"should punks redistribute the wealth?"
Sep 4 2008
I thought some of you old-timers will get a kick out of this video on YouTube. For one, soft-spoken boys and girls who write catchy tunes on acoustic guitars or synthesizers from Toys "R" Us define themselves as the punks. Second, you get a good feel for where much of the anarchist/antiauthoritarian youth community is in the US. People can speak endlessly about racism, sexism, trans phobia but may have no interest really in economic questions or have thought very little about them. I am 34 years old and I can say in my life I have seen this country become a lot less homophobic, racist, but we have made no progress on the economic front. The upper class has more power over working-class people than ever. Anyways, enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfaVlXDq378
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWDEFmQZpRo some music from this community
Sep 4 2008
#2
fucking hell, it's like there's a cameo of every identity politics cliche ever.
they should just grow some fucking balls.
Sep 4 2008
#3
This is that subculture perfectly reproduced and equally irritating in wicklow - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpQLzlqqY9M
Sep 4 2008
#4
Fuck i lasted 20 seconds into the first video.
I'm afraid when people even start talking along those lines i generally laugh in their face, which is all well and good on the internet, but actually doing that IRL is a bit off 
Damn you libcom.
Sep 4 2008
#5
woundedhobo wrote:
I thought some of you old-timers will get a kick out of this video on YouTube. For one, soft-spoken boys and girls who write catchy tunes on acoustic guitars or synthesizers from Toys "R" Us define themselves as the punks. Second, you get a good feel for where much of the anarchist/antiauthoritarian youth community is in the US. People can speak endlessly about racism, sexism, trans phobia but may have no interest really in economic questions or have thought very little about them. I am 34 years old and I can say in my life I have seen this country become a lot less homophobic, racist, but we have made no progress on the economic front. The upper class has more power over working-class people than ever. Anyways, enjoy.
I don't agree with you on punk. For me it's the fact that punk has come to mean a narrow type of music that has left it dead in the water. It's so fucking conservative. How many d-beat bands do we need for christ's sake? How many bands that sound like Converge? It's the bands outside that MMR/Profane Existence musical straightjacket that tend to be more exciting - eg The Locust. Beat Happening were punk as fuck despite being - shock horror! - soft spoken boys and girls. Who would dream of doing the Dead Kennedys psych/surf guitar influenced stuff now? Fuck, it's hard enough trying to find decent hardcore that isn't all wanked up with metal riffs anymore.
But the political discussion you linked to sucked balls big time.
Sep 4 2008
#6
weeler wrote:
This is that subculture perfectly reproduced and equally irritating in wicklow - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpQLzlqqY9M
Quote:
related videosmy life in Wexford
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=related&v=X7Md2kY-46g
cheers weeler
Sep 4 2008
#7
Sep 4 2008
#8
tigersiskillers wrote:
woundedhobo wrote:
I thought some of you old-timers will get a kick out of this video on YouTube. For one, soft-spoken boys and girls who write catchy tunes on acoustic guitars or synthesizers from Toys "R" Us define themselves as the punks. Second, you get a good feel for where much of the anarchist/antiauthoritarian youth community is in the US. People can speak endlessly about racism, sexism, trans phobia but may have no interest really in economic questions or have thought very little about them. I am 34 years old and I can say in my life I have seen this country become a lot less homophobic, racist, but we have made no progress on the economic front. The upper class has more power over working-class people than ever. Anyways, enjoy.
I don't agree with you on punk. For me it's the fact that punk has come to mean a narrow type of music that has left it dead in the water. It's so fucking conservative. How many d-beat bands do we need for christ's sake? How many bands that sound like Converge? It's the bands outside that MMR/Profane Existence musical straightjacket that tend to be more exciting - eg The Locust. Beat Happening were punk as fuck despite being - shock horror! - soft spoken boys and girls. Who would dream of doing the Dead Kennedys psych/surf guitar influenced stuff now? Fuck, it's hard enough trying to find decent hardcore that isn't all wanked up with metal riffs anymore.
NO NO NO NO.
Quote:
For me it's the fact that punk has come to mean a narrow type of music that has left it dead in the water.
- it pretty much always was ffs!
If you CAN categorise it in a genre, then it sounds like the other stuff in its genre. Meaning if you can label it at all, then it has "come to mean a narrow type of music". I don't understand people's obsession with saying punk became uncreative relatively recently. Punk is a musical genre, or collection of subgenres. You will enjoy it more if you simply accept this, and try not to add politics and some idea that punk is going to be musically progressive to it. I mean come on, new sounding music is clearly going to be happening *outside* of established genres, by definition!
I like punk music. Its a bonus if the lyrics are poloitically savvy. It's a double bonus if its actually breaking ground musically.
What makes a mockery of your over-arching statements on punk is that i have a 70% punk music collection and don't know any othe bands you mentioned, even what D-Beat sounds like, and someone else could have nothing but punk and have neither of our preferred bands. Its just a huge morass, with as much one way politically as the other way; for every band that may be trying to raise awareness of sexism, homophobia or diabilities, there's The Dwarves, The Macc Lads, the Dead Milkmen* laughing at them.
What you just said is making all the same mistakes as the fannies in the video. Just have a laugh and do what leisure activity you like best, punk or house or knitting - whatever. If it crosses over with politics, woop de do.
