Yanke Brutal fb post; thoughts?

_SpaZ_

Just posted by Yankee Brutal on facebook; opinions?

Well, since no one else has said anything in the defense of punk rock:

Punk is dead. Not only is it dead, but it’s long been dead. Since the turn of the millennium, the musical genre referred to as punk rock is really just a hollowed out shell of what was. It’s a dead horse that’s been commercialized, marketed, and beaten till it’s now nothing but an ironic caricature of the original movement; or so say the alternative press. In the past three months, punk has been called bull****, irrelevant, and likened to the nostalgic pageantry of Civil War reenactors. The evidence? A collection of assertions about the meaning of punk made by individuals who are so out of touch with the modern punk scene they couldn’t tell punk rock from their own asses; elitist bastards who think that because they were there in the beginning, that their word should be taken as law. They assert that the meaning of punk is directly contradictory to its practice, that it accomplished nothing over its 30 somewhat year history, that the reunions of veteran bands somehow automatically makes them a heritage act, and that punk has slowly sizzled into irrelevance, or better yet, that it was always irrelevant. First off, let me say, and I mean this with love and respect, **** you! Second - John Roderick, Brett Gurewitz, Jaded Punk, and countless others - you’re wrong.

In a recent Rolling Stone interview, Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion said, “in terms of that punk-rock ethos, I think it was a moment in time. We have a right to keep doing it because it's who we are; it's how we write and express ourselves. But I've always thought that the punk bands that look and sound the way we did in '81 are like Civil War reenactors.” Okay, since when did you have a monopoly on the punk identity? Since when did you have the exclusive right to express yourself through punk music? There are plenty of Jazz and Blues musicians who sound and dress quite similarly to the guys who played back in the 50’s. Are those modern Jazz and Blues musicians reenactors as well? What makes punk rock any different? Because it wasn’t “supposed” to last? That it was “supposed” to fade away into the annals of history? Well, I got news for you, it hasn’t. As long as we remain cultural beings, we will have misfits searching for a place to belong; where they can be themselves and be appreciated for it. We will always need a place for people who question the status quo to find like-minded individuals. Punk, despite its brush with commercialism (for which you are to a huge extent responsible, by the way), is still providing for kids who feel very similarly to the way I’m sure you did way back then. Just because you’re no longer part of the underground scene, and no longer support it, doesn’t mean it’s just going to go away. You may still play in an awesome punk band, but you sir, are no longer part of the scene; a scene that still gathers in alternative music venues all over the world, from Australia's The Decline to South Korea's Attacking Forces, and all the way back to our very own American bands like DC Fallout and Sic Waiting, all different, but still punk rock.

Perhaps Mr. Gurewitz is referring more to punk fashion than to the music? Sure, punk dress at times more closely resembles a uniform than an anti-authoritarian statement against “the system", but I think most "punks" are perfectly aware of and comfortable with that fact. Punk rockers, like anyone else, dress in a way that they feel defines them as individuals. Couldn’t it just be that maybe, possibly, they define themselves as punks? That it’s a huge part of who they are and that they are proud to display it in an easy, recognizable way? As a punk, does everything have to be unique and creative? Are we barred from any kind behavior that noticeably ties us to the rest of the group? Don’t get me wrong Brett, you’ve been an inspiration since the first time I heard "Recipe for Hate" on my brothers stereo, but you’re animosity towards the scene that you helped define and popularize is disappointing to say the least.

Jumping on the “punk is dead” bandwagon, John Roderick published an article in Seattle Weekly in which he called punk rock “bull****.” During his painfully long critique of the **** he learned from SLC Punk, he accused punk culture of “dulling our expectations by narrowing the aperture of ‘cool’ and neutering our taste by sneering at new flavors until every expression of actual individualism is corralled and expunged in favor of group-think conformity.” Ok John, I knew people like that in high school too. They were the same assholes who would try to quiz me on my knowledge of all the “real” punk bands from the 80’s. Well, all of those guys have since abandoned punk culture entirely and now listen to bands like Muse and Maroon 5. Is that really who you base your definition of punk culture on? All the trendy part timers who only were interested in punk because “edgy” was popular at the time? Seems to me that you're just bitter because you maybe weren’t accepted by the punks you rail against and can’t figure out why (probably has something to do with your inaccurate conception of punk culture). The punk rockers I know are nothing like what you describe. They have a wide range of political views and musical tastes, they all have different styles existing on a continuum from the punk uniform to Abercrombie and Fitch. Sorry to break it to you man, but that cookie cutter punk rocker doesn’t really exist anymore, quite simply because punk is no longer trendy and as a result we’ve managed to boot all the trendy assholes from the scene (thanks emo!).

