Punk blues

{{Short description|Music genre}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}} {{Use American English|date=February 2024}} {{Infobox music genre | name = Punk blues | stylistic_origins = * Punk rock * proto-punk * blues * garage rock * blues rock | cultural_origins = Early 1980s, United States | regional_scenes = | other_topics = * Timeline of punk rock * cowpunk * garage punk * psychobilly * biker metal }}

'''Punk blues''' (or '''blues punk''') is a music genre that mixes elements of punk rock and blues.<ref name="Punk Blues Genre">{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=style|id=punk-blues-ma0000012191|pure_url=yes}} |title=Punk Blues |website=AllMusic |access-date=August 7, 2025}}</ref> Punk blues musicians and bands usually incorporate elements of related styles,<ref>[http://www.convulsions.com/ British Rhythm and Blues – The Convulsions: High-Energy Original British RnB and Punk Blues], Retrieved on May 21, 2008</ref> such as protopunk and blues rock. Its origins lie strongly within the garage rock sound of the 1960s and 1970s.

Punk blues can be said to favor the common rawness, simplicity and emotion shared between the punk and blues genres.<ref name=Furious /> Chet Weise, singer/guitarist of the Immortal Lee County Killers stated, "Punk and blues are both honest reactions to life. It's blues, it's our blues. It's just a bit turned up and a bit faster".<ref name=Furious>{{cite web |url=https://www.furious.com/perfect/immortalleecountykillers.html |title=Punk and the Blues Evolution: The Immortal Lee County Killers |website=furious.com |access-date=March 31, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714192915/http://www.furious.com/perfect/immortalleecountykillers.html|archive-date=July 14, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Jon Spencer 2006.jpg|thumb|Jon Spencer]]

== Origins == Before the beginning of the punk movement of the late 1970s, several important forerunners such as the MC5, the Stooges, the Rolling Stones, the Who, the Sonics, Captain Beefheart, and the New York Dolls displayed a fascination with American blues.

AllMusic states that punk blues draws on the influence of the "garage rock sound of the mid-'60s, the primal howl of early Captain Beefheart, and especially in the raw and desperate sound of the Gun Club's landmark ''Fire of Love'' LP from 1981".<ref name="Punk Blues Genre" /> Also according to AllMusic, "punk blues really came to life in the early '90s with bands like the seminal Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, the Oblivians, the Gories and the Gibson Brothers", and "continued into the 2000s with even more visibility thanks to the popularity of the White Stripes."<ref name="Punk Blues Genre" /> John Doe of L.A. punk band X claims that the Gun Club and their frontman Jeffrey Lee Pierce invented a completely new style of music by mixing punk and blues.<ref>[http://ghostonthehighway.com/cast.html Ghost on the Highway – The "Cast"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211170236/http://ghostonthehighway.com/cast.html |date=February 11, 2012 }}</ref>

thumb|PJ Harvey

== Related bands == With their 1988 album ''Prison Bound'', the punk band Social Distortion began incorporating rockabilly, country, and blues influences into their music. In the same time period, Rollins Band performed punk-inflected blues jams.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://business.highbeam.com/435553/article-1G1-62159350/rollins-band-forges-hot-punkblues-hybrid-mississippi|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306221722/https://business.highbeam.com/435553/article-1G1-62159350/rollins-band-forges-hot-punkblues-hybrid-mississippi|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 6, 2016|title=ROLLINS BAND FORGES HOT PUNK-BLUES HYBRID AT MISSISSIPPI NIGHTS.(Everyday Magazine)(Review – Music – Rock\Rollins Band\Apartment 26)(Review)}}</ref> In the early 1990s, British musician PJ Harvey also explored an avant-garde variant of the style.<ref>{{cite magazine| last = Hermes| first = Will| title = Queen of Hearts| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=UAUQ04BGfpUC&pg=PA101| access-date = November 23, 2012| volume = 20|date=June 2004| magazine = Spin| pages = 101| quote = By her usual avant-punk-blues standards, it was polished and tuneful. }}</ref>

American rock band L.A. Guns have been associated with the blues-punk sound. Particularly on their EP Wasted. The Detroit garage rock scene that bore bands such as the White Stripes, inspired by Flat Duo Jets, continues to thrive with punk blues musicians and bands that can be tied to the style, such as the Detroit Cobras, Geraldine, Mystery Girls, Soledad Brothers, the Von Bondies, and many others. The Memphis{{endash}}Asheville band the Reigning Sound and the Boston band Mr. Airplane Man<ref>{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p468781 |title=Mr. Airplane Man Biography |first=Kathleen C |last=Fennessy}}.</ref> also plays in this style.

The indie rock bands the Kills<ref>"... scuzz-loving blues-punk duo ..." – J.D., ''Rolling Stone'', issue 1125, March 3, 2011, p. 72.</ref> and Deadboy & the Elephantmen<ref>{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p757424 |title=Deadboy & the Elephantmen Biography |first=James Christopher |last=Monger}}.</ref> have been associated by the media with a punk/blues sound. American rock band The Steel Crows are the most prominent contemporary band to be associated with this sound.

== References == {{reflist}}

Category:Punk blues Category:Blues music genres Category:Blues rock Category:Punk rock genres Category:Fusion music genres