*all great bands 
Sep 4 2008
#9
But I don't agree that it always was a narrow type of music - eg slits, buzzcocks, patrick fitzgerald, talking heads, atv, jayne county, devo, dead kennedys, crass, poison girls, black flag, beat happening. Robert Johnson and Robert Cray will both be found in the Blues section of HMV, but they don't sound the same. What I was (over) reacting to was the assertion that soft spoken boys and girls with acoustic guitars or cheap synths can't be punk by definition.
I had given up on the idea of punk being political a long time ago. What I was trying to say was that there is a strong tendency among people who define themselves as punks to be conservative about what punk is. The fact you don't know some of the bands I mentioned supports my point doesn't it? Beat Happening would be disregarded as punk by most people because they don't fit the stereotype. The Locust come out of a long established San Diego hardcore scene that never really fit in with the DC/NY hardcore templates. Neither they nor Converge are that obscure though, so I'm surprised you've not heard of them. Oh, and d-beat is an annoying term the hip kids use to describe the 1000s of Discharge clones.
Sep 4 2008
#10
therereally is nothing puunk about a bunch of whiney pinprick motherfuckers standing around trying to out earnest each other in order to get into each others pants.
Punk is a very, very wide genre but i'd some semblence of raw agression is central to it, whether musically or lyrically and i'm afraid this shit fails, it's just a bunch of earnest middle class indie kids not washing and talking alot of self indulgent shite about validating their thoughts and emotions. If punk could be said to have any politics it would have been one of aggression not limp wristed gilt ridden apology. Fucking Lyndsey Lohan and Mary Kate are more punk rock than those bunch of snivelling try hards.
Sep 4 2008
#11
talking heads and Devo weren't punk, they were new wave. If you want to include them as punk then you'll have to include trash metal bands as punk too. I'd certainly be more willing to label early metallica and slayer punk than I would a bunch of arthouse fruits.
Sep 4 2008
#12
revol68 wrote:
therereally is nothing puunk about a bunch of whiney pinprick motherfuckers standing around trying to out earnest each other in order to get into each others pants.Punk is a very, very wide genre but i'd some semblence of raw agression is central to it, whether musically or lyrically and i'm afraid this shit fails, it's just a bunch of earnest middle class indie kids not washing and talking alot of self indulgent shite about validating their thoughts and emotions. If punk could be said to have any politics it would have been one of aggression not limp wristed gilt ridden apology. Fucking Lyndsey Lohan and Mary Kate are more punk rock than those bunch of snivelling try hards.
dammit thats a good post
Sep 4 2008
#13
tigersiskillers wrote:
But I don't agree that it always was a narrow type of music - eg slits, buzzcocks, patrick fitzgerald, talking heads, atv, jayne county, devo, dead kennedys, crass, poison girls, black flag, beat happening. Robert Johnson and Robert Cray will both be found in the Blues section of HMV, but they don't sound the same.
ah yes, but here you're proving my point perfectly! Talking heads, Devo - not punk, new genres. So, as you have aptly demonstrated, new ground breaking music comes not out of old estbalished genres but new ones.
My point: don't worry about punk being static, if you like it that's all you need to know. If you like new music, then like that too. Otherwise you'll be desperately trying to tack totally different new sounds on to punk, like you just have.
Sep 4 2008
#14
PS - i have actually heard of converge. I youtubed them. Afwul. Noise. Hated it.
Sep 4 2008
#16
xConorx wrote:
REAL PUNK
'you're the real killers!
your whole sick society
we're just your lousy exscape goat'
Sep 4 2008
#17
Haha when I first saw that I thought the speaker was someone I knew.
Then that opened their mouth and crapped all over youtube.
Sep 4 2008
#18
Oliver is in that group, fact.
Sep 4 2008
#19
Sep 4 2008
#20
Seriously, Ive been a Punk Rocker since I was 15, but 'Punk Politics' are the worst thing ever.
Sep 4 2008
#21
up the belfast punks
Sep 4 2008
#22
notch8 wrote:
Best Punk Rock film ever made
that's really horribles
Sep 4 2008
#23
But back in the day devo were considered punk, as were talking heads. New wave was a tenuous and often retrospective description - talking heads were part of that new york CBGBs scene, I don't see what they had in common with, say, squeeze. The template of aggression is very much an anglocentric one, and I therefore brand you all as bourgeois nationalists. 
Clearly the only sensible way for me and tacks to resolve this is a naked fight at the bookfair.
Sep 4 2008
#24
you realise revol doesn't actually know anything about punk though?
Sep 4 2008
#25
He does too, he read almost all of the wikipedia article.
Sep 4 2008
#26
Jess wrote:
notch8 wrote:
Best Punk Rock film ever made
that's really horribles
jesus i just watched it
fuck
Sep 4 2008
#27
Jess wrote:
He does too, he read almost all of the wikipedia article.
Sep 4 2008
#28
tigersiskillers wrote:
talking heads were part of that new york CBGBs scene
Sep 4 2008
#29
notch8 wrote:
Fuck Talking Heads, heres what CBGB was good for
Was never an Agnostic Front fan really (weren't they one of the bands that went Krishna?) - liked stuff like Gorilla Biscuits though. Born Against were my favourite NY hardcore band.
Sep 4 2008
#30
nope, two of CroMags were krishna and a two of Youth of Today
There is a wealthy commuter town south of Dublin which has its own scene based on recreating these dicks. Irritating cunts.