Last modified: Sunday, May 4, 2008 12:40 PM EDT Dave Goyea, the founder of punx.com Punkers welcome BY RICK FOSTER / SUN CHRONICLE STAFF MANSFIELD - Punk rock, music's rebellious response to the disco and hair bands, may have had its heyday in the 80s. But it's never really gone away. Now punk diehards have their own social networking site where they can revel in punk artists with names such as Time Bomb and Violent Violet and compare likes and dislikes with thousands of like-minded music lovers worldwide. Punx.com is the creation of IT experts Dave Goyea and his unnamed partner, who launched the site almost a year ago. The pair, who have been friends since childhood, graduated from Mansfield High School together and morphed a music hobby into a business concept. Goyea, who still lives in Mansfield, says interest in the site has been stronger than expected. "We were actually a little surprised that 400 bands joined the site," said Goyea. Punx.com also has more than 13,000 fan memberships. Goyea and his partner, now in their 30s, have long since outgrown the spiked hair and other trappings identified with the punk milieu. But Goyea's partner especially remains a big fan of the music. "Our members are fans of the whole Punk scene and everything that goes along with that," Goyea said. "Being 'punk' means a lot of different things to a lot of different people." Goyea says he believes Punx.com will appeal to the fiercely independent mindset identified with punk rock fans. Besides, larger social networks such as Myspace and Facebook.com are so large that many fans looking for specific content likely may be put off by the massiveness of such sites. The market for "specialized" sites appears to be growing. CNN.com recently did a story on its main Web page regarding the increasing popularity of smaller social-networking sites. For more information, visit www.punx.com.