Folk Punk - History - 2000s

2000s

In the early 00s a Plan-It-X Records sound, heavily influenced by underground 90s pop punk and classic DIY ethic began to take shape. For many in the punk community the record label has become almost synonymous with folk punk, though they have released a lot of electric acts with little or no folk influence. The most notable bands of this period include Defiance, Ohio (a cello driven pop punk band), This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb (a pacifist country/punk band), and Against Me! At the same time in New York a Gypsy Punk sound began to coalesce around Gogol Bordello, Golem, and other groups. These bands took eastern European instrumentation and fused it with the rhythms of punk, ska and rock. Many of these bands adopted a very recognizable aesthetic influenced by campy references to Soviet art, burlesque aesthetics, and classic punk style via The Clash. Gogol Bordello in particular has achieved a degree of mainstream success.

In the Northeast yet another community was emerging, partially surrounding the band Mischief Brew and Fistolo Records. These acts merged the DIY punk underground with 60s radical folk in the vein of Phil Ochs and contemporary anarchist folk musicians like David Rovics. Notable artists from the Northeast at this time would be punk/appalachian hybrids The Can Kickers, and sarcastic singer/songwriter Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains.

In the mid 2000s (decade) the west coast began to produce its own DIY scene of folk punk artists with a different sound, mostly connected Santa Cruz's Blackbird Raum who feature a completely acoustic lineup based entirely around traditional instruments, but with fast punk rhythms and bleak, political lyrics more influenced by crust punk. They are closely associated with all-acoustic hardcore band Hail Seizures and the Northwest Folklife festival folk-punk stage. These west coast bands almost all play entirely acoustically, partially so that they can busk. Recently bands like Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains or Wingnut Dishwasher's Union represent another highly political strand of folk-punk.

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