As young people continue to confront transition issues such as school-to-work pathways, they are concomitantly developing their own social and cultural priorities and responding to them in new and innovative ways. This process warrants a greater focus on young people's identity work as they navigate their transitions through increasingly fluid social and cultural environments. Drawing on her current PhD research, Paula Rowe focuses attention on Adelaide's "scene kids," a community of interest based on a subgenre of heavy metal music. She utlises Bauman's (2000) liquid modernity thesis to parallel the social dynamics of "liquid" metal subgenres with those of the "liquid" modern world. Exploring the social processes of scene kids highlights ways in which socioeconomic circumstances can affect young people's level of engagement with lifestyle options. This in turn raises questions as to how "scene kid identities" might impact on other life pursuits and social transitions. (Contains 4 notes.)