Punk

Punk
Punk (Gorillaz Live Tour 2001)
Punk (Demon Detour)
Punk (Escape To Plastic Beach Tour, Visuals Only)

"Every album needs a track like this. Or, I'm not buying it."
- Murdoc Niccals

What Up?

"Punk" was one of the first songs recorded for the band's debut record. This song along with b side "Ghost Train" was written and recorded before Dan The Automator, Kid Koala, Junior Dan, Miho Hatori or even Cass Browne became involved in the project. This song is just Damon Albarn and Dave Rowntree, the drummer from his previous band Blur, unleashing 1 minute and 37 seconds of punk rock fury.

Shoot Up.

The song itself bears similarities to the fast 1 minute or below punk tracks Blur would put on their records like "Chinese Bombs" or "Bank Holiday" (It does feature half of Blur on the track). These songs would serve as a contrast with the more poppy (or later, experimental) sounds found on the record. The main difference between these tracks and "Punk" is that "Punk" has a more cartoony sound. It's possible since this was one of the first tracks written, that Damon just wanted to make a song that sounded like it was being made by a cartoon band. The ideas behind the characters and the idea to experiment in genre probably hadn't even been thought up yet. It was after these initial sessions, where "Ghost Train" and "Punk" were birthed, that the idea of genre experimentation and going outside of the "rock" area were realized, which is why Damon brought in two trip hop producers to bring in a new sound.

Fed Up!

The song begins with an ominous synth build up accompanied by a muted and processed drum set. This sounds like the opening to a Roxy Music song more than the opening of a song by a punk band like the Pixies. Soon Dave Rowntree's drums (now unfiltered and raw as can be) catch the track by surprise and the song morphs into a cartoonish hardcore punk sound. Double tracked guitars provide the songs rhythmic basis, accompanied by a bass guitar so treble sounding that its almost drowned out by the other instruments. The song uses a traditional "start and stop" formula, but every time the track stops, noisy synthesizers, a squealing feedback guitar and contagious handclaps fill in the gaps. Damon's vocals are loud and angry (he sounds like he's about to be sick in the beginning, coughing loudly over the intro). In typical punk rock outsider fashion, Damon sings about being "fed up" with being ignored by people and demands to be heard. He doesn't want to "shut up", he wants you to "shut up."

Shut Up!

As of when I am writing this, "Punk" has been a staple of every Gorillaz tour. In the band's first couple of tours, it was the main set closer and was majorly sped up. These versions emphasized the hardcore tendencies of the track, and focused less on the cartoony sound effects. Since it was a closer, the band would give the song a noisy "rock" finish with Cass Browne going all out on the drums while Haura Karouda as Noodle screamed "bye" into the mic accompanied by guitar amps which cried feedback. When played on the "Escape To Plastic Beach Tour" the song was played more traditionally while still retaining a fast and raucous hardcore vibe. Notably, the rhythm section of this tour contained guitarist Mick Jones and bassist Paul Simonon, both from The Clash, who were probably a huge influence on this track's sound. "Punk" is able to rock harder in under 2 minutes, than most "punk rock" bands in this millennium do in their entire career. Damon loves this song so much, that he started a tradition for the band. Every Gorillaz album has to have one short fast paced punk influenced track on it, so it can be that album's counterpart (or spiritual successor) to "Punk."