Anarcho-punk - Musical Style and Aesthetics

Musical Style and Aesthetics

Generally speaking anarcho-punk bands are often less focused on particular musical delivery and more on a totalized aesthetic that encompasses the entire creative process, from album and concert art, to political message, to the lifestyles of the band members themselves. Crass listed as band members the people who did their album art and live visuals. The message is sometimes considered to be much more important than the music. According to the punk aesthetic, one can express oneself and produce moving and serious works with limited means and technical ability. It is not uncommon for anarcho-punk songs to lack the usual rock structure of verses and a chorus, however, there are exceptions to this. For example, later Chumbawamba songs were at the same time anarcho-punk and more pop oriented and had a pop song structure that made their message more accessible, even gaining chart hits in the process. In general the genre is stylistically diverse and is often more united by common goals and community bonds than particular sounds. One of the bands to take this to the extreme was Crass with their release Yes Sir, I Will, a raging and almost free-form improvised musical backing over which the lyrics are shouted. Examples of other highly experimental anarcho-punk acts might include The Cravats, Iceland's KUKL and the partially electronic act D&V.