Punk rock music's anti-establishment ethos and social commentary famously emerged in the rebellious 1970s. But the genre has been making a resurgence in contemporary culture — spawning new expressions of rage, uncertainty and even joy.
That's particularly true in Florida, where the underground punk and indie rock scene is thriving. Next weekend, 21 bands will be head-bobbing through this alternative wave at BumbleFest, Palm Beach County’s preeminent indie music festival.
And many of the lyrics are probing turbulent times, said Kennie Mason, lead singer of SIICHAQ, an indie-rock band from Jacksonville. The band’s name derives from Mason’s Iñupiat heritage, a Native Alaskan group.
She said their debut album My Dog Ate My Patriotism, addresses the pressures women often go through in American society, such as the rollback of female reproductive rights.
“It's really just a kind of criticism of the way that things have gone lately,” Mason told WLRN. “But also the acknowledgement that women are resilient, and there will be things done to remedy the regression.”
Her song "Female Rage,” is a dark shoegaze record with moody, reverb-heavy vocals.
Mason, a 22-year-old musician who draws rock and punk influences from noisy, 90’s era bands like Nirvana and Bikini Kill, said it's through alternative music, like punk, that fans resonate with various grievances or different perspectives about life
“I have so much respect for the punk community,” Mason said. “And there is a resurgence. People are angry. People are feeling that rebellious fire igniting again like it did in the 90s and even before that.”
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Original punk music took root around the mid-1970s before it declined and morphed into different subgenres beginning in the 1980s.
James Cunningham, a practicing musician, composer and ethnomusicologist who teaches music history at Florida Atlantic University, said he noticed a strong resurgence of punk in Palm Beach County just over a decade ago.
"What's amazing is that it has continued to grow,” said Cunningham, who goes by jamiE as an artist. He credits the increased availability of venues in the tri-county area.
"It's the fact that a lot of the clubs that are played aren't these big fancy clubs, but smaller, more intimate places where the people there can really get up close," he said.
The culture surrounding punk music has a DIY attitude because promotion, songwriting, performing, touring and typically done at a grassroots level.
Many artists have even harkened back to distributing their music through cassette tapes and vinyls, he said.
And there's a broad spectrum of interest from older and younger generations of music aficionados because “there's not one music style that actually defines punk.”
"But I think the two main elements of punk are ‘DIY’, a do-it-yourself attitude, which I think is very appealing, and very kind of strong social consciousness and commentary," added Cunningham.
West Palm Beach-based lead singer and drummer Andrew Sears of Rude Television told WLRN his song “Exactly,” is garage punk music that uplift spirits, producing a positive message “that's not gonna get me down in life.”
“Life is short,” Sears said. “There's no reason to sit around and not do what you love. So that's the message with ‘Exactly’ for me. It keeps me going and stuff like that kind of is like a message I can sonically tell people through a song.”
Bands at BumbleFest 2024
The 8th annual BumbleFest is a surefire way to discover live local and national acts thrumming with experimental soundscapes, genres ranging from post-punk and darkwave to deathrock, psychedelic-influenced rock and folk rock.
Among the six headliners at the music festival are: World Destroyers’ Pleasure Club (Los Angeles), Dion Lunadon (New York), Psychic Death (Atlanta), Starcleaner Reunion (New York), Fiona Moonchild (Seattle), and Dream Phases (Los Angeles).
Also making their mark on the stage are Florida bands: Zippur (Fort Lauderdale), Mr Entertainment & The Pookiesmackers (Hollywood), Kenny Moe (Fort Lauderdale), Severed+said (Jacksonville), Bebe Deluxe (Jacksonville), Night Foundation (Fort Lauderdale), American Dreams Survivors (Gainesville), Justin Depth (Tampa), SYA (St. Augustine), and Akasha System (Tampa).
If you go:
BumbleFest, hosted by PureHoney Magazine
WHEN: September 6 & 7
TIME: 7pm - 12am
WHERE: Respectable Street (indoor/outdoor) in Downtown West Palm Beach
For more information, visit BumbleFest
