Punk Rock is Bullsh*t (article/essay)

FRED HALE SR. · 04-22-2013, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DinosraurJR

Skaters love the government?? Since when?

As far as the article goes, seems like an advertisement for the author's band. He harkens back to punk ideals and blames various groups of people for the changes in society.

Punk became too much up-you-own-assedness, and then evolved into hipster, that's what really happened, and that's what the author sounds like.

Up your own assed-ness is so punk rawxs.

Codeblind · 07-02-2013, 11:47 PM

I was a little hardcore punk rocker teen from the big city in the eighties. We were, in so much as we were a "we" at all, a bunch of jerks. Think "Suburbia" meets "Escape From New York." But the eighties in the U.S. were, on the whole, a pretty rotten, bigoted, and violent era. The biggest difference between punkers and preppies at the time was typically money, sweaters, and musical taste. It was a total greasers vs socs vs mods vs rockers vs rappers vs metal heads scene. We were all a fat lot of boneheads who seldom meant well. You have things a lot better today. Well, except for the whole Citizens United and massive NSA surveillance thing. That's different.

Charlemagne · 07-03-2013, 06:40 AM

For someone who talks about how he hates how self-indulgent and narcissistic punk culture is, his writing style gives off the distinct impression that he's super proud of himself for writing this article and coming up with this whole "punk rock is bullshit" mantra. It just comes down to what Janzoon said, he's just taking everything way too seriously. Not a good article at all.

Forward To Death · 07-03-2013, 08:42 AM

I can't believe I read that entire thing. It's kind of interesting, but honestly he ****s all over his own argument. I just kind of stopped taking him seriously when he mentioned "unwinnable criteria" when criticizing new art/music.

Isn't his entire argument based off of unwinnable criteria? Isn't ALL criticism of art/music based off of unwinnable criteria? If any of it was winnable, people wouldn't be constantly fighting over what music is better.

This is just a case of another writer getting carried away with their self-righteousness.

~~Lord Larehip~~ · 07-06-2013, 08:02 PM

I completely disagreed with him when he started attacking DIY as being just a another greedy capitalist mindset. That's the same looking down on achievement BS that he attacked punk for. He seems to embody his own argument that punk became self-absorbed, snobby and anti-everything--he's proof. I started to laugh out loud that this moron took the whole thing that seriously to begin with. For me, punk was about having fun and when it stopped being fun, I stopped participating.

I was into punk from the Stooges days (I am a Detroiter after all) up to the early 90s. Never got into grunge and don't consider it punk. The thing is, I was listening to a lot of 50s music at that time and I would go see whatever rockabilly bands that were within driving distance. When I'd run into some jerkoff who tried to tell me that a real punk only listens to punk I'd just hop in my car and go spend the night rockabillyin'. I didn't care what he thought. But, you know, I met a lot of punks who were like, "Man, f-uck him! Do your own thing!" So this guy must have hung around some real a-ssholes.

Punk did foster an interest in political philosophies as anarchism, Marxism, situationists, street art and billboard defacing. I learned enough about Marxism to realize what a complete load of s-hit it is. I also learned about dada and, in order to really get it, had to study the Nazi ideal for comparison and it was most enlightening! I still think about this stuff a lot so I guess punk had more positives for me than negatives.

I guess Ricky Nelson was pretty punk when he sang, "It's all right now/I learned my lesson well/You can't please everyone/so you gotta please yourself." Yup. If you didn't get that much out of punk then you wasted your time and, I suppose, you SHOULD be bitter!

William_the_Bloody · 07-07-2013, 01:05 AM

Honestly I couldn't be bothered to read the entire article, I think the guy who wrote it has too much time on his hands. In the end it comes down to the music, you either like it or you don't, the culture and values of "punk" is a sideshow open to interpretation.

Codeblind · 07-07-2013, 01:14 AM

Before there was a Hot Topic, punk was always about fashion, politics, and culture. The sound of the music itself had a wide range.

Dr_Rez · 07-07-2013, 01:22 AM

Anyone who so strongly identifies with a particular genres way of thinking and life choices needs to learn more about themselves and not just leech off other peoples ideals.

