How to Make a Punk Playlist
First, consider what type of punk you're in the mood for., Consider pop-punk., Decide whether to include anarcho-punk., Consider Hardcore-punk or Hardcore., Think about skate-punk., Debate over whether to use Street Punk or Oi!., Dive into other...
Step-by-Step Guide
-
Step 1: consider what type of punk you're in the mood for.
Ska has a very different feel from anarcho-punk, and your mood might dictate which sub-genre you want on your playlist.
Remember punk is a very large genre that encompasses a lot of ground, so learn about the most popular sub-genres, including their history, their most well-known artists, what subjects or issues they deal with, and the general character of their sounds.
Decide which sub-genres to include in order to achieve your overall sound. -
Step 2: Consider pop-punk.
This is one of the more common sub-genres and is most often identifiable by its happier tone, even though the song might be about sad things such as family trouble, relationship breakdowns, or day-to-day struggles for middle-class youth.
Note this is a different type of angst than those in other sub-genres of punk.
Examples of Pop Punk include Blink-182, The Offspring and Green Day. , This sub-genre is very close to the original punk genre and is characterized by its often nihilistic attitude.
Members of anarcho-punk bands will often be anarchists and will sing about trying to revolt against capitalism or overthrow the corruption that is apparent with the current government structure.
This genre is not for the lighthearted and as such is probably not good for a party mix.
Examples of anarcho-punk are The Sex Pistols, Discharge, or Propagandhi. , This is a step up in terms of aggression.
Rather than dealing with issues such as politics, hardcore often tends to deal with more violent topics, such as war, racism on the streets, anti-police mentality, and the like.
It is defined by its often extremely abrasive sound, and it mixes in lots of breakdowns with high distortion.
Examples of Hardcore include Minor Threat, Bad Brains, The Dead Kennedys or Agnostic Front. , Skate punk is another well known genre that had a lot of interest during the late 90's.
It is often extremely fast, with fast-paced drums and stories of running from cops, skating till the death, and other anecdotes common amongst skaters.
It often has some extremely short songs, even under the 30 second mark.
A few good examples of skate-punk are NOFX, Suicidal Tendencies, Strung Out, and Pennywise. , These two sub-genres revolve around the issues faced by the working class, with the expressed intention of Oi! being to unite skinheads, other punks and the working class.
Most of the lyrical content revolves around the conflicts and struggle of the day-to-day life in the working class, and are often very nihilistic or jaded.
Some street-punk bands are The Casualties, The Distillers and Street Dogs.
A few Oi! bands are The Discocks, Blitz, Anti-Heros and some of the early Dropkick Murphys. , There are so many genres under the punk umbrella, including some extremely odd ones, like electropunk or harsh noise, so make sure to explore.
Punk is a mixed bag so feel free to experiment to your taste, and don't feel the pressure to like all of it.
Pick and choose freely what you want and make your own inferences about what styles suit you and your outlook. , Now that you've chosen an overall tone for your playlist, you need to find material for it.
There are a wide variety of websites that can help you find material to add into a playlist and are easily accessible.
Don't worry yet about choosing the perfect mix of songs; instead, focus on finding artists and songs that fit the overall tone of your playlist.
Come up with a list of possibilities, and you can later narrow it down from there. , Use websites like last.fm, which allows people to tag music and as such has an extremely large variety of bands under each genre tag.
Simply use the search function to search for the punk genre that you are looking for and you'll have a wide variety of bands to check out at your finger tips.
Unfortunately due to copyright issues, not a lot of music is hosted on the website. , YouTube is a great resource in this regard because it can allow you to find a lot of material that people have uploaded for you to stream for free regardless of your location.
Some larger conglomerates, such as Vevo, may not allow you to stream music from certain artists in odd locations.
At this time, there is no known way around this, so make sure to not just narrow your searching to an artist's official channel. , Spotify is another great location to search for music, and the even better side of it is that it even gives a tiny bit of revenue to the artist themselves.
This may definitely help a local struggling punk band so it's a really good way to aid groups that are struggling to find their footing in the chaotic world of music. , Genius is a program within the iTunes framework which identifies music that is listed similarly on the iTunes Store.
Whilst in principle, it is quite good, the limitations of the iTunes Store genre system leads to genre overlap, which is a bit irritating if you're trying to find one specific style. , Now that you've found a variety of artists, you can decide on what you want in the playlist.
Consider questions like "Do I want whole albums?"
"Do I only want popular singles?"
and "Do I want a consistent sound?" This will help you set parameters when beginning to construct your playlist, and you can use these parameters to narrow down large list of artists and songs you found earlier. , Take music from the bands that you found previously, or choose other songs.
Remember that a coherent playlist keeps a similar feel, so think about this when choosing your songs.
This means that you could add certain pop-punk songs in with skate-punk songs because they have a similar energy.
This will also make your playlist feel a lot more fulfilling, or consistent, as opposed to a mismatched hodgepodge of jumping tempos and levels of aggression. , Once you've chosen your songs, arrange them in order.
You can do a lot of things with the way you order your playlist: use it to tell a story by following songs with others that flow naturally, emotionally or literally, from the first.
Use it to evoke certain emotional responses in the listener or create a particular atmosphere.
Intersperse a sequence of songs with one tone with one or two of another
- for instance, one slow, melancholy song in the middle of several happy, upbeat songs
- to draw out certain emotions or feelings or create a stronger mood. -
Step 3: Decide whether to include anarcho-punk.
-
Step 4: Consider Hardcore-punk or Hardcore.
-
Step 5: Think about skate-punk.
-
Step 6: Debate over whether to use Street Punk or Oi!.
