In the past few weeks we've spoken with a number of bands and a comic book writer. Don't miss out on these interviews:
Punknews content is syndicated to a handful of your favorite social networks, including Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. Join our Last.fm group and contribute your listening habits to our weekly charts. All of our high definition video footage can be found at Vimeo.
Here's your question and answer of the week from the Punknews Formspring:
Q: The threat, stigma, and general uncoolness surrounding the concept of punk has declined. The culture and music are now staples of the mainstream. Was punk rock co-opted by "the cool kids", or did it subvert the maintstream in a way that it became accepted?A: This is an excellent and multi-faceted question. If I am forced to pick between these two poles, I'd say that you are more correct with the former. But as both Jacques Costeau and Ron Jeremy said, "Let's dive deeper."
I wonder if the concept that punk used to be about uncool people finding a place is ovestated. If you look at photos of old Sex Pistols, Clash, Ramones, Buzzcocks, and Suicide concerts, all those people look pretty cool. Really, I think the original punk rockers, or original punk fans, might have been more like hipsters than we'd like to admit. They're not "jocks," but they are people who have certain societal norms to which they all agree is the proper way to conduct oneself and thereby a way to look "cool", at least in their own eyes. I'd bet that even bands like Crass, Subhumans, and Flux all had pretty insular communities, just like crust/anarcho punk has today.
But, if we look at photos of Black Flag shows, Misfits, Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains, Reagan Youth, you see more people that look like "outcasts." Also, notice, that the audience is much more predominantly male. I'd argue that punk, generally, was originally a place of hip, artistic people, and then in the states, eventually became a haven for uncool boys. I'd even go father that for the most part, late 70's early 80's punk was the domain of boys that didn't know how to communicate with girls. While the "cool guys" were out on dates, the awkward boys were going to punk concerts.
You might say, well, where are all the geeky girls in late 70's/early 80's punk? My guess is that because the area was so dominated with awkward boys flinging off energy and testosterone that it wasn't a pleasant place for most girls.
So, I'm not sure that punk was always the place of the "uncool kids" though in certain time places and periods it did seem that way.
But, more to your question, did punk make the mainstream more palatable or did the mainstream water down punk affects for its own use? If we look and see that guys like david Beckham wearing Crass, Fergie wearing Black Flag, Chris Brown wearing Cro-mags, and Miey Cyrus wearing Motorhead, it definitely looks like the imagery, but not conceptual ideas, of punk have been taken by the mainstream for its own use. (I have no problem with beckham, fergie, etc liking punk rock and wearing that imagery, but I'd bet if you asked them about the bands on their shirts, they wouldn't know thing one)
Generally speaking, What the mainstream does is take edgier ideas and water them down to make its own fashion and ideas new….er. The mainstream took the biker look from hells angels, watered it down, and made the leather jacket cool. The mainstream took the outrageous clothing choices of John waters and watered them down with Madonna, and later britney and beyonce. So, it did with punk. You might see famous people wearing cro-mags, but I doubt that those people are zealously vegan and explore the concept of oneness. rather, they just like how the look looks. I'd doubt that the world is anymore in line with the ideals of punk rock now than it was in 1976. If it is, I don't think it's because punk has subverted the world, I think that the world is gradually becoming more "liberal" and in general, punk tends to be liberal.
Lastly, punk is less shocking because perhaps, conceptually, it hasn't grown too far beyond its original starting point. The Sex Pistols were incredibly shocking for attacking the queen, so that was a novel, new, and dangerous concept. Now every punk band there is attacks a president. it might be a valid statement, but its not new and people have grown used to it, so its not shocking. Also, due to the dispersal of information and globalization, its harder to shock people these days because we are more aware of atrocities than ever. It's hard to be shocked by Jello Biafra putting penis pictures inside an album sleeve when people are shooting up schools, bombing parades, and holding people captive for 10 years.
So, why is punk less shocking these days? Because punk is less new than it used to be, people have co-opted the imagery, but not the general concept, and also, because the world itself seems to be more shocking (though maybe that's only because we know about more things now, were info about terrible things used to be less dispersed less).
