Pop/Rock » Punk/New Wave » Anarchist Punk

When Johnny Rotten snarled "I wanna be...anarchy!" on the Sex Pistols' debut single, it was more provocative theater than deeply held political belief. But a number of punk bands who followed took that credo to heart, railing not just against authority but the very idea of government (or, at least, its hypocrisies and abuses of power). Anarchist punk sometimes came from the far left wing (the Dead Kennedys), sometimes from the downtrodden, Thatcher-era working class (the Exploited), and sometimes both; regardless of its origins, it was unified by its radical politics. Most anarchist punk was an offshoot of hardcore punk, since both emerged around the same time, and anarchist punk usually resided on the rougher, more amateurish end of the spectrum. Part of the reason was its ideology of personal freedom (musical self-expression ought to be available to anyone, regardless of technical ability), and also that the message tended to be more important than the music. But it was also important to drive home that message with sounds that were as extreme as the statements -- so, anarchist punk was generally played as loud, fast, and thrashy as the band members' technical skills allowed. The definitive anarchist punk band was Crass, both for their crashing, barely structured music and for the communal lifestyle its members lived in support of their politics.