In the 1970s England went through a severe economic recession. The 1960s revolutionaries had brought about an idealism that promised a better standard of living and the youths of the 1970s were angered by this false hope. Punk music, usually comprised of hard, fast and loud sounds accompanied by lyrics containing profanities, and was a nihilistic expression of social disdain. While situations grew worse, the punk movement gained power. By 1977 thousands of youths all over England and New York identified with punk music and were using a do-it-yourself (DIY) ideology to make music and clothing in order to express their disdain for the current social structure. By the early 1980s though, the punk movement had been appropriated by the cultural industry and ceased to be a voice to express despair. The punk movement had to invent new ways to express this despair and soon became a home to many social activist groups. This new movement was referred to as straightedge and hardcore. More often then not youths were anti everything. This included beliefs such as, anti-drugs, anti-racism, anti-sexism, anti-classism and often times anti-meat eating. Today the punk subculture is exploited more then ever before. Musicians and fans who have no interest in rebellion play music that sounds similar to punk and wear punk oriented store bought clothing. As the punk movement progresses it becomes harder for punks to fight appropriation.
Punk Life? looks at these often contradicting issues and asks the question: Can the punk movement even continue to be a rebellious force for the youth of today or have the aesthetics of punk been so intertwined with the cultural industry that is impossible?