Punk Music in the 70’s and 90’s

Punk music has gone through an evolution ever since the punk explosion in the late seventies. Although today’s punk music retains most of the ideology and sound that defines the punk genre, there are some distinct differences between Nineties and Seventies punk. Most of the punk bands to emerge and gain popularity in the nineties mostly hailed from California (Green Day, the Offspring, etc.). Punk vanguards from the seventies hailed from the East Coast and from Great Britain (the Ramones, the Clash, etc.). The Sex Pistols’ "Liar" and Blink182’s "What’s My Age Again?" demonstrates how conditions — social, political, and physical — are reflected in the nature of the music produced by these punk bands.

The Sex Pistols emerged in the late seventies as one of the first politically charged punk bands, advocating anarchy in most of their tunes. The band embraced and produced songs that reflected the punk ideology: rebellion and nihilism. The Sex Pistols also reacted to the stark social conditions that infected Great Britain in the late seventies – rising unemployment, a hard-line, conservative government, and a depressed post-industrial economy. With a hopeless future at the horizon, the restless youth in Britain had plenty of things to get angry about. The Sex Pistols embodied the era’s anger and restless ambition.

Blink182 first gained popularity as a local band from San Diego. The Southern California environment was completely different from the harsh, cold urban environment of London. The environment from where Blink182 cultivated their style was sunny and suburban San Diego. The mid-nineties were economically good in the United States. The youths of Southern California did not face the same despair as the youths of Britain in the seventies. Moreover, Blink182 gained popularity by producing songs that reflected the "skater" and teen culture of Southern California. Their music is fun, carefree, rebellious, and filled with adolescent, bathroom humor.

The harsh, dense noise that is the hallmark of every Sex Pistols song can be heard in "Liar." The distorted guitar is the centerpiece of most punk music. The guitarist, Steve Jones, plays with an incessant, down strumming of power chords, creating a "buzz saw" noise. The guitar is palm muted at the beginning and in the parts where there are no lyrics. The technique creates and adds tension to the music. The full fury of the guitar is only unleashed at the interlude and when the vocals come in. In the interlude, the guitar wails were played to sound like sirens. The guitar solo had a hypnotic, cyclic riff in the interlude. The improvisational style and sound of the guitar adds to the seemingly chaotic sound of the song. The drums more prominently produce this chaotic sound. Although the drums are in a simple yet assertive two-beat pattern throughout most of the song, it is interrupted sporadically by drum rolls, helping to produce a chaotic sound. The bass basically provides the rhythm and the framework of the song from which the drums and guitar can syncopate. The song is also somewhat muffled. The crude recording techniques was utilized to produce a more dense and harsher noise. The crudeness also adds a sense of amateurism to the song, one of the ideologies of punk.

The harsh, discordant sound of the song is clearly evident in the vocal style. Johnny Rotten, the lead singer of the group, delivers a smug, confrontational attitude of punk. Rotten sings the lyrics with a whiny and sneering vocal quality, delivering the message with anger and twisted sarcasm. In addition, he sings out of sync at times, adding to the chaotic sound already produced by the instruments. During the chorus, Rotten would scream and crack "You’re a liar." Rotten’s voice is just as harsh and grating as the distorted guitar. The vocal delivery of Rotten is produced that way to emphasize the raw energy and rage of the song.

The lyrics are very confrontational and angry as it bluntly accuses someone of being a liar. "I want to

know why you never / Look me in the face / Broke a confidence just to please / Your ego should've realized / You know what I know." Taken literally, the lyrics are about accusing the other person in an untrustworthy relationship of infidelity. Given the political nature of the band, the lyrics could also blatantly accuse the system – government, the monarchy, and society – of being a liar. The promise of a better tomorrow by the government and the pompous glory of the monarchy seemed shallow to the unemployed and the youth of Britain. It could have been the system that may have broken the confidence of the people. More importantly, the lyrics reflect the punk ideology of nihilism. The Sex Pistols are