Punk
Punk is fast, loud, stripped-down rock that emerged in the mid-1970s as a reaction against the polish and excess of mainstream rock.
Songs are short and simple, with distorted power chords, rapid drums and shouted or sneered vocals, and lyrics that are often political or anti-establishment. It formed in New York and London between 1974 and 1977. A do-it-yourself attitude, in which bands record and release music without big labels, is as central to it as the sound.
Artists it is known for: Ramones, Sex Pistols, The Clash.
- Family
- Punk & Emo
- On Spotify
- A current genre
- What it is
- A genre
- From
- New York and London, mid-1970s
- Also called
- punk rock
- Trackify listeners who play it
- 11%
About 9,500 of 83,000 Trackify listeners with public profiles have punk among their top artists of the last four weeks. Rounded; updated 13 November 2026.
Punk artists
Green Day
blink-182
The Offspring
Sum 41
All Time Low
The Clash
Misfits
Simple Plan
Rise Against
Taking Back Sunday
The punk artists most Trackify listeners have in their top fifty. Each opens on Spotify.
Sources
The definition is written for this site from open sources, and was checked against them on 13 November 2026.