It's not only rock & roll

The reason bands still make music with loud, buzzsaw-riffs is only ostensibly to keep the punk sound alive. It's not so much because sped-up power chords are easier to play (although I imagine they are). No, those tunes still exist because I need to have something to listen to through my headphones that can drown out the sound seeping out from the crappy headphones of the people sitting near me.

I can't afford to buy decent headphones for all of them, so I need those crunchy guitars to block what seeps out from their ears while allowing me to still listen at a volume that doesn't destroy my ears.

It's also necessary—perhaps even more necessary—to overwhelm hearing half of conversations on cell phones.

Thank you, post-post-post-post punkers.