroit Cobras are an American garage rock cover band from Detroit, Michigan, formed in 1994.-History:The Detroit Cobras signed with Sympathy for the Record Industry and released their first full-length album, Mink Rat or Rabbit, in 1998...
, Geraldine, Mystery Girls, The Reigning Sound, Soledad Brothers, The Von Bondies
The Von Bondies
The Von Bondies were an American alternative rock band. The group disbanded in July 2011. Its most recent members were Jason Stollsteimer on vocals and lead guitar, Christy Hunt on rhythm guitar and Leann Banks on bass guitar...
, and countless others. The Boston band Mr. Airplane Man also plays in this style.
The indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
bands The Gossip
The Gossip
Gossip is a three-piece American indie rock band formed in 1999. The band consists of singer Beth Ditto, guitarist Brace Paine and drummer Hannah Blilie. After releasing several recordings, the band broke through with their 2006 studio album, Standing in the Way of Control . A follow-up, Music for...
, The Kills
The Kills
The Kills is a rock band formed by American singer Alison Mosshart and British guitarist Jamie Hince . Their first three albums, Keep On Your Mean Side, No Wow, and Midnight Boom, have garnered much critical praise...
, Deadboy & the Elephantmen
Deadboy & the Elephantmen
Deadboy & the Elephantmen was an American indie rock band from 2000 to 2007. Based in Houma, Louisiana, the band was fronted by Dax Riggs ....
, and Big John Bates
Big John Bates
Big John Bates began recording for Germany's Rookie Records and Glitterhouse Records in 2010 with upright bassist Brandy Bones. They moved away from their original punkabilly style to follow their rustic, southern influences with dark, rural lyrics & melodies...
have been associated by the media with a punk/blues sound.
Cage The Elephant
Cage the Elephant
Cage the Elephant is an American rock band from Bowling Green, Kentucky, that formed in mid-2006. Since their formation, the band has gained a large following in the US as well as the UK and Canada for their sound and their high-energy live performances. The band released their self-titled debut...
is also a known band that includes songs like In One Ear
In One Ear (song)
"In One Ear" is a song by American rock band Cage the Elephant. It was released as the second, then re-released as the fifth single from the band's 2009 self-titled debut album...
, Aint no rest for wicked
Ain't No Rest For the Wicked
"Ain't No Rest for the Wicked" is the third single by the American rock band Cage the Elephant. It was released as a CD single on June 16, 2008 by Relentless Records and became the first Top 40 hit for the band in the UK. A music video was filmed for this song which was directed by of Pulse Films...
, or Back Against The Wall
Back Against The Wall
Back Against the Wall is an album released in 2005 by Billy Sherwood in collaboration with a number of progressive rock artists as a tribute to Pink Floyd's album The Wall...
See also
- List of punk blues musicians and bands
- CowpunkCowpunkCowpunk or Country punk is a subgenre of punk rock and New Wave that began in the UK and California in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It combines punk rock or New Wave with country music, folk music, and blues in sound, subject matter, attitude, and style...
- Noise rockNoise rockNoise rock describes a style of post-punk rock music that became prominent in the 1980s. Noise rock makes use of the traditional instrumentation and iconography of rock, but incorporates atonality and especially dissonance, and also frequently discards usual songwriting conventions.-Style:Noise...
- PsychobillyPsychobillyPsychobilly is a fusion genre of rock music that mixes elements of punk rock, rockabilly, and other genres. It is one of several subgenres of rockabilly which also include thrashabilly, trashabilly, punkabilly, surfabilly and gothabilly...