Pub rock is a movement and style of Rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early-to-mid-1970s mainly as a reaction to the perceived excess and musical pretension of Progressive Rock and Glam Rock. It emphasises a stripped-down, back-to-basics style of guitar rock that aimed to bring rock 'n' roll away from stadium venues and back to the pubs and clubs of its early years. Eggs Over Easy and Brinsley Schwarz were precursors to the pub rock scene and paved the way for the genre musically, leading to the development of artists such as Dr. Feelgood, Graham Parker, and Eddie and The Hot Rods. Pub rock shared close ties with Power Pop, and later on, New Wave, with Ian Dury and Nick Lowe being key artists in this area. Another style, also called pub rock, was developed contemporaneously in Australia, pioneered by bands like Aztecs and Buffalo, but it is stylistically distinct and unrelated to English pub rock. English pub rock was short-lived, but proved to be a catalyst for the English Punk Rock movement in the latter part of the decade. The influence of pub rock still reverberates today in bands like The Hold Steady.
Total Tracks
4
Active Years
1979–1988
Peak Decade
1980s
INXS