Post-punk Revival - Definitions and Characteristics

Definitions and Characteristics

In the early 2000s, a new group of bands that played a stripped down and back-to-basics version of guitar rock emerged into the mainstream. They were variously characterised as part of a garage rock, new wave or post-punk revival. Influences ranged from traditional blues, through new wave to grunge. The music ranged from the atonal tracks of bands like Liars to the melodic pop songs of groups like the Sounds, popularising distorted guitar sounds. They shared an emphasis on energetic live performance and used aesthetics (in hair and clothes) closely aligned with their fans, often drawing on fashion of the 1950s and 1960s, with "skinny ties, white belts shag haircuts". There was an emphasis on "rock authenticity" that has been seen as a reaction to the commercialism of MTV-oriented nu metal, hip hop and "bland" post-Britpop groups. Because the bands came from across the globe, cited diverse influences adopted differing styles of dress, their unity as a genre has been disputed. For historian of garage rock Eric James Abbey, these were diverse bands that have appropriated, or been given, the label garage to gain a degree of credibility.