Thrashy ‘Punk Rocks’ With A Political Edge

Radiohead, once considered an underground alternative band known for their pessimism and lyrical honesty, has evolved into a global force, rising from 1.1 crore monthly listeners pre-pandemic to 3.8 crore monthly listeners today (via Spotify). Their ability to speak truth to a generation disillusioned by modern life has made them more relevant than ever before.

Nicschita Bhagtani, a cultural observer, says, “Punk rock has always had a way of coming up when things are rough economically. It’s more like a signal that people are unhappy with what’s going on.” For millions of punk music fans, the genre reflects the frustration of common folks with economic and political turmoil. Punk is like a cultural parameter that reflects the dissatisfaction and unrest bubbling beneath the surface.

Tune Into Punk

Punk rock started with a scream of defiance in the late 1970s. Amidst the economic downturns, rising unemployment, and political dissonance in the UK and the US. Bands like The Sex Pistols, The Clash, and Ramones didn’t just play music, they echoed the anger and struggles of working-class people. The genre became an epitome of DIY ethics, anti-authoritarianism, and rejection of mainstream consumerism. While punk’s first wave was born out of economic collapse, its later revivals have been shaped as much by politics as by pocketbooks. Bands like Hole and newer feminist punk groups have taken a stand against patriarchy, often reclaiming female sexuality, body autonomy, and rage.

Beyond political disillusionment and war, punk has reflected deeper shifts in gender politics and social identity. Women in punk have long faced both internal and external resistance, but they’ve continued to carve space for themselves. Rhea, a musician and punk fan, argues that punk thrives in hard times not just because of its lyrical content, but because of how it feels. She says, “It’s about standing up for the underdog. That’s how it started on the streets of London, and that’s still what it does today.”

Power Of Words

According to Professor Bindu Puri, a noted philosopher at Jawaharlal Nehru University, the recent resurgence of punk rock isn’t simply a byproduct of political or economic turmoil. Instead, it speaks to something deeper and more diffuse. “Punk rock is not philosophical,” she says. “It’s a reaction to the crisis rather than a response. It reacts rather than reasons. It emotes, but doesn’t always contend there.”

For Professor Puri, the emotional force of the genre, its refusal to intellectualise, is precisely what makes it so potent. Punk doesn’t offer neatly packaged ideologies or roadmaps for change. Rather, it is a harsh rejection of meaninglessness, a scream for help against existential angst and the disillusionment of modern life. Yet, Professor Puri cautions against romanticising punk as a universal voice of resistance. She points to the urban elitism embedded in many protest movements today. While punk rock may thrive in metropolitan cities, it often operates in isolation from the voices of rural and marginalized India. Prof. Puri says, “We hear punk music on big city stages, but protest also exists in village graffiti, in Dalit literature, in local languages and expressions that are just as valid, but rarely heard in the same cultural spaces.”

A professor from JNU’s School of Social Sciences, who sees punk and protest music as a form of emotional literacy, says, “Music is a form of language and a powerful one. It can go deeper than words. Even when it lacks lyrics, music still carries messages that bypass the intellect and strike the emotions directly.” Punk resonates strongly with younger generations as it may not offer cohesive political critiques, but it articulates what many youths can’t, putting things into words!