10 Crucial Punk Rock Bands Currently Active
7. Folk Punk - Frank Turner
Few stories in Punk can compare to that of Frank Turner's.
Born in Bahrain to a primary school teacher and investment banker, Frank Turner is a highly intellectual individual, a man who went to Eton College to study history at the same time as Prince William. Regardless of this fact, Frank Turner never considered himself and the future king of England as 'friends' - instead protesting with posters that stated 'March Against The Monarchy'.
A troublemaker, but not always for the wrong reasons, Turner has an embedded belief of individualism and respecting others and their rights to their own opinions. Focusing on talking problems through, as opposed to shouting blindly at one another, Frank has developed a loyal following for his unique blend of folk tendencies, mixed with his hardcore punk past which, quite literally, nearly killed him.
Overcoming heavy addictions, the furthering decline of his relationship with his estranged father, and a lifestyle that was stripping him down layer-by-layer, Turner pulled through and went through a rebirth. Adopting a more acoustic route and straight edge lifestyle, before linking up with his backing band, The Sleeping Souls, FT completed the transition of troubled youth, to one of the most respected musicians in the industry, not just punk.
Always with something to say, a point to prove and a flag to bear, FT is one of the leading figures of the new generation of punk, one that seeks to prove itself once more as a viable and valid genre.