Other names Electropunk | Derivative forms EBM | |
Stylistic origins Punk rock
electronic rock Cultural origins Mid-late 1970s United States | ||
Synth-punk (also electropunk) is a fusion genre that combines elements from electronic rock with punk rock. It originates from punk musicians between 1977 and 1984 that swapped their guitars with synthesizers. The term is a retroactive label coined in 1999 by Damien Ramsey.
Overview
Due to the predominant use of guitars in punk's rock music roots, the use of synthesizers was controversial within the punk scene even though the punk music culture collectively embraced an anti-establishment political stance. It was very rare, particularly in America, for punk musicians to use synthesizers or keyboards at all to make punk music, let alone replacing the guitars with them. The rejection of using guitars was an extension of the logic of punk music's anti-establishment politics.
In the USA, while a number of art bands moved more towards ambient, or art gallery collage sounds (Ant Farm, Ralph Records) The Units nailed it with ferocious singles like "i-night," which foreshadows The Prodigy and the more intense early work of the Chemical Brothers' "Block Rockin' Beats" for its intensity. The following year saw releases such as Minimal Man's live at The Deaf Club, "She Was A Visitor", and from (Seattle) Enstruction's 1982 "Keep Out Of My Body Bag" with its scattered and unsettling instructions. In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Billy Synth and the Janitors (1978-1982) and later the Turn Ups took an ARP Odyssey synthesizer directly to punk.