Time's Up! benefit party at C Squat (5132755227)

A punk house is a dwelling occupied by members of the punk subculture. Punk houses are often centered on certain political or personal ideologies. It is not uncommon for a punk house to be anarchist, strictly

straight-edge Straight edge (sometimes abbreviated sXe or signified by XXX or X) is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs, in reaction to the excesses of punk subculture. For some, thi ...

, or vegan. A clique of punks may start a punk house by squatting an abandoned building, by renting, or by owning property. Punk houses are often communally inhabited in an attempt to minimize the individual expense of rent or

property tax A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inhe ...

. Punk houses serve as backdrops for local scenes; punk houses often provide overnight shelter to touring punk rock bands, and sometimes serve as a venue for shows. Bands or record labels sometimes form in a particular punk house. Many punk houses have associated punk zines that sometimes share the name of the house. Groups of anarcho-punks run their houses as

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

s. Inhabitants sometimes identify their houses with unique names and symbols so they can represent their residence with clothing, slogans, and graffiti. Photographer Abby Banks released ''Punkhouse: Interiors in Anarchy'', a book of punk house photography that catalogs many such places in the United States.

Notable examples

* The Ashtray, West Oakland, California – A Late 80's punk house home to members of Operation Ivy,

Isocracy An isocracy is a form of government where all citizens have equal political power. The term derives from Greek ἴσος meaning "equal" and κρατεῖν meaning "to have power", or "to rule". An Isocracy is based on a legal right of isonom ...

and

Filth Filth or The Filth may refer to: Common uses * Dirt, unclean matter * Police officer, a pejorative in British slang Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Filth'' (film), a 2013 film based on the novel * ''Filth'', an alternative title for ''S ...

. Mentioned in numerous fanzine articles and songs including those of Absolutely Zippo,

Cometbus Aaron Elliott (born May 20, 1968), better known as Aaron Cometbus, is an American musician, songwriter, roadie, and magazine editor, best known as the creator of the punk zine ''Cometbus''. Career Born in Berkeley, California, Cometbus started ...

, Screeching Weasel,

The Lookouts The Lookouts were an American punk rock band that existed from 1985 to 1990 on Iron Peak, a remote rural mountain community outside Laytonville, California, United States. The members were Larry Livermore on guitar and vocals, Kain Kong (Kain ...

and Blatz. * Lost Cross, Carbondale, Illinois – A house serving as a practice space, venue, and hangout continuously since 1986. * Calgary Manor,

Calgary, Alberta Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

– venue occupied by members of Calgary punk scene and featured in the film Another State of Mind. *

C-Squat C-Squat is a former squat house located at 155 Avenue C (between 9th and 10th Streets) in the Alphabet City neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City that has been home to musicians, artists, and activists, among others. After a fire, it was t ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

– Residence and music venue; occupied by members of Leftöver Crack and other punk bands. *

Dial House, Essex Dial House is a farm cottage situated in south-west Essex, England that has been a self-sustaining anarcho-pacifist open house since 1967. The house is located in the countryside of Epping Forest in Ongar Great Park. It has been used as a base fo ...

, England – home of

Crass Crass were an English art collective and punk rock band formed in Epping, Essex in 1977, who promoted anarchism as a political ideology, a lifestylism, way of life, and a resistance movement. Crass popularised the anarcho-punk movement of the ...

* Die Slaughterhaus,

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

– residence, venue and record label; occupied by members of

Black Lips Black Lips is an American garage rock band from Atlanta, Georgia formed in 1999. History The band formed in Dunwoody, Georgia after guitarist Cole Alexander and bassist Jared Swilley left the Renegades, and guitarist Ben Eberbaugh left the Rer ...

, Deerhunter and other bands. * Dischord House,

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

- residence, practice and recording space and home of Dischord Records; rented by members of

Minor Threat Minor Threat was an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1980 in Washington, D.C. by vocalist Ian MacKaye and drummer Jeff Nelson. MacKaye and Nelson had played in several other bands together, and recruited bassist Brian Baker and guitar ...

and later purchased by

Ian MacKaye Ian Thomas Garner MacKaye (; born April 16, 1962) is an American musician. Active since 1979, he is best known as the co-founder and owner of Dischord Records, a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label and the frontman of hardcore punk ...

* Positive Force House,

– former residence of Positive Force D.C. * The Dustbin Family (also known as Dirty-6th),

Boise, Idaho Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown ar ...

- an anarchist punk house active in the 2010s which housed the band Mind Drips and the musician Bob! Loudly, referenced Loudly's music and the essay "Anarchy Against Hierarchy" by Thomas Pulliam * The BFG,

Appleton, Wisconsin Appleton ( mez, Ahkōnemeh) is a city in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. One of the Fox Cities, it is situated on the Fox River, southwest of Green Bay and north of Milwaukee. Appleton is the c ...

– venue occupied by members of

Tenement A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, i ...

, Wartorn, Technicolor Teeth, and The Parish. *The Black Hole, Fullerton, California - subject of the

Adolescents Adolescence () is a transitional stage of Developmental biology, physical and psychological Human development (biology), development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majo ...

's song " Kids of the Black Hole""Social Distortion: History"
. SocialDistortion.com. Retrieved on April 13, 2007 * The Rat Palace,

Vancouver, Canada Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...

– Legendary punk house on Broadway near Arbutus, active from late 70s to mid-80s. * The 309 House, Pensacola, Florida – Active since at least 1978.

References

{{punk Anarchist culture Anarcho-punk DIY culture Social centres * Urban decay

Notable examples

See also

References