Despite all that, punk is still pretty great. I'd just argue for the younger generations interested in punk to keep an open mind about music and not be so quick to determine that someone's music is not punk, and to not be so quick to berate or attack someone for thinking differently. Also, think for yourself. It is so easy to fall into a group's mindset. Take a moment, step back, and think about the party being attacked or assaulted, and see if you can't see it from his or her perspective.
Again, I'll leave you with the words of Mr. Nick Blinko, not as an argument, but as something to ponder.
-John G
p.s. LEARN YOUR PUNK HISTORY. THE RAMONES AND SEX PISTOLS WERE GREAT PEOPLES.
Of course your day wouldn't be complete without knowing every inane detail of your humble editors' lives. Follow @aubinpaul, @adamwhite, @howtobepunk, @johngentile, @dante3000, @ameliaaacline, @kiraface, @mcflynnthm, @kidecono, @wackymondo and @BrittStrummer's every move at Twitter. A few of the new fathers on staff have even started a punk dad blog.
Where else are you online? Share your links below and keep connected with the Punknews community.
Check out the Punknews Music page to stream all sorts of new music from recent or upcoming releases. Our latest additions include:
Also, don't forget to check out a new song from The Welch Boys and the latest full-length from Banquets.
We've also expanded our podcast empire to something that will eventually resemble a network. Be sure to check out the original Punknews Podcast (subscribe via RSS or iTunes), Adam's Ontario showcase Some Party (subscribe via RSS or iTunes), and Greg Simpson and Greg Moore's Two Gregs One Podcast.
Hello everyone and welcome to Navel Gazing: your look back in the week in Punknews. I'm Brittany Strummer and I'll be your guide through some of the juiciest, most popular and otherwise noteworthy stories from the last seven days. Remember, every Punknews story is built from tips from our wonderful, good-looking readers, so get to submitting. Here's what got the strange, slow and old community talking this week:
With that, we hand over this Sunday evening to the Punknews community, where anything is possible, from the next amusing-then-overwrought meme, to the creation of bands and message boards, to alienating sports chatter. So talk amongst yourselves, spin some tracks in the Navel Gazing turntable.fm room and we'll see you Monday morning.
In the past few weeks we've spoken with a number of bands and a comic book writer. Don't miss out on these interviews:
Punknews content is syndicated to a handful of your favorite social networks, including Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. Join our Last.fm group and contribute your listening habits to our weekly charts. All of our high definition video footage can be found at Vimeo.
Here's your question and answer of the week from the Punknews Formspring:
Q: Star Trek or Star Wars?A: Ah yes, the timeless question. I answer considering the entire concepts of both franchises, and not necessarily as a movie to movie comparison.
First off, I am a huge Star Trek fan. Well, really, I'm only a huge TNG fan, though I do like DS9. Honestly, I think TOS is kind of dumb. I have never watched voyager or Enterprise. I like most of the movies, TOS, TNG, and the reboot included.
Star Trek is pretty cool because it features alien races that are often reflections of ourselves. Klingons are rage, Ferengi are greed, Vulcans are logic and pride, and so on. What is particularly interesting, is that they often show both the positive and negative traits of these attributes.
In Star Trek, people are more understanding and races are presented as having achieved utopia in many places, including Earth. Star Trek seems to suggest that if we really work towards a better future, then we can achieve it. In general, Star Trek is a show of positivity and understanding.
By contrast, Star Wars is of a much darker sort. The characters often act on greed and avarice, and quite frankly, have no motivation for doing so except that they are nasty people. Jabba the Hutt is presented as this horrible creature for enslaving people and killing them. But, Jabba is really a mirror of ourselves. Humans (and those d-bag federation people) like to think that they are altruistic. But, if you are gardening, and you see a slug, what do you do? You kill it because it threatens your vegetable operation.
But, Jabba is just a GIANT SLUG that kills people for getting in the way of his operation. He does't consider the well being of those he harms because they are nothings too him, just as slugs (and indeed other people) are to us. JABBA IS THE HUMAN race. Gaze upon he wretched thing that you are, humans.
Likewise, unlike Star Trek, aside form Darth Vader, evil people often don't have redemption and often get away with their bad actions. Frankly, I think that's closer to life. Lastly, most heroes in Star Trek are basically saints, never having selfish or hateful thoughts. But, the characters in SW, including luke, anakin, obi wan, Han, Chewie, Leia, and even Yoda, often deal with the fact that hatred, greed, anger, and despair are all a part of life that we all wrestle with it. Even the good guys face both sides of the coin, and the right answer is not always easy to discern, in opposition to Trek, were the good guys are usually always 100% good and have little internal conflict.
