Dieselpunk: A New Cookbook Part 3: Decopunk

In my last post I wrote about a new Dieselpunk flavor that I called Gothic Dieselpunk. In this final installment I address another new flavor that has been gaining a lot of attention in the genre-punk community. It’s called “Decopunk”.

The following is from the official website for the LARP Attaway:

"Attaway considers its parent genre to be dieselpunk, with some important distinctions. It’s commonly accepted that dieselpunk can be divided into two halves, either before or after the start of World War II as a jumping-off point. The first focuses on a world continuously at war on a global scale (“Piecraftian”), while the second focuses more on the pre-war Jazz Age and the so-called “Roaring Twenties.” If it isn’t already apparent, this second half describes the nature of Attaway as a game world and as a LARP on the whole. This subgenre is called decopunk. It takes a positive outlook towards technology as a form of innovation for humanity’s overall benefit, with an upbeat (if not devil-may-care) attitude towards the future and a general air of Art Nouveau decadence. Steampunk author Sara M. Harvey describes the subgenre thusly: “DieselPunk is a gritty version of Steampunk set in the 1920s-1950s. The big war eras, specifically. DecoPunk is the sleek, shiny very Art Deco version; same time period, but everything is chrome!”
 
Decopunk is a drop-dead-gorgeous lounge singer in a black velvet dress, clutching the microphone she croons into with a slick chromed prosthetic arm.
 
Decopunk is a hard-boiled detective in a leather trenchcoat cracking his knuckles as he prepares to confront his mark atop the roof of the midnight monorail going uptown.
 
Decopunk is the smoke from a revolver curling up the arm of a woman in a perfectly tailored three-piece suit and fedora, standing over the body of a crime lord… and her former lover.
 
Attaway is Decopunk."
 

In my opinion it’s time for the Dieselpunk community to recognize decopunk as more than just Hopeful Dieselpunk. With its growth and increased popularity I believe that decopunk should be recognized as its own flavor. 

For a good definition I go with the given at the Ash Dancer blog:
"Decopunk is considered a subgenre of Dieselpunk set in a more 1920’s diesel powered world."

Everyone welcome the new flavor of Dieselpunk: Decopunk.

Dieselpunk: A New Cookbook Part 2: Gothic Dieselpunk

“Each age, it is found, must write its own books; or rather, each generation for the next succeeding.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

On September 16, 2017, I posted a blog post titled ‘VintageGoths’ in which I wrote about a subclass of Goths who seemed to have a Dieselpunk element. In this post, I propose that VintageGoths should be considered a new flavor of Dieselpunk. I call this new flavor ‘Gothic Dieselpunk’.

Gothic Dieselpunk aesthetics tend to what some authors refer to as a ‘dark allure’. A dark allure is a preference for gothic or the macabre. I define Gothic Dieselpunk as:

“A subclass of Dark Dieselpunk that emphasizes the gothic or the macabre.”

What Digitalis writes about VintageGoths taste in movies applies just as well to Gothic Dieselpunks, “They are fans of music both Goth and otherwise, and favor dark noir films like Nosferatu, Metropolis, The Golem, and the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari - and, of course, old Bela Lugosi flicks!” Some Gothic Dieselpunk movies include Young Frankenstein, Shadow of the Vampire and Blancanieves.

Gothic Dieselpunk music tends to the darker side as well. Digitalis mentions Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, and The Dresden Dolls. I would add the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, Wolfgang Parker, Tiger Lilies and Katzenjammer. And while their music isn’t always dark Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Squirrel Nut Zippers both made some dark music and dark videos. Note: while Cherry Poppin Daddies and Wolfgang Parker are both generally considered mainstream Dieselpunk a close examination of their lyrics will see that they tend to be very dark.


Gothic Dieselpunk is only one of the new flavors. I plan to explore another in my next post.