Perhaps my biggest issue with John’s article is his assertion that punk hasn’t accomplished anything. Really dude? Seriously? We have punk rockers in universities around the world, not just as students, but as professors, we have more free thinkers than ever before (who unfortunately all feel their opinions are so valued they need to blast Facebook with them every couple of minutes), the vegetarian, vegan, and straight edge movements are huge, anti-corporatism is higher than ever before in my lifetime, gender norms are being challenged in mainstream T.V. shows and music, many of which are run or performed by punk rockers - I could go on. Do you honestly think punk didn’t influence any of that?

Is punk dead? No. Has it changed? Absolutely. Following each of the waves of punk’s commercial success, punkers felt the need to redefine themselves. In the 80’s it was the “I don’t give a ****” attitude, anti-commercialism (not anti-success), and anti-authority. Following the 90’s wave we intensified the activism aspect of punk and local scene loyalty as a means of distancing ourselves from the commercial success of Green Day, Blink-182 and the new Emo clique. Finally, following the little blast of commercialism in the 2000’s that culminated in the huge success of Rise Against, the scene began to change into what it is today and has continued to change, partly, it seems, as a reflection of political trends that threaten all the civil liberties we have taken for granted in the past. Take Yankee Brutal for example. Over the past half a decade, we’ve been following the political trends in this country quite closely, and like many, some of us allowed ourselves to be wooed by the promises of change and hope from the Obama campaign. However, in light of what has happened since he took office - the expansion of drone surveillance, limiting of First Amendment rights (H.R. 347), and the continued operation of Guantanamo, to name a few - we, along with a large portion of the modern punk scene, have taken a more hardline approach to change. We believe that it may be time for Jefferson’s prophesied revolution, in order to refresh “the tree of liberty”.

Today, punkers are not the narrow, single-minded anti-everything characters John described in his article, they are an amalgamation of all that came before. They are free-thinkers and innovators. They question everything, not solely from a subversive, **** you line of thinking, but also out of curiosity. They challenge anything that limits creativity (including their own scene and norms at times) and anything that limits individual freedom. They oppose commercialism generally because it corrupts the message of punk rock and turns it into an empty, false set of narrow-minded ideals, not because they hate successful people. Punk rockers stand for human and animal rights. They stand for being true to oneself. They stand for the active pursuit of knowledge and alternative explanations for the way things are. They’re doctors, professors, politicians, and businessmen. They affect every aspect of our culture in subtle ways not only through music, but through normal everyday interactions and the work that they do within “the system.” Punk rock is not only a musical genre or a set of ideals, It’s a way of life. A full fledged, living, breathing, and changing culture. Punk rock is here to stay.

-Bryan

SilverScreen

"I always thought a punk was somebody who took it up the ass." - William S. Burroughs

GastroBoy

Why did you put spoiler handles on the whole thing

Makes for very annoying reading!!!!

bassey

TL;DR

Only idiots listen to punk anyway

SilverScreen

bassey wrote: »

Only idiots listen to punk anyway

Why would you say that?

bassey

Cos it's shìte

SilverScreen

bassey wrote: »

Only idiots listen to punk anyway

Says only idiots listen to punk...

bassey wrote: »

Cos it's shìte

Makes idiotic comment...

Surely there must be some well-educated reason why you think punk is shite. Bands like Black Flag and Bad Brains radically changed American underground music in the early 80's.

bassey

Yeah and they're all muck, U2 wipes the floor with them

SilverScreen

bassey wrote: »

Yeah and they're all muck, U2 wipes the floor with them

Only idiots listen to U2

bassey

Yeah look at U2 record sales verses any shìtty punk bands... see you later

SilverScreen

bassey wrote: »

Yeah look at U2 record sales verses any shìtty punk bands... see you later

Record sales don't mean anything. Oh, and didn't U2 start out as a punk band?

bassey

Yeah like most crap bands do, only thing is they copped on and got good. Go on, gimmie one reason why punk is good?

