Second Wave Punk

circa 1985 and after.

the second wave of punk rock encomp-sses the said music genre and sub-genres in the period from 1985 to present. a generation immediately following the first wave of punk which saw bands such as black flag, circle jerks, the clash, dead kennedys, the descendents, the ramones and the s-x pistols shape and reshape this unique form of rock music.

the second wave of punk rock music has seen arguably one of the toughest challanges the genre has had to face in its history. it was to be a period where punk rock and the values tied to it would slowly enter a decline as it, like so many other pure and raw forms of music, were to be raped by the mainstream. in an age where pop-culture, the general media and youth networks (see: mtv) have a disturbing degree of control of the minds the world’s youth, the task for the punk rock scene to hold its original principles and values whilst continuing to thrive was always going to be a difficult task.

nonetheless, despite the aggressive attempts by major music corporations and mtv to ‘steal’, rape and redifine punk rock as a money-making mainstream fad (see: faux punk)the resiliance of punk has shone through and the scene is holding its ground with countless talented underground bands continuing the “diy” tradition and blasting out the tunes for punk aficionadoes everywhere.

examples of bands exclusively from the second wave include:

nofx, pennywise, propagandhi, 98 mute, pulley, dropkick murpheys, face to face, millencolin (pre-2002), bigwig, lagwagon.

examples of bands that are not second wave punk or, for that matter, punk at all. bands bred by the corporates to take punk, rape it, redifine it, and use it for their own purposes (see: mtv, faux punk, poser, h-m-s-xual):

green day, good charlotte, simple plan, sum 41, busted, avril lavigne, ashlee simpson, blink 182.
fuax punker: “blink is so punk raaaaawk ya’ll!” \m/

second wave punk: “poof”.