Pub Rock
Located in 3 routes
Pub Rock was a back-to-basics British club movement: tight R&B, country-rock, rockabilly, power-pop and bar-band songs played in small rooms with no arena pretension. The sound is lean, rhythmic and song-first, with choppy guitars, plainspoken vocals and a preference for groove over spectacle. It was not always punk in sound, but it created the infrastructure, speed and anti-prog attitude that punk used.
History
London pub venues such as the Tally Ho and Hope and Anchor became an alternative to stadium rock in the early 1970s. Brinsley Schwarz, Ducks Deluxe, Dr. Feelgood, Eddie and the Hot Rods, Kilburn and the High Roads and The 101ers built a circuit where bands could play directly to sweaty rooms. When punk broke, many pub-rock musicians, managers, venues and habits transferred into the new scene; the difference was that punk sharpened pub rock's small-club directness into generational rupture.
Defining artists
Essential listening
- Roxette — Dr. FeelgoodSpotifyYouTube
- Do Anything You Wanna Do — Eddie and the Hot RodsSpotifyYouTube
- (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding — Brinsley SchwarzSpotifyYouTube
- Coast to Coast — Ducks DeluxeSpotifyYouTube
- Back to Schooldays — Graham Parker & The RumourSpotifyYouTube
- Keys to Your Heart — The 101ersSpotifyYouTube
Sources
- AllMusic pub rock overview
- Hope and Anchor / London pub-rock histories
- Stiff Records histories
- Graham Parker and Dr. Feelgood biographies