whats the point of punk?

Executive Steve · 19-07-2005 2:09pm #1

does punk still mean anything nowadays? i was never a real hardcore punk but have a few old albums by the likes of the crass, the circle jerks, dead kennedys sex pistols, the clash, etc and i was wondering whether the "grassroots" punk scene was in any way embarrassed by the current trend of punk being used as a vaguely depoliticised anti your parents kind of music for 13 year old girls to sing in their bedrooms?

punk was imo one of THE most important predecessors of the rave scene - the diy ethics, the anti capitalist stance, the "us vs. them" vibe... and there's an awful lot of irish bands who still keep it real - blood or whiskey, running riot etc....

does punk have a future or is it doomed to basically be sung by hand picked boy band types? boyzone with a fuzzbox a la busted?

OLP · 19-07-2005 2:15pm

what we need is another gg allin, bring the danger and filth back into music

Zyox · 19-07-2005 2:16pm

I see this all the time

It's probably time you moved onto Jazz. Punk can do nothing more for you now my son.

Executive Steve · 19-07-2005 2:34pm

hehehe well into jazz... have an AWFUL lot more jazz than i have punk albums, i just wanted to kind of get the points of view from a few actual genuine punks [as opposed a fair weather fellow traveller - i don't even have punk trousers!]

Zyox · 19-07-2005 2:42pm

[cm]tyranny wrote:

[as opposed a fair weather fellow traveller - i don't even have punk trousers!]

This conversation is over.

ANarcho-Munk · 19-07-2005 2:49pm

Punk is a mindset not a trend.

Zyox · 19-07-2005 3:00pm

Listen you. See Number 30.

dregin · 19-07-2005 3:39pm

I'm embarassed by the sex pistols. Drug fuelled posers.

ANarcho-Munk · 19-07-2005 3:48pm

Zyox wrote:

Listen you. See Number 30.

.................................................

Zyox · 19-07-2005 5:57pm

ANarcho-Munk wrote:

.................................................

Eeek! LamerDots®!!

Jim · 19-07-2005 10:03pm

Whats the point of your face?

NotMe · 19-07-2005 10:34pm

Your nose?

dregin · 19-07-2005 10:39pm

NotMe wrote:

Your nose?

Lol. He doesn't have one. I took care of that.

NotMe · 19-07-2005 10:43pm

Using a car to break someones nose is overkill tbh.

Zyox · 20-07-2005 7:39am

Jimeatsmenu wrote:

Whats the point of your face?

To have something below your Jazz-Hat?

skapunkkeith · 20-07-2005 9:39am

punk is a lifestyle
the music written by punks is obviously gonna be called punk music
i hate when people say that a song is not punk when its written by punks
alot of punk music is based on rebellion
but punk is really whatever u want it to be
i wonder why u asked this question with punk in mind when u could ask the same thing about metal, pop, rap or even jazz

Zyox · 20-07-2005 9:53am

You are so not punk.

dregin · 20-07-2005 9:59am

He's not a punker either.

skapunkkeith · 20-07-2005 1:27pm

Zyox wrote:

You are so not punk.

never said i was, i listen to punk, along with other music, i used to have liberty spikes, i may wear some punk trousers, if thats what u want to call them, i dont like to put music into genres i just listen to what i like. in my mind i have led a rough life which some people call punk, i left home at thirteen for a few months and lived on the streets, and squated in houses,
in this time i was arrested three times, one for drinking, one for graffiti, and one for taking part in a violent protest, u can say what u like but i think i have led a pretty punk life so far, but i never said i was a punk

dregin · 20-07-2005 1:31pm

Jazz band conductor.

Zyox · 20-07-2005 4:17pm

With a gentle seasoning of Punker.

ANarcho-Munk · 20-07-2005 4:47pm

Jimeatsmenu wrote:

Whats the point of your face?

To eat?

Zyox · 21-07-2005 7:33am

Seriously. Dude. Number 30.

Zaphod B · 24-07-2005 9:23pm

Punk may be said to be less a genre than a state of mind ... or possibly a state of unwashedness. Personally I'd say it's in a state of disrepair. When I see some rip-off clothes store selling pre-"distressed" T-shirts with my beloved Clash on them for £50 I have to stop myself from vomiting up all my internal organs and choking on them. So I admit it, I'm a snob. But on the other hand I don't go around insisting that people can only call themselves punks if they've thrown bricks at the police, or lived for a year in a shoebox while selling their arse.

I don't see that you need "punk trousers" or "punk hair" to appreciate what punk-rock music has to offer. The idea of a punk "scene" is great, but not in those cases where it entails narrow-minded people who have no respect for people with other tastes in music, clothing or lifestyle.

Punk was often claimed to represent the rejection of pompous rock acts disconnected from ordinary life, yet punk bands went on to fill stadiums themselves. Also punk is hardly completely irreverent, considering the veneration given to certain bands and individuals. I know that if I had my way any Hollywood movie that gratuitously plays London Calling would be removed from circulation and all copies destroyed. Plus Ronan Keating would be parachuted into a minefield for defiling the works of the McGowan.

