Garage Punk - History

History

According to the Allmusic guide, "Before the punk-pop wing of America's '90s punk revival hit the mainstream, a different breed of revivalist punk had been taking shape in the indie-rock underground. In general, garage punk wasn't nearly as melodic as punk-pop; instead, garage punk drew its inspiration chiefly from the Detroit protopunk of The Stooges and The MC5." Other important precedents are the early 1970s Detroit band Death and the Boston band The Modern Lovers. The latter were an influence on punk while using an organ similar to 1960s garage bands.

The genre originated from the 1970s and 1980s punk bands, as well as 1960s American garage bands who (influenced by the sound and attitude of British rhythm and blues groups) created a cruder, more urgent sound. Early UK punk bands such as The Clash often originally characterized themselves as 'garage bands' with The Clash even featuring a song on their first album The Clash called "Garageland" in which they claimed "We're a garage band, We come from garageland". While originating from punk and garage rock, it sometimes incorporates elements of 1960s soul, beat music, surf music, power pop, hardcore punk and psychedelia. Many garage punk musicians have been white, working class, suburban teenagers.

"Some of the first garage punk bands who appeared in the late '80s and early '90s (Mudhoney, the Supersuckers) signed with the Sub Pop label, whose early grunge bands shared some of the same influences and aesthetics (in fact, Mudhoney became one of the founders of grunge)." Bands like New Bomb Turks, The Oblivians, The Gories, Subsonics, The Mummies and The Humpers helped maintain a cult audience for the style through the 1990s and 2000s.