MC5 was an
American rock band from
Lincoln Park, Michigan, formed in 1964. The original band line-up consisted of vocalist
Rob Tyner, guitarists
Wayne Kramer and
Fred "Sonic" Smith, bassist
Michael Davis, and drummer
Dennis Thompson. "Crystallizing the
counterculture movement at its most volatile and threatening", according to
AllMusic critic
Stephen Thomas Erlewine, the MC5's
far left political ties and
anti-establishment lyrics and music positioned them as emerging innovators of the
punk movement in the United States. Their loud, energetic style of back-to-basics
rock and roll included elements of
garage rock,
hard rock,
blues rock, and
psychedelic rock but were not known for including fuzz elements.