Throughout musical history there have been interstitial periods of music where a style or genre was not musically identified until after a retrospective investigation. Anarcho-punk, like freakbeat, or even pub rock which influenced the first punk waves, also falls in an awkward space between two prominent genres: in this case it is anarcho-punk between early British punk and other genres such hardcore, thrash, or Indie rock.
Anarcho-punk was not immediately identified when it began around 1980, and most people then probably considered it underground, progressive, or experimental music. While it went unnamed, anarcho-punk can now be defined by its style that features a lot of compression in a tinny, slightly reverberated sound, as well as the “angular” sound it had to it that Penny Rimbaud of Crass kept consistent within his bands (There’s No Authority But Yourself). Anarcho-punk also almost always featured vocals that were more comparable to yelling, or loud poetry, which defined everything that these bands stood for.
Even though the vocals in most anarcho-punk were near unlistenable and difficult to understand live, this is what bands like Crass wanted, as it made people really pay attention to the lyrics. This is what differentiated bands like Crass and the Sex Pistols, or anarcho-punk and the early stages of punk, respectively. Anarcho-punk culture had no ambition for fame, money, or high status in society, rather they wanted to empower people and share their ideologies.
Unlike bands like the Sex Pistols, anarcho-punk bands like Crass actually lived the lives they sang about and encouraged others to do the same. Their music didn’t matter as much as long as they felt it was creative and expressive, exemplified by their anti-systemic lyrics often dealing with politics and social issues of the time. This can also be found in other work by Rimbaud including his poetry, philosophy, and other creative writing. As anarcho-punk actually did focus more on the values they tried to share rather than their actual music, Rimbaud from the Band Crass continues to live a very modest lifestyle in rural England where he is near self-sufficient and welcoming to any visitors who are in need of a place to stay for the night (There’s No Authority But Yourself).
All in all, anarcho-punk may not be its own genre, rather a subculture or style within punk clearly defined by its unique playing style, but bands like Crass who aimed to question authority and empower the people developed a powerful sociopolitical following that was more significant than the actual music being played in the early 1980s. Despite amassing thousands of followers, the end of Crass really brought an abrupt end to defined anarcho-punk, leaving its legacy as unclear, and perhaps this is why even today anarcho-punk is still interstitial musically.
Anarcho-punk was not immediately identified when it began around 1980, and most people then probably considered it underground, progressive, or experimental music. While it went unnamed, anarcho-punk can now be defined by its style that features a lot of compression in a tinny, slightly reverberated sound, as well as the “angular” sound it had to it that Penny Rimbaud of Crass kept consistent within his bands (There’s No Authority But Yourself). Anarcho-punk also almost always featured vocals that were more comparable to yelling, or loud poetry, which defined everything that these bands stood for.
Even though the vocals in most anarcho-punk were near unlistenable and difficult to understand live, this is what bands like Crass wanted, as it made people really pay attention to the lyrics. This is what differentiated bands like Crass and the Sex Pistols, or anarcho-punk and the early stages of punk, respectively. Anarcho-punk culture had no ambition for fame, money, or high status in society, rather they wanted to empower people and share their ideologies.
Unlike bands like the Sex Pistols, anarcho-punk bands like Crass actually lived the lives they sang about and encouraged others to do the same. Their music didn’t matter as much as long as they felt it was creative and expressive, exemplified by their anti-systemic lyrics often dealing with politics and social issues of the time. This can also be found in other work by Rimbaud including his poetry, philosophy, and other creative writing. As anarcho-punk actually did focus more on the values they tried to share rather than their actual music, Rimbaud from the Band Crass continues to live a very modest lifestyle in rural England where he is near self-sufficient and welcoming to any visitors who are in need of a place to stay for the night (There’s No Authority But Yourself).
All in all, anarcho-punk may not be its own genre, rather a subculture or style within punk clearly defined by its unique playing style, but bands like Crass who aimed to question authority and empower the people developed a powerful sociopolitical following that was more significant than the actual music being played in the early 1980s. Despite amassing thousands of followers, the end of Crass really brought an abrupt end to defined anarcho-punk, leaving its legacy as unclear, and perhaps this is why even today anarcho-punk is still interstitial musically.