Street punk is an urban
working class-based subgenre of
punk rock, partly as a rebellion against the perceived
artistic pretensions of the first wave of British
punk.
Street punk emerged from the style of early Oi!
bands such as
Sham 69 and
Cockney Rejects, and the Oi!
bands that followed them such as
Blitz, The
Business and
Angelic Upstarts. A key band in defining the aesthetic was The Exploited.
However,
street punk continued beyond the confines of the original Oi! form with
bands such as GBH,
Chaos UK,
Discharge, The
Anti-Nowhere League and
Oxymoron. Street punks generally have a much more ostentatious and flamboyant appearance than the
working class or skinhead image cultivated
… Read more by many Oi! groups. Street punks commonly sported multi-coloured hair, mohawks, tattoos, heavily studded vests and leather jackets, and clothing, especially plaids, adorned with political
slogans, patches, and/or the names of
punk bands.
In the 1990s and 2000s, a
street punk revival began with emerging
street punk bands such as
The Casualties,
The Virus,
Cheap Sex,
Lower Class Brats and
The Unseen.
The Casualties achieved underground success in the 2000s.
A.C.A.B. (All Cops Are Bastards) is an
acronym used as a political slogan associated with
radical activists who are opposed to the police. It is typically written as a catchphrase in
graffiti, tattoos, or other imagery in public spaces. It is sometimes numerically rendered as "
1312," representing the ordering of the letters in the alphabet. During the 1980s, ACAB became a symbol of anti-Establishment, especially within the
punk and skinhead subcultures. It was popularized in particular by the 1982 song "A.C.A.B." by Oi! band The 4-Skins. In later years, ACAB turned into a popular slogan among European
football hooligans and
ultras, and among anarchist and anti-authoritarian movements
… Read more across the world. In the wake of the May 2020 murder of
George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin, the use of the term A.C.A.B. became more frequently used by those who oppose
police brutality. As protests in response to Floyd's death and discussions about racially motivated
police violence spread through the
United States, A.C.A.B. was more frequently referenced on social media
Printed in USA
