Or they go too far in another direction and leave behind their vitality. They can keep repeating themselves into a predictable formula. And in every new era since 1977 punk bands deliver social messages using the direct but ultimately limited punk genre.īut the roadblock always comes: how to move beyond the conventional punk genre but still remain relevant. It’s everyman music with a social message. In such a limited musical genre, the emphasis - like some folk music - is on lyrics.

Punk bands often have powerful first albums. Since then other punk bands have faced that roadblock. It was a model for how punk bands can grow up.

The Clash’s third album “London Calling” - released on the cusp of the new decade of the 1980s - successfully took the energy of punk and merged it with ska, reggae, traditional rock, and even pop with the closing song “Train In Vain.” And for those songs that still sounded like punk they carefully rearranged them to expand them beyond the blast of energy in earlier songs like “White Riot” and “Complete Control.” The Clash injected punk energy into any genre they tackled and revamped the basic punk song genre. It’s perhaps punk’s lasting model to grow up without selling out. The Clash’s “London Calling,” the album that showed punks how to mature without losing their edge. They not only didn’t lose their vitality – they created one of punk’s most enduring albums. But one band that was part of the initial explosion of political punk rock combined elements of other genres with abandoning the punk rock spirit or genre. Others latched onto what was then called “new wave” – a synthesizer-laced quirky punk pop genre.

They created post-punk which combined punk with an avant-garde edge. How do you maintain the essential energy of punk but not be limited to three-minute songs with buzzsaw guitars? Punk was doomed for quick extinction if it didn’t progress. The basic musical genre of punk rock was straightforward: three minute blasts of high-energy guitar-fueled power. That was the seminal year that introduced the Sex Pistols’ “Never Mind The Bollocks,” The Ramones’ “Rocket To Russia,” and the first Clash album.īut just a year or two afterwards, punk rock soon faced a roadblock: how do you grow up? Especially without losing the edge that made punk rock a righteous, prophetic, and transcendent force. It’s a leap that many other punk bands haven’t been able to make. With their new self-titled album Paramore joins the best of punk bands who can broaden their musical style while keeping punk rock’s prophetic edge.

Paramore albums best