Make your own judgments and decide how you think life should be lived.

Codeblind · 07-07-2013, 01:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dr. Rez

make your own judgments and decide how you think life should be lived.

never!

Nurse Duckett · 07-07-2013, 04:44 AM

My memory of punk is it was born in 1976 and died in 1977, this may not be the case where you live but it was certainly the case in Britain.

Punk wasn't about anything other than everyone could do it, it didn't matter if you couldn't play very well. You could buy your first guitar and practise for a year and still not be able to play Led Zeppelin, punk arrived and you could buy your first guitar on Monday and be playing in a punk band by Saturday.

The Sex Pistols released God Save the Queen in 1977 to coincide with the Queens sliver jubilee, the BBC banned the single, it out sold the number one single that week by 3 to 1, but it was never given number 1 status. The media jumped on it, the music media really jumped on it and soon everyone and his/her dog was a punk, even if it was only for 3 weeks. That was when punk died, it had become exactly what it supposedly hated.

It was the first time I'd heard the "I'm an individual" argument, I'm an individual and I'll do what i want and I'll look how i want, and soon they all looked the same. I'm certain i wasn't the only one to see the irony in all this so called individuality, it was just attention seeking kids doing what attention seeking kids do. Sounds alot like the EMO thing doesn't it, loads of kids all demanding to be treated like individuals whilst all looking and acting the same and all saying exactly the same thing.

The media can only write about what has already happened, and if its already happened then its over. When the media get hold of something they usually kill it, and that's exactly what happened to punk. It was created by accident by people with good intentions and killed by the media when the idiot masses jumped on board.

The closest you'll get to the original punk ethic you'll get in todays world is someone sampling tunes in his/her bedroom and putting it all together to come up with some great dance tunes.

Punk died in its infancy, I'm glad punk happened and I'm glad it died.

07-02-2013, 11:47 PM	#22 (permalink)
Codeblind Groupie Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Philadelphia, PA Posts: 25	I was a little hardcore punk rocker teen from the big city in the eighties. We were, in so much as we were a "we" at all, a bunch of jerks. Think "Suburbia" meets "Escape From New York." But the eighties in the U.S. were, on the whole, a pretty rotten, bigoted, and violent era. The biggest difference between punkers and preppies at the time was typically money, sweaters, and musical taste. It was a total greasers vs socs vs mods vs rockers vs rappers vs metal heads scene. We were all a fat lot of boneheads who seldom meant well. You have things a lot better today. Well, except for the whole Citizens United and massive NSA surveillance thing. That's different. __________________ http://sittinginoblivion.com/ http://www.last.fm/user/codeblind

07-03-2013, 06:40 AM	#23 (permalink)
Charlemagne Say something vague Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 1,551	For someone who talks about how he hates how self-indulgent and narcissistic punk culture is, his writing style gives off the distinct impression that he's super proud of himself for writing this article and coming up with this whole "punk rock is bullshit" mantra. It just comes down to what Janzoon said, he's just taking everything way too seriously. Not a good article at all. __________________ Charlemagne had eyes like a lover, but last winter there was weather and his eyes they iced right over. My Last.fm Last edited by Charlemagne; 07-04-2013 at 09:45 AM.

07-07-2013, 01:14 AM	#27 (permalink)
Codeblind Groupie Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Philadelphia, PA Posts: 25	Before there was a Hot Topic, punk was always about fashion, politics, and culture. The sound of the music itself had a wide range. __________________ http://sittinginoblivion.com/ http://www.last.fm/user/codeblind

07-07-2013, 01:22 AM	#28 (permalink)
Dr_Rez Registered Jimmy Rustler Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: USA Posts: 5,361	Anyone who so strongly identifies with a particular genres way of thinking and life choices needs to learn more about themselves and not just leech off other peoples ideals. Make your own judgments and decide how you think life should be lived. __________________ Best chance of losing virginity is in prison crew Always Checks Credentials Crew nba > nfl crew Shave one of my legs to pretend its a girl in my bed crew

07-03-2013, 08:42 AM	#24 (permalink)
Forward To Death Trolier Than Thou Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Minnesota Posts: 1,336	I can't believe I read that entire thing. It's kind of interesting, but honestly he ****s all over his own argument. I just kind of stopped taking him seriously when he mentioned "unwinnable criteria" when criticizing new art/music. Isn't his entire argument based off of unwinnable criteria? Isn't ALL criticism of art/music based off of unwinnable criteria? If any of it was winnable, people wouldn't be constantly fighting over what music is better. This is just a case of another writer getting carried away with their self-righteousness.

