Kathmandu, Feb. 16 -- Ever since its beginnings on the mean streets of New York and London in the 70s, punk rock has always been an irreverent, take-no-prisoners genre of music. Led by staccato drums that pound out a no-frills rhythm, the punk ethos has been do-it-yourself, back-to-basics, emotion-driven and rage-channeling. In the beginning there were the reggae-influenced protest songs of The Clash and the indispensable 1-2-3-4 countdown of The Ramones and since then, the genre has metamorphosed with the times, producing countless variations.

Punk arrived late to Kathmandu, in the early to mid 90s, when dissatisfied, angst-filled young people could actually plug in an electric guitar, pound out the drums and scream into a microphone wi...