Proto-punk

Proto-punk is a raw, energetic, and often rebellious music genre that emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s, laying the groundwork for the punk rock explosion. It is characterized by its gritty, garage rock sound, stripped-down instrumentation, and a defiant, anti-establishment attitude. Bands like The Lewd and Feederz infused aggressive guitar riffs with politically charged lyrics, while others like Willie Alexander and the Boom Boom Band injected a sense of spontaneity and experimentation into their performances. Proto-punk embodies a blend of rockabilly energy, psychedelia influences, and a DIY ethos, pushing musical boundaries and setting the stage for punk's later evolution.

Latest Proto-punk Release
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30 Degrees
Single - Released June 12, 2026

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13th Floor Elevators
999
Angelic Upstarts
Bad Idols
Browntooth
Buzzcocks
Captain Beefheart
Cheater Slicks
Cheetah Chrome
Chelsea
Circle Jerks
Creem Circus
Cyanide Pills
DEVO
DMZ
Dead Boys
Dead Moon
Diet Blood
Eater
Eel Men
Faces
Feederz
Flamin' Groovies
GFL
Grey Factor
Haunted Horses
Hüsker Dü
Iggy Pop
Jack Starr
John Cale
Johnny Moped
Jonathan Richman
Killer Hearts
La Peste
Laughing Hyenas
Lenny Kaye
Lipstick Killers
Lou Reed
MC5
Mac The Knife
Marc Hurtado
Material
Murder Junkies
Neon Hearts
Patti Smith
Pearl Harbor and the Explosions
Peter Hammill
Q65
RASVAMAKSA
Real Sickies
SUCK
Slaughter & The Dogs
Stepmother
Steve Wynn
Stiff Little Fingers
Suburban Studs
Swamp City Rockers
Swell Maps
Swift Beatz
The Blues Project
The Boys
The Cramps
The Cravats
The Crowd
The Damned
The Dickies
The Dictators
The Dogmatics
The Doors
The Fall
The Fifth Estate
The Fugs
The Fuzztones
The Gruesomes
The Hallingtons
The Hip Priests
The Hollywood Stars
The Len Price 3
The Liverbirds
The Lords of Altamont
The Lurkers
The Members
The Moles
The Open Mind
The Outcasts
The Pink Fairies
The Residents
The Revelons
The Runaways
The Saints
The Slow Death
The Standells
The Stooges
The Stranglers
The Ugly Ducklings
Tony Visconti
U.K. Subs
Wipers
Wire
X
The Doors
The Stranglers
Ramones
Iggy Pop
Lou Reed
The Kinks
T. Rex
Dead Kennedys
Patti Smith
The Cramps
Faces
John Cale
DEVO
The Runaways
The Stooges
The Troggs
Bad Brains
Buzzcocks
The Damned
Jonathan Richman
X
The Undertones
Wire
X-Ray Spex
The Fall
Circle Jerks
Stiff Little Fingers
Dr. Feelgood
New York Dolls
The Adicts
Germs
Skyhooks
Hüsker Dü
Wipers
Death
Dead Boys
The Saints
? & The Mysterians
The Dickies
Richard Hell
13th Floor Elevators
Dead Moon
Flamin' Groovies
U.K. Subs
MC5
NEU!
Captain Beefheart
Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers
Ralph Carney
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
The Standells
999
The Residents
The Ruts
The Members
Marc Bolan
The Dictators
Peter Hammill
The Amboy Dukes
Johnny Thunders
The Nerves
Swell Maps
The Kids
Radio Birdman
The Zeros
Au Pairs
The Boys
Flipper
The Weirdos
The Wailers
The Dirtbombs
Angelic Upstarts
The Lords of Altamont
The Litter
The Fuzztones
Q65
Mick Ronson
The Fugs
Chris Smith
Hasil Adkins
Chelsea
The Lurkers
New Bomb Turks
The Professionals
Steve Wynn
Flat Duo Jets
The Blues Project
Slaughter & The Dogs
The Pink Fairies
Menace
The Real Kids
The Third Bardo
Haunted Horses
Pure Hell
James Williamson
The Gruesomes
Rudi
Mac The Knife
Satan's Rats
Tony Visconti