Introduction to Turkish Punk in 10 songs
Take a glance at Turkey’s punk scene
During the Anatolian rock era (the ’60s and the ’70s), Turkey’s rock’n’roll scene was mostly dominated by psychedelic and progressive rock with Turkish folk elements. Yet there was some garage music as well, such as Grup Bunalim’s “Tas Var Kopek Yok”. However, when punk sparked all around the world in 1977, the wave didn’t visit Turkey — Baris Manco was still the biggest star of Turkish rock. There was only one exception: Tunay Akdeniz, who wore punk-like and made some glam rockish hits such as “Salak” (1975).
On September 12, 1980, the senior command of the army led by General Kenan Evren overthrew the Turkish government. That military coup drove Turkey into neo-liberalism (with Turgut Ozal’s, who became Turkey’s first democratically elected prime minister after the military coup, efforts), which led to a depoliticization among the younger generation. Turkey’s punk scene emerged under these circumstances in 1985, and it wasn’t as straightly political as its British counterpart — at least in the very beginning. But punk’s presence in Turkey was exceedingly political on its own. It was an alternative culture in a country where the population was mostly conservative, and punk, as a subculture, had everything they hated.
Well, in 1985, Headbangers was formed, and it’s regarded as the first-ever Turkish punk band. Such bands like Spinners, S.A.D., Radical Noise, Necrosis, Tampon, Cmuk, Dead Army Boots, Rashit, Ask It Why, Cemiyette Pisiyorum, Poster-iti, Kilink, The Ayilar have followed their path and brought Turkish punk into existence.
Hopefully, this song list will give you a brief insight into the Turkish punk.
“Suratina Isemek Istiyorum”, Headbangers (1987)
Being Turkey’s first-ever punk band, Headbangers was formed in 1985 by Sercan Ozoktem and Ismail Ucan. They had a tremendous influence on following Turkish punk bands, especially with their song “Suratina Isemek Istiyorum” (1987).
Its lyrics, saying “I wanna pee on your face / and wanna see it smell bad / then kiss you on the lips madly”, refers to the golden-shower concept of BDSM.
The song appeared on Sevdasiz Hayat Olumdur (1994), the first Turkish punk compilation on vinyl, released by Tian An Men 89.
“Lalala”, Spinners (1991)
Spinners was formed — by Zuhal (guitar, vocal), Demet (drums), Yasemin (bass) — around the late ’80s being the first all-female Turkish punk band. They were heavily influenced by Headbangers, and such bands like Dead Kennedys, The Exploited, Crass.
“Lalala” first appeared on their first recording, a demo tape called Dig The Hole Forget The Sun, in 1991. In fact, the best song on the album is “Maggie”, a cover of The Exploited’s original song. However, I wanted to take “Lalala” on this list because it also appeared on Sevdasiz Hayat Olumdur.
You can read my recent article on Spinners’ story to know more about them.
“Angry Son”, Radical Noise (2000)
Formed in 1992 (by Emre Sahin and Sinan Unal), and being still active, Radical Noise is one of the cult bands of Turkey’s punk scene. They are probably Turkey’s best hardcore band, especially with their 2000 album Plan B, released by Hammer Muzik, an independent label.
After their self-released cassette Approved (1993), Radical Noise took part in Sevdasiz Hayat Olumdur with two songs. In 1996, they released one of their major works — Sevdasiz Hayat, a split album (with Ask It Why). It was one of the earliest examples of Turkish hardcore punk.
Apart from being one of the first Turkish hardcore punk bands, Radical Noise also distinguishes with their political songs such “Ciglik” and “Salla Merkezi”. “Ciglik” addresses Sivas Massacre (1993), where a fundamentalist group had killed 35 left-wing intellectuals. “Salla Merkezi” addresses Gezi Park protests of 2013.
“Kuresellesme Dehseti”, Rashit (2003)
Rashit, probably the most well-known Turkish punk band, was formed in the early ’90s by Tolga Ozbey (guitar), Adem Kurt (vocals), Murat Yesil (bass) and Gökhan Tuncisler (drums). While Rashit is still active, Tolga being the only constant member, it has had many lineup changes over the years. However, the intervening years couldn’t change their political songwriting, and Rashit has always kept its anti-capitalist attitude. “Kuresellesme Dehseti”, which is from their 2003 album Adam Olmak Istemiyorum, is a good example of this attitude. The song maintains a stance against globalization.
