How AFI Brought Back Punk Music

Punk music comes in many different forms. The band AFI — which stands for “A Fire Inside” — has experimented with several different versions of the genre. From the traditional, aggressive punk music that characterized their album Very Proud of Ya to the darker, horror punk music of 1999’s Black Sails at Sunset, the band is not afraid to step outside their comfort zone.

A great deal of the success of AFI is due to the resurgence of punk music in the early 21st Century. Tired of over-processed, predictable commercial artists, fans began to turn toward a more rock and roll inspired sound. Punk music has always been very DIY in its nature and AFI is no exception to that. However, the complexity of the music AFI plays exhibits a knowledge of music and of the form that has garnered the band a great deal of recognition. AFI is still very much active and touring, with the 2009 album Crash Love being their latest.

Live, AFI blends the energy of punk music with the theatrics of artists spanning all the way back to David Bowie. In fact, AFI performed a cover of Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust in 2007 that was notable for its faithfulness to the original. Today, AFI offers a great experience for those who love punk music with more complexity and depth than is the norm. Their experimentation with other forms of music makes them popular in today’s genre-blended music industry.