So maybe punk is about contradictions. The attitude saying "I don't give a shít" but the politics and the lyrics saying "I give a shít". Maybe it's about giving a shít about the things that matter most. Hopefully it's about good music.

Then again, maybe it's about the trousers. What's the point of punk? How the fúck should I know?

ANarcho-Munk · 24-07-2005 9:37pm

Zaphod B wrote:

So maybe punk is about contradictions. The attitude saying "I don't give a shít" but the politics and the lyrics saying "I give a shít". Maybe it's about giving a shít about the things that matter most. Hopefully it's about good music.

good synopsis

dregin · 24-07-2005 10:22pm

Listen lads, the ****in trousers are out to dry. It's the jazz hats that make it now.

RIGHT?

ANarcho-Munk · 24-07-2005 10:48pm

Where can I get a jazz hat then?

Zaphod B · 24-07-2005 11:05pm

ANarcho-Munk wrote:

good synopsis

Really? Thanks, I thought I was talking bollocks

NotMe · 24-07-2005 11:07pm

Don't they sell them in the punk trousers shop?

_____________________________________
The police walked in for jimmy jazz
I said, he ain’t here, but he sure went past
Oh, you’re looking for jimmy jazz

Jim · 25-07-2005 8:00am

D.I.D Electrical, open until nein.

Zyox · 25-07-2005 10:14am

You need proof-of-punkerness though.

So that's ANarcho-Munk fúcked. Wannabe. GOE BACK TO CENTRAL BANK.

Jim · 25-07-2005 10:22am

Jazz Punks **** Off

Executive Steve · 25-07-2005 11:10am

Zaphod B wrote:

Punk may be said to be less a genre than a state of mind ... or possibly a state of unwashedness. Personally I'd say it's in a state of disrepair. When I see some rip-off clothes store selling pre-"distressed" T-shirts with my beloved Clash on them for £50 I have to stop myself from vomiting up all my internal organs and choking on them. So I admit it, I'm a snob. But on the other hand I don't go around insisting that people can only call themselves punks if they've thrown bricks at the police, or lived for a year in a shoebox while selling their arse.

I don't see that you need "punk trousers" or "punk hair" to appreciate what punk-rock music has to offer. The idea of a punk "scene" is great, but not in those cases where it entails narrow-minded people who have no respect for people with other tastes in music, clothing or lifestyle.

Punk was often claimed to represent the rejection of pompous rock acts disconnected from ordinary life, yet punk bands went on to fill stadiums themselves. Also punk is hardly completely irreverent, considering the veneration given to certain bands and individuals. I know that if I had my way any Hollywood movie that gratuitously plays London Calling would be removed from circulation and all copies destroyed. Plus Ronan Keating would be parachuted into a minefield for defiling the works of the McGowan.

So maybe punk is about contradictions. The attitude saying "I don't give a shít" but the politics and the lyrics saying "I give a shít". Maybe it's about giving a shít about the things that matter most. Hopefully it's about good music.

Then again, maybe it's about the trousers. What's the point of punk? How the fúck should I know?

excellent post!

i always thought punk was great because of teh "punk ethic" - do it yourself, mix it all up, grassroots creativity... "here's three chords, go form a band" as the front cover of "sniffin glue" once said [think it was SG anyway]

[incidentally, there was a techno fanzine that once said "909 - 808 - 303 - go make a record" - 909's etc being drum machines]

i think that whole go-it-alone-and-fùck-the-system attitude was absolutely the most important and radical innovation to come out of punk imo... certainly a lot more influential than the trousers! [please do keep wearing them, and the jazz hats too!]

ANarcho-Munk · 25-07-2005 11:44am

Zyox wrote:

You need proof-of-punkerness though.

So that's ANarcho-Munk fúcked. Wannabe. GOE BACK TO CENTRAL BANK.

What's your fúcking problem you non-stop-bitching gimp?

Redleslie2 · 25-07-2005 2:15pm

[cm]tyranny wrote:

i think that whole go-it-alone-and-fùck-the-system attitude was absolutely the most important and radical innovation to come out of punk imo.

They nicked it from Tristan Tzara.

OLP · 25-07-2005 3:25pm

Zyox wrote:

You need proof-of-punkerness though.

So that's ANarcho-Munk fúcked. Wannabe. GOE BACK TO CENTRAL BANK.

that sounds like me arse

Civilian_Target · 26-07-2005 9:48am

Zyox wrote:

You need proof-of-punkerness though.

Would a pair of punk trousers suffice?

Zyox · 26-07-2005 10:21am

Civilian_Target wrote:

Would a pair of punk trousers suffice?

That's wannabe proof now

Ever since ANarcho-Munk went out to TK-Maxx and got like 8 pairs. One for every day of the week and an extra for PUNK WEDNESDAY cos things can get a bit messy when that rolls around.

I think mutilated P-Tizzies and a JazzHat might suffice. For now...

whats the point of punk?

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