07-06-2013, 08:02 PM	#25 (permalink)
~~Lord Larehip~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Jun 2013 Posts: 899	I completely disagreed with him when he started attacking DIY as being just a another greedy capitalist mindset. That's the same looking down on achievement BS that he attacked punk for. He seems to embody his own argument that punk became self-absorbed, snobby and anti-everything--he's proof. I started to laugh out loud that this moron took the whole thing that seriously to begin with. For me, punk was about having fun and when it stopped being fun, I stopped participating. I was into punk from the Stooges days (I am a Detroiter after all) up to the early 90s. Never got into grunge and don't consider it punk. The thing is, I was listening to a lot of 50s music at that time and I would go see whatever rockabilly bands that were within driving distance. When I'd run into some jerkoff who tried to tell me that a real punk only listens to punk I'd just hop in my car and go spend the night rockabillyin'. I didn't care what he thought. But, you know, I met a lot of punks who were like, "Man, f-uck him! Do your own thing!" So this guy must have hung around some real a-ssholes. Punk did foster an interest in political philosophies as anarchism, Marxism, situationists, street art and billboard defacing. I learned enough about Marxism to realize what a complete load of s-hit it is. I also learned about dada and, in order to really get it, had to study the Nazi ideal for comparison and it was most enlightening! I still think about this stuff a lot so I guess punk had more positives for me than negatives. I guess Ricky Nelson was pretty punk when he sang, "It's all right now/I learned my lesson well/You can't please everyone/so you gotta please yourself." Yup. If you didn't get that much out of punk then you wasted your time and, I suppose, you SHOULD be bitter!

07-07-2013, 01:05 AM	#26 (permalink)
William_the_Bloody Music Addict Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Sunnydale Cemetary Posts: 2,093	Honestly I couldn't be bothered to read the entire article, I think the guy who wrote it has too much time on his hands. In the end it comes down to the music, you either like it or you don't, the culture and values of "punk" is a sideshow open to interpretation.

07-07-2013, 04:44 AM	#30 (permalink)
Nurse Duckett Music Addict Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 148	My memory of punk is it was born in 1976 and died in 1977, this may not be the case where you live but it was certainly the case in Britain. Punk wasn't about anything other than everyone could do it, it didn't matter if you couldn't play very well. You could buy your first guitar and practise for a year and still not be able to play Led Zeppelin, punk arrived and you could buy your first guitar on Monday and be playing in a punk band by Saturday. The Sex Pistols released God Save the Queen in 1977 to coincide with the Queens sliver jubilee, the BBC banned the single, it out sold the number one single that week by 3 to 1, but it was never given number 1 status. The media jumped on it, the music media really jumped on it and soon everyone and his/her dog was a punk, even if it was only for 3 weeks. That was when punk died, it had become exactly what it supposedly hated. It was the first time I'd heard the "I'm an individual" argument, I'm an individual and I'll do what i want and I'll look how i want, and soon they all looked the same. I'm certain i wasn't the only one to see the irony in all this so called individuality, it was just attention seeking kids doing what attention seeking kids do. Sounds alot like the EMO thing doesn't it, loads of kids all demanding to be treated like individuals whilst all looking and acting the same and all saying exactly the same thing. The media can only write about what has already happened, and if its already happened then its over. When the media get hold of something they usually kill it, and that's exactly what happened to punk. It was created by accident by people with good intentions and killed by the media when the idiot masses jumped on board. The closest you'll get to the original punk ethic you'll get in todays world is someone sampling tunes in his/her bedroom and putting it all together to come up with some great dance tunes. Punk died in its infancy, I'm glad punk happened and I'm glad it died.