A Beginner's Guide to Crust Punk Subgenres

Let’s Start This Shit

Alright, so it’s been a minute since I posted here. It’s just me (one of the twins, Feel) now. Still have this site so figured I’d try stuff out. 

Anyway! Are you ready to dive into the gritty, intense world of crust punk? Fuck yeah you are. Whether you're a seasoned punk veteran or a curious newcomer, this guide to crust punk subgenres will take you on an audio journey through the gritty, crusty underground. From the raw aggression of d-beat raw punk to the emotional and lyrical intensity of neocrust, you’re in for a treat. 

So What Is Crust Punk?

Crust punk is being a cool as fuck dirty kid living in a punk house or hopping trains. That’s it - that’s the guide!

Just kidding. Crust punk emerged in the early 1980s, blending the anarcho-punk ethos of bands like Crass with the heavy sounds of extreme metal. It's characterized by its raw, distorted sound, politically charged lyrics, and DIY aesthetics. 

Why This Guide?

Because I’m broke, still have Google Adsense on this blog, and didn’t find a cool guide of my own. And not gonna lie, the world of crust punk can be overwhelming for beginners. It’s got numerous subgenres and regional variations, so it's easy to get lost in the noise. That's why I’ve created this quick guide to help you navigate the crusty landscape and discover the bands that speak to your inner oogle.

Subgenre Breakdown

Here’s a list of the main subgenres of crust punk, from the earliest to the most recent developments: 

1. Early UK Crust

2. D-Beat

3. American Crust Punk

4. Stenchcore

5. Neocrust

6. Stadium Crust (Melodic Crust)

7. Emo Crust

8. Crasher Crust

9. Blackened Crust

This should be enough to pique your interest and get you started. If there’s interest in this post, however (or if I get the time), I’ll probably follow up with more comprehensive guides that will cover:

- An overview of the style's characteristics

- Essential albums that define the sound

- Key tracks to check out

- Information on the subgenre's evolution and influence

Stay Dirty, Comrades

Whether you're drawn to the apocalyptic sounds of Amebix, the d-beat fury of Discharge, or the emotional intensity of Fall of Efrafa, there's a raw punk path waiting for you. (Unless you’re a fascist - then fuck you.) So crank up the volume, raise your fist, join a DIY community, and blast some sick beats! (A)//(E)

Keywords: crust punk, subgenres, D-beat, Neocrust, Stenchcore, punk rock, extreme music, anarcho-punk, DIY, underground music

Music: Crass - Big A, little a

I'm going to start this post by making a broad assumption: a lot of songs today don't make a whole lot of sense. Yes they (usually) speak proper English but even then they either Kurt Cobain it and you can't understand what they're saying or it's so autotuned out that they could be coughing and it'd sound like God Himself was crying tears of music.

With this you too can sound like a robot.

This post isn't about one of those synthesized animal screams; this song is about, in my opinion, one of the most meaningful songs ever written by one of the best bands ever to compose. If you're not familiar with the song already, it's "Big A, little a" by the amazing anarcho-punk band, Crass. To abridge a lengthy subrant, anarcho-punk is punk rock that usually sounds like UK 82 or Oi!, but can really sound like anything since no laws govern what anarcho-punk sounds like (get it? It's "anarchy"!).

Crass is also the band that created this. 

Elaborating on the song, "Big A, little a" is about just being yourself and not listening to what government, religion, or anyone else tells you what to be or do. I implore you not only enjoy some good anarcho-punk, but also to read the lyrics while you listen, especially if you're not good at picking out words in songs (personally, I'm not) because the message is really worth paying attention to.






Cheers,
Touch
(edited by Feel)

Music: Classic '77 punk rock--"Kiss my Deadly," by Generation X

 Billy Idol with his mates, playing music because music is awesome

Most of you certainly know the 80's hit, "Dancing with Myself," by Billy Idol. What many of you probably DON'T know is that before he became an embarrassing 80's pop star caricature, he was a member of an AMAZING '77 punk band called Generation X. This band was so amazing, in fact, that Billy Idol flat out stole their songs and re-released them as his own. "Dancing with Myself," in fact, was one of Generation X's most awesome hits before Billy Idol sold out and took all of the credit for it. (The song is also an allusion to masturbation, by the way).

 Billy Idol once he sold out and came out of the closet.

I would highly recommend to anyone that they listen to Generation X's greatest hits, like "One Hundred Punks," "Ready, Steady, Go," "Untouchables," and basically anything else on their band anthology.

"Kiss Me Deadly," however, is is far and above my favorite Generation X song. Why? Because unlike most punk songs, and most of Generation X's own songs, this song connects with you on a deeper, more personal level. You won't exactly get a philosophy lesson out of listening to it (and, truth be told, it would suck if you did), but I have yet to find another song which I feel captures so perfectly the essence of being young and reckless, and not giving a damn about anything else but being alive.

And, without further ado..



Enjoy!

-Feel

Music: Kalashnikov

Because not everything on this blog can be about stumble finds, here's some more music for y'all. So just sit back, relax, and have yourself a cancer stick or two if that's your thing.

Not? That's okay too because at the end of the day it's all a matter of whether or not you read all of the nonsense I'm writing here to take up space anyways.

Smoking kills.

Backtracking to the whole point of this post, Kalashnikov was an old school punk band from Denmark and the song I'm sharing with you is called "Schluter's Kabinet" (about the then Danish Prime Minister Poul Schlüter). In my opinion, this song is one of the best examples of the "UK '82" movement going on at the time; UK '82 personally being one of my more favored styles of punk rock.


For those of you that aren't familiar with UK '82, it is often confused with "hardcore" since both are loud, fast, and usually brief, leading to UK '82 sometimes being (in my opinion) mislabeled as UK hardcore. To be fair, instrumentally there isn't much difference between hardcore and UK '82 but unlike hardcore, for which vocals are characterized by scream-singing, vocals in UK '82 are not yells but (very) loud singing. 


There's a difference. The difference being a melody you can follow.


Now, while I could go into soporific explanation for what melody is, a better rule of thumb to keep in mind is the humming rule. Basically, if you can hum the song, it has melody; if you can't, it doesn't. So applying this to our situation, a "hardcore" song you can hum is actually UK '82.


Anyways, I found this gem on the 1984 punk rock compilation P.E.A.C.E./War, which featured punk bands of all styles from all around the world. If you like punk rock or are just curious,  I can't stress enough how highly I recommend you buy/torrent/steal this compilation, it is golden.

Cheers,
Touch

Music: One of the best--and first--hardcore punk bands, Minor Threat

As we have mentioned in a few of our posts, punk rock was our first love. Minor Threat was a band from Washington D.C. Though they only lasted for about three years, from 1980 to 83, they are widely considered to have been the first punk band to solidify the "hardcore punk" sound in songs such as "Filler."

They also started the Straight Edge movement (though few of the straight edge kids I know come close to being as cool as Ian MacKaye).

Enjoy!

Music: For those punk rockers out there.

One of the best Spanish punk songs and arguably one of the best punk songs in any language ever. For those of you non-Spanish speakers, this song is a bout a childhood friend that "sells out" and becomes a cop, proceeding to terrorize the neighborhood he and his friends grew up in

"You ain't hardcore cause you spike your hair, when a jock still lives inside your head"

--Dead Kennedys