Melodic Punk

Melodic punk is the strain of hardcore punk that privileges melody, harmony singing and songcraft without surrendering speed or volume, defined by *Bad Religion*, whose "Suffer" (1988) and "No Control" (1989) set its terms: fast down-picked guitars, three-part vocal harmonies, the band's signature oozin' aahs, and literate, secular-humanist lyrics. Centred on California and the labels #Epitaph# and #Fat Wreck Chords#, the style produced the 1990s punk boom through *NOFX*, *Lagwagon*, *Pennywise* and *Propagandhi* and remains punk's most durable popular form.