L.A. vs. N.Y. vs. UK punks and so much more at a sprawling new Skirball exhibit

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The best way to incite a riot at a rock club? Start talking about when — exactly — the style of music was born.The same holds doubly true for punk.

The hectic, electrified, primal scream of a genre can be traced to the 1960s, but really came alive in the ‘70s.Some fans say the music exploded in ’77 with the release of “Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols” — the first and only album by London’s de facto face of punk.According to the Skirball Cultural Center’s new exhibition, “Outsiders, Outcasts, Rebels + Weirdos: Punk Culture 1976-86,” which opens Wednesday, punk’s year zero was 1976, when the Ramones debuted their self-titled record.That same year, the Sex Pistols cursed on live TV, John Holmstrom and Legs McNeil co-founded Punk magazine, and the Damned released the first British punk single, “New Rose.”The Skirball’s exhibit arrives as punk commemoration is in the air, with 50th anniversary celebrations and tie-ins happening across the country, including the Sex Pistols’ upcoming tour.“Outsiders, Outcasts, Rebels + Weirdos” doesn’t dwell on who invented what and when.

Instead, its collection of photographs, fliers, posters, clothing and pins explore how punk evolved over a decade, spreading from New York to the UK, and then on to the West Coast, with an emphasis on L.A.’s contributions.It also explores the little-known history of the genre’s Jewish musicians and icons.“It’s hard to create a periodization in a cultural moment,” says museum chief curator Cate Thurston.

“It’s always gonna be messy and we’re gonna miss things.But what we liked about 1976 is that it coincides with the release of the Ramones’ first album.

And it’s a moment when punk gains broader attention.”“We use the name ‘punk’ and attach it to expression and rebellion,” adds co-curator Michael Worthington, a graphic design profes...