-
Step 7: Dive into other sub-genres.
-
Step 8: Gather your raw material.
-
Step 9: Look for music on dedicated music sites.
-
Step 10: Use YouTube to find music.
-
Step 11: Find new music on Spotify.
-
Step 12: Using the Genius application through iTunes.
-
Step 13: Start constructing your playlist.
-
Step 14: Choose your songs.
-
Step 15: Order your playlist.
Detailed Guide
Ska has a very different feel from anarcho-punk, and your mood might dictate which sub-genre you want on your playlist.
Remember punk is a very large genre that encompasses a lot of ground, so learn about the most popular sub-genres, including their history, their most well-known artists, what subjects or issues they deal with, and the general character of their sounds.
Decide which sub-genres to include in order to achieve your overall sound.
This is one of the more common sub-genres and is most often identifiable by its happier tone, even though the song might be about sad things such as family trouble, relationship breakdowns, or day-to-day struggles for middle-class youth.
Note this is a different type of angst than those in other sub-genres of punk.
Examples of Pop Punk include Blink-182, The Offspring and Green Day. , This sub-genre is very close to the original punk genre and is characterized by its often nihilistic attitude.
Members of anarcho-punk bands will often be anarchists and will sing about trying to revolt against capitalism or overthrow the corruption that is apparent with the current government structure.
This genre is not for the lighthearted and as such is probably not good for a party mix.
Examples of anarcho-punk are The Sex Pistols, Discharge, or Propagandhi. , This is a step up in terms of aggression.
Rather than dealing with issues such as politics, hardcore often tends to deal with more violent topics, such as war, racism on the streets, anti-police mentality, and the like.
It is defined by its often extremely abrasive sound, and it mixes in lots of breakdowns with high distortion.
Examples of Hardcore include Minor Threat, Bad Brains, The Dead Kennedys or Agnostic Front. , Skate punk is another well known genre that had a lot of interest during the late 90's.
It is often extremely fast, with fast-paced drums and stories of running from cops, skating till the death, and other anecdotes common amongst skaters.
It often has some extremely short songs, even under the 30 second mark.
A few good examples of skate-punk are NOFX, Suicidal Tendencies, Strung Out, and Pennywise. , These two sub-genres revolve around the issues faced by the working class, with the expressed intention of Oi! being to unite skinheads, other punks and the working class.
Most of the lyrical content revolves around the conflicts and struggle of the day-to-day life in the working class, and are often very nihilistic or jaded.
Some street-punk bands are The Casualties, The Distillers and Street Dogs.
A few Oi! bands are The Discocks, Blitz, Anti-Heros and some of the early Dropkick Murphys. , There are so many genres under the punk umbrella, including some extremely odd ones, like electropunk or harsh noise, so make sure to explore.
Punk is a mixed bag so feel free to experiment to your taste, and don't feel the pressure to like all of it.
Pick and choose freely what you want and make your own inferences about what styles suit you and your outlook. , Now that you've chosen an overall tone for your playlist, you need to find material for it.
There are a wide variety of websites that can help you find material to add into a playlist and are easily accessible.
Don't worry yet about choosing the perfect mix of songs; instead, focus on finding artists and songs that fit the overall tone of your playlist.
Come up with a list of possibilities, and you can later narrow it down from there. , Use websites like last.fm, which allows people to tag music and as such has an extremely large variety of bands under each genre tag.
Simply use the search function to search for the punk genre that you are looking for and you'll have a wide variety of bands to check out at your finger tips.
Unfortunately due to copyright issues, not a lot of music is hosted on the website. , YouTube is a great resource in this regard because it can allow you to find a lot of material that people have uploaded for you to stream for free regardless of your location.
Some larger conglomerates, such as Vevo, may not allow you to stream music from certain artists in odd locations.
At this time, there is no known way around this, so make sure to not just narrow your searching to an artist's official channel. , Spotify is another great location to search for music, and the even better side of it is that it even gives a tiny bit of revenue to the artist themselves.
This may definitely help a local struggling punk band so it's a really good way to aid groups that are struggling to find their footing in the chaotic world of music. , Genius is a program within the iTunes framework which identifies music that is listed similarly on the iTunes Store.
Whilst in principle, it is quite good, the limitations of the iTunes Store genre system leads to genre overlap, which is a bit irritating if you're trying to find one specific style. , Now that you've found a variety of artists, you can decide on what you want in the playlist.
Consider questions like "Do I want whole albums?"
"Do I only want popular singles?"
and "Do I want a consistent sound?" This will help you set parameters when beginning to construct your playlist, and you can use these parameters to narrow down large list of artists and songs you found earlier. , Take music from the bands that you found previously, or choose other songs.
Remember that a coherent playlist keeps a similar feel, so think about this when choosing your songs.
This means that you could add certain pop-punk songs in with skate-punk songs because they have a similar energy.
This will also make your playlist feel a lot more fulfilling, or consistent, as opposed to a mismatched hodgepodge of jumping tempos and levels of aggression. , Once you've chosen your songs, arrange them in order.
You can do a lot of things with the way you order your playlist: use it to tell a story by following songs with others that flow naturally, emotionally or literally, from the first.
Use it to evoke certain emotional responses in the listener or create a particular atmosphere.
Intersperse a sequence of songs with one tone with one or two of another
- for instance, one slow, melancholy song in the middle of several happy, upbeat songs
- to draw out certain emotions or feelings or create a stronger mood.
About the Author
Theresa Morales
Creates helpful guides on organization to inspire and educate readers.
Rate This Guide
How helpful was this guide? Click to rate: