What is Punk Music?
One of the principal characteristics of punk CDs and punk records is the fast, aggressive styles of the pieces. The philosophy behind the genre, after all, is to be modern and unsentimental, and to reject the mainstream via do-it-yourself ethics and frank social and political commentary. As is evident in the works of pioneering punk artists and punk bands like The Ramones, Sex Pistols, and The Clash, punk records tend to have the same bare musical structures and arrangements of garage rock, with short songs; heavy, relentlessly rhythmic, and power-chorded electric guitar instrumentation; unconventional vocals that almost shout out the lyrics; and themes that bluntly tackle issues such as sex, politics, social mores, the grimness of urban life, and rebellion.