Funkfield

Don't feed the trolls. No one has to justify Punk IN THE PUNK FORUM ffs.
In fairness Bassey has listened to his fair share of punk over the years. Entitled to an opinion but the wrong place to express it.

bassey

9 posts to spot the troll, not too shabby!

SilverScreen

Nice Minor Threat t-shirt dude

Just Like Heaven

He was wearing it ironically, get over it punk is dead there hasn't been a good new punk in over 80 years.

bassey

Jaysus, it's like troll city in here

SilverScreen

fewtinsoffroth wrote: »

He was wearing it ironically, get over it punk is dead there hasn't been a good new punk in over 80 years.

Not since Robert Johnson

bassey

OldGoat

Alright, enough with the troll. Back to the op's cut&paste.
If ye don't enjoy punk then off ye go to the country forum or whatever flicks yer bean..

Ruudi_Mentari

Sure you only need to look at this thread to see how it has bn hijacked, with barely a punk in in sight

and it's certainly dead at street level, here in particular and obviously that's where it needs to be... and the banks probably wouldn't have been bailed out and we would have seen some sort of a fightback like in greece if there was even a substantial amount but here kids tend to just go with what the majority do, until it consumes pretty much all and so we still have the trendy hip hop that promotes selfish greed and laziness combined with the computerized trance kids are in, with no real consciousness so all that global awareness and activism punk instilled seems to be lacking but maybe they've been softened up by the capitalist climate too, which was unfathomable prior to punks 'demise'.

also tbh I see more middle class hipsters in thick rims and vintage punk shirts than punks themselves.. that's just how it goes, but I do hope some spirit is restored at some point because these docile types just don't know how to shake things up at all at all. because they got high; with their dick in their hand.

Ruudi_Mentari

The turn of the millenium is mentioned, but I think punk was pretty much dead early as into the '90s when those mid class kids were skipping around on skateboards with lollipops in their mouth and mock american accents, and how dandy everything was, and how straight-edge they were.. but then the fact this generation are pretty much exclusively still stuck on the same fcuking metronome after two decades speaks volumes!!

SilverScreen

Ruudi_Mentari wrote: »

The turn of the millenium is mentioned, but I think punk was pretty much dead early as into the '90s when those mid class kids were skipping around on skateboards with lollipops in their mouth and mock american accents, and how dandy everything was, and how straight-edge they were.. but then the fact this generation are pretty much exclusively still stuck on the same fcuking metronome after two decades speaks volumes!!

For me personally the last great punk band was Fugazi. In my view a punk in 2013 is someone who is so delusioned a dead scene still exists. However I would still like to see something new come along and really shake things up. Not that music itself is stagnant or anything as there has been some great stuff released over the past two decades in everything from metal to electronic, indie, experimental. But I think society itself needs something to happen to shake things up and change peoples outlook. In the meantime, work your asses off and keep the money circulating.

bassey

Ruudi_Mentari wrote: »

Sure you only need to look at this thread to see how it has bn hijacked, with barely a punk in in sight

and it's certainly dead at street level, here in particular and obviously that's where it needs to be... and the banks probably wouldn't have been bailed out and we would have seen some sort of a fightback like in greece if there was even a substantial amount but here kids tend to just go with what the majority do, until it consumes pretty much all and so we still have the trendy hip hop that promotes selfish greed and laziness combined with the computerized trance kids are in, with no real consciousness so all that global awareness and activism punk instilled seems to be lacking but maybe they've been softened up by the capitalist climate too, which was unfathomable prior to punks 'demise'.

also tbh I see more middle class hipsters in thick rims and vintage punk shirts than punks themselves.. that's just how it goes, but I do hope some spirit is restored at some point because these docile types just don't know how to shake things up at all at all. because they got high; with their dick in their hand.

Absolute bull****.

Don't come on here talking shìte when it's obvious you don't know a thing about the Irish punk scene cos if you did you'd know there's fùcking loads of gigs happening.