Punk rock is a music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock. They typically produced short, fast-paced songs with hard-edged melodies and singing styles, stripped-down instrumentation, and often shouted political, anti-establishment lyrics. Punk embraces a DIY ethic; many bands self-produce recordings and distribute them through independent record labels.
The term "punk rock" was previously used by American rock critics in the early 1970s to describe the mid-1960s garage bands. Certain late 1960s and early 1970s Detroit acts, such as MC5 and Iggy and The Stooges, and others from elsewhere created out-of-the-mainstream music that became highly influential on what was to come. Glam rock in the UK and The New York Dolls from New York have also been cited as key influences. When the movement now bearing the name developed from 1974 to 1976, prominent acts included Television, Patti Smith, and the Ramones in New York City; The Saints in Brisbane; and the Sex Pistols, the Clash, and the Damned in London, and the Buzzcocks in Manchester.