Punk rock is a genre of music that opposes everything that traditional rock music represented. This kind of music came into prominence during the mid 1970s in countries like Australia, United States and the United Kingdom. However like all other genres of music it is rather difficult to pin point the exact time and place of origin. The exponents of punk music were bands like The Clash, Ramones, The Velvet Underground, Dolls of New York and Sex Pistols, in fact they were considered to be the earlier vanguard of punk music. Punk rock music is very aggressive and this is clearly evident in their dress, behavior, music, aggressive attitude, mannerisms and everything else that is associated with the punk musicians. Punk rock musicians had a DIY attitude and they were not very bothered about socializing. Punk rock became more famous in the United Kingdom in the 70s then it was in any other place.

Punk rock is characterized by certain particular features. Punk rock is largely different from rock music that was popular in the early 1970s; this kind of music was in no way tame, like the rock music in earlier days was. The exponents of punk rock were fed up of the music scene back in those days where all music sounded similar, and people were getting increasingly tired of listening to the same type of music again and again. It is during this time and due to the increasingly familiar music being dished out to music lovers, this genre of music came into being. Some of the characteristic features of punk music are angry messages against consumerism, stimulating stage presence, aggression and short frantic songs. Typical punk music instrument includes electric bass, 1 or 2 electric guitars, a drum kit and there is a vocalist singing the songs.

Sometimes punk music vocals sound nasal and mostly the lyrics of the songs are shouted rather then being sung in the conventional way. Normally punk songs last for about two and two and a half minutes, and sometimes the song may even last for less then one minute. Complicated guitar solos are not considered necessary for punk music, but one can find guitar breaks to be very common. While some punk bands have taken a soft rock approach with the guitar there are musicians that use highly distorted power chords in their songs. The bass guitar lines that are used are the most basic ones and helps in carrying forward the songs melody. Punk music bassists generally use plectrum instead of the traditional finger picking to play the instrument as they make use of a rapid succession of notes.

The lyrics of punk music are generally very frank and confrontational, and include comments on social and political issues. There are several punk songs that became a trend setter, some of them are Right to Work, God Save the Queen, Career Opportunities and Anarchy in the UK. All these trend setter songs were vocal about the prevailing anarchy in the social and political system at that time. Punk Rock symbolizes rebellion against any kind of disorder prevailing in a society.