By the way, Rashit’s 1999 album Telasa Mahal Yok is regarded as a milestone for the Turkish punk scene. With Telasa Mahal Yok, Turkish punk did step out from the underground for the first time.
“Dolapdere”, Tampon (2017)
Tampon is a “2O years active female fronted band as genre under 77 punk with politic lyrics from Istanbul,” as it’s stated in their bandcamp page. Fronted by ‘Punk’ Asli (Akinci), Tampon has promoted feminist and anti-militarist ideology in their lyrics.
Their first album, Planet Tampon, was released in 2017 by Prof Sny Records on vinyl. Planet Tampon is a mostly retrospective album with three brand new songs, including newly recorded versions of their classics that they had played on stage during the ’90s. “Dolapdere” is one of them.
“Otogar”, Kilink (2003)
Kilink was active from 2003 to 2007, and recorded four albums during that time. They were prominent with their songwriting. They wrote lyrics about corruption and fascism in Turkey. “Otogar”, from their debut album, is my favorite Kilink song. Although I found it very pessimistic with its first line telling “You can wait forever, but this country is a dead-loss”, I like the song’s outspokenness: “Whoever says whatever, there is fascism in this country.”
Today, Kilink’s members play garage and surf music under the name of Palmiyeler.
“Poma”, Cemiyette Pisiyorum (2013)
Cemiyette Pisiyorum, formed in 2000 in Beyoglu (Istanbul), has always been a personal favorite for me — with a real punk attitude, strong and protest lyrics, catchy vocal melodies and guitar riffs, and outrageous live performances. Especially with their 2011 album Et Rengi Tuzak and 2015 album Hayvanat Bahcesi, Cemiyette Pisiyorum should be named among the Turkish punk icons.
In 2013, during the famous Gezi Park Protests, Cemiyette Pisiyorum released a song — “Poma” — dedicated to a bulldozer seized by the Gezi Park protesters and be used to drive back the cops. With that song, their name became more popular.
“Sokaklar Sahidim Olsun”, The Ayilar
Anti-fascist, so damn aggressive, and always funny as fuck — This is what The Ayilar (The Bears, in English) offers you.
The Ayilar, formed in 2004, is one of the few Turkish street-punk and skinhead bands, and probably the best one. They’ve always sung in Turkish (except “Istanbul Skins”) and told about Istanbul streets and fascism in Turkey.
In 2016, with Sansar Salvo, a well-known rapper in Turkey, they’ve recorded a song for a Turkish animation movie, Kotu Kedi Serafettin, adapted by a comics series. Later, The Ayilar released an LP (on vinyl) called Sokaktan Hikayeler through Prof Sny Records in 2018.
“Life Ain’t Cheap”, Poster-iti (2010)
Although that Poster-iti is not one of my favorite Turkish punk bands, you can’t keep them out of such a list. This wouldn’t be fair. Because, with their provocative song lyrics, Poster-iti has a distinguished place in Turkey’s punk scene.
They have songs both in Turkish and English. Welcome To The Turkish Slavery Nightmare (2010) EP is amongst their most known releases. Sari Cizgiyi Gecmeyiniz (2005) and Protest To Be Murdered (2014) are other important albums from Poster-iti.
“Hicbir Seye Tapinmak Istemiyorum”, Hedonistic Noise (2017)
After being formed in 2016, Hedonistic Noise quickly got the scene’s attention with their garage-influenced hardcore style. Their 2017 album Silence Is More Musical, which was released by Wargasm Records, can be regarded as one of the best examples of the 2010s Turkish punk.
After Silence Is More Musical, Hedonistic Noise has released two more albums. Sadly, just four months after they had released their last album in 2020, Orcun (guitar, vocal) passed away. 29 bands came together to record a cover album tribute to Orcun and Hedonistic Noise in the same year. Thus, Reddiye: A Tribute to Hedonistic Noise! came out in September 2020.
