According to rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, the Queensland capital provided "some of the most anarchistic bands" of that era whilst it was "arguably the most conservative city" in the country.
The Brisbane scene also received a greater scrutiny by local police where early punk bands formed as "an obvious backlash to an oppressed society".
"For many bands Brisbane proved not to be the isolated haven in which they could polish their art, but a repressive, aggressive town, the very personification of the red neck deep South (of America)."
Brisbane punk rock developed under the state government of Joh Bjelke-Petersen, the Premier of Queensland from 1968 to 1987; his administration was investigated by the Fitzgerald Inquiry (1987–89),[6][7] which found "long-term, systemic political corruption and abuse of power.
[6] Doug Hutson and Gavin Sawford co-wrote in their book from 1988, Out of the Unknown: Brisbane Bands 1976-1988 that, "Authority's intolerance of anything different, which, to be fair has since considerably diminished, reflects the peculiar suspicious verging on animosity that Queenslanders as a whole hold for anyone who leaves the cultural straight and narrow of beer, beach and burgers.
"[5] Kid Galahad and the Eternals were a garage rock band formed in 1973 in Brisbane by school mates: Chris Bailey on lead vocals, Ivor Hay on piano and Ed Kuepper on guitar.
Bailey described the first gig to a United Kingdom fanzine, Sniffin' Glue, in October 1976, "Then after our second drummer walked out and we almost called it 'quits' but we decided to keep playing to the 30 people (from an original 150 patrons) who were still with us.
[8][9] The Saints favourite rehearsal space was a shed behind Hay's home, which was near a police station; after the group were "ostracised" by the local music scene they established their own venue to perform their original material.
"[11]: 57–76 [12] Jon Savage, UK journalist and punk historian, later wrote that the Saints "had been developing in near isolation for three years, but it took just one review in Sounds magazine to make their career.
"[19] The Leftovers experienced "continuous harassment from the local constabulary";[18] and a history that included, a "story of prison, the shocking aftermath of attempted suicide and now-numerous deaths.
Hutson and Sawford stated that "Two of the more notorious DIY venues were the Saint's 76 Club ... and the Baroona Road Hall, scene of numerous 'one-off' multiple band gigs.
"[23] From November 1975 4ZZZ broadcast local punk music; John Stanwell, its original Arts Administrator, explained, in September 2006, that it was "The first (Radio) station in the world to play The Saints.
[34] 4ZZZ's Dave Darling, and an independent concert promoter, recalled: "We encountered problems with police just like everybody else did that tried to run a venue... 9 out of 10 of them I don't think ever made the final song... and [we would] disguise them from Task Force knowing they were on, but eventually in the course of the night one of them would find out and next thing you know you had all of them there..."[34] Hutson and Sawford elucidated that, "In fact it wasn't uncommon for police, both uniformed and Special Branch plainclothes, to regularly break up concerts by bands such as Razar, the Leftovers and the Sharks, who were considered among the more subversive and threatening local talent.
The Fun Things, originally known as The Aliens, were an outfit that characterised the Detroit sound inspired by Sydney-based punk group, Radio Birdman.
[38] Zero, a feminist-styled punk band,[39] (although some critics considered Zero to play a more quirky sort of pop,[40] or New wave music) were present on the local scene.
[42] Other artists from this second phase included the 31st., the Alphabet Children, the Bodysnatchers, Flying Squad, Gerry Mander and the Boundaries, Just Urbain, the Leftovers, the Pits, Same 13, the Survivors, the Swell Guys, the Toy Watches, the Upsets.
"[56] It was asserted in 2000 that "the band quickly gained a reputation for courting controversy," by being banned by the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal and by the acts of violence at various times perpetrated upon them with knives and guns.
[53] Meanwhile, the Vampire Lovers were the type of group, according to the Bucketfull of Brains magazine, to "embody an enjoyably snotty early eighties zombie-punk-schlock vibe.
[64] La Fetts' track, "SEQEB Scabs" (1985),[19] was written by the group in protest against Bjelke-Petersen's government sacking over 1000 electrical industry workers for going on strike.
"[68] Popular venues from this particular time include Amyl's Nitespace, Zits, The Australian National Hotel, and the South Brisbane Blind Hall.
The original attributes of nihilism, despair and hate from the punk's spirit were discarded and twisted into the hardcore fashion of social activism[70] and political correctness.
Stylistically or in a Punk fashion sense, many of the bands (except for some of the hardcore scene) and their fans replaced the generic style of spikey or outlandish mow hawk hair (for the period), cheap items of attire, studded belts, sewn-in tight trousers, leather and PVC in favor of longer hair, casual clothing sometimes incorporating skater shorts and skateboards, which was in line with the skate punk style.
ACT, The Adorable Ones, Bad Ronald, Criminally Insane/Rabid Souls, Death of a Nun, The Dinky Flyers, Disorderly Public Outbreak, The Egyptians, The Four Horsemen, The Girlies, The Horny Toads, Hotel Breslin, La Fetts, Insane Hombres, The Pineapples from the Dawn of Time, Post No Bills, Prince of Weasels, Never Again, Oral Injury, Psycho Circus, Reality Damage, Sanity Assassins, The Slam, Subsonic Barflies, Thrash this Trash, Vampire Lovers, Voodoo Lust,[79] Crucified Truth,[80] Dementia 13, Mungabeans, Water Rats Picnic, Aloha Pussycats and one of Brisbane only all female bands Batswing Saloon, Sentinel and Trash of all Nations.
Brisbane has continued to produce acts which espouse punk ideologies and/or aesthetics, diversifying in attitudes and stylistic influences according to international trends characterising the nineties.
While the overt police brutality of the Bjelke-Petersen era waned after the end of his reign in 1987, Brisbane was still experienced as stiflingly conservative, and post World Expo 88, increasingly expensive.
Alternative rock, post-punk and skate punk continued, with additional influences of 90s grunge, hardcore, shoegaze, indie-pop, ska and pop-punk trends.
Performances diversified to reflect an increased representation of feminine, queer, post-modern, surrealist and/or overtly ideological perspectives relative to the raw, 'snot-driven', straightforward approach of punk predecessors more closely influenced by rock and roll.
[82] 4zzz has since persisted to operate in this settled, alternative cultural zone, in which punk aesthetics and/or ideals have been a mainstay alongside the station's prominent new left orientation[83] and anarchist and/or socialist activists.
"[84] Clag employed 'reckless genre swapping', unconventional stage theatrics and goaded their audience with banter, resulting in hecking that front-woman Bek Moore described as 'fairly vicious' and 'involved people throwing things'.
An example of Brisbane punk of the mid-early 2000s was Anal Traffic, who used sexually-charged shock value, blatant parodies of rock stage conventions, and intentionally unconventional bricolage outfits to reinforce sardonic, politically charged lyrics.