So, I have to give it to Star Wars. Plus, the space ships, monsters, and aliens in Star Wars are neater than Trek.
Han shot first,
-John G
Of course your day wouldn't be complete without knowing every inane detail of your humble editors' lives. Follow @aubinpaul, @adamwhite, @howtobepunk, @johngentile, @dante3000, @ameliaaacline, @kiraface, @mcflynnthm, @kidecono, @wackymondo and @BrittStrummer's every move at Twitter. A few of the new fathers on staff have even started a punk dad blog.
Where else are you online? Share your links below and keep connected with the Punknews community.
Check out the Punknews Music page to stream all sorts of new music from recent or upcoming releases. Our latest additions include:
Also, don't forget to check out the latest full-length from ONSIND, the new EP from Lawnmower, the new split from The Static Age and Featuring Yourself, and the new split from Signals Midwest and Worship This!
We've also expanded our podcast empire to something that will eventually resemble a network. Be sure to check out the original Punknews Podcast (subscribe via RSS or iTunes), Adam's Ontario showcase Some Party (subscribe via RSS or iTunes), Matt and Mondo's Punk Rock Power Hour, and Greg Simpson and Greg Moore's Two Gregs One Podcast.
Hello everyone and welcome to Navel Gazing: your look back in the week in Punknews. I'm Brittany Strummer and I'll be your guide through some of the juiciest, most popular and otherwise noteworthy stories from the last seven days. Remember, every Punknews story is built from tips from our wonderful, good-looking readers, so get to submitting. Here's what got the strange, slow and old community talking this week:
With that, we hand over this Sunday evening to the Punknews community, where anything is possible, from the next amusing-then-overwrought meme, to the creation of bands and message boards, to alienating sports chatter. So talk amongst yourselves, spin some tracks in the Navel Gazing turntable.fm room and we'll see you Monday morning.
In the past few weeks we've spoken with a number of bands. Don't miss out on these interviews:
Punknews content is syndicated to a handful of your favorite social networks, including Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. Join our Last.fm group and contribute your listening habits to our weekly charts. All of our high definition video footage can be found at Vimeo.
Here's your question and answer of the week from the Punknews Formspring:
Q: Who is your favorite Sesame Street character?A: Straight up. Sesame Street is a phenomenal show. It's one of the few children's shows that challenges them to come up to its level, instead of talking down or even below them. The kids might not understand everything that goes on in Sesame Street, or the nuanced jokes, or the references to pop culture, but it does cause them to realize multiple things are going on at once and that not everything is spelled out, unlike other shows which frankly, I think are detrimental.
Plus, the characters are great in that show and it is hella funny.
As for my favorite character, I'd have to go with either Elmo or the Cookie Monster, though I like the count, too (two… bwa ha hah aha… I crack myself up). I like Elmo because he encourages a sense of wonderment, adventure, and understanding. Also, he works as a stand in for the kids himself, as Elmo seems to basically be a five year old with a five year old questions.
But then, the cookie monster is also great. First he is the funniest character on the show. His crooked eyes alone crack me up. But, what I like about the cookie monster is that he's usually written as being fairly dumb, so it enables him to learn a valuable lesson. Plus, he is a living embodiment of frantic, wanton, chaotic fun, which I think all kids should be allowed to enjoy before systems such as school, jobs, peer groups, and people who just don't get it try to squash the concept of wackiness for the sake of wackiness or solidify the concept of conformity for the sake of conformity. So, Elmo is the man, but I gotta give it to my home-dawg, the CM for encouraging the youth to think independently, question authority, and getting mad grubby on some oatmeal raisins.
-John Geeeeeeeeee
Of course your day wouldn't be complete without knowing every inane detail of your humble editors' lives. Follow @aubinpaul, @adamwhite, @howtobepunk, @johngentile, @dante3000, @ameliaaacline, @kiraface, @mcflynnthm, @kidecono, @wackymondo and @BrittStrummer's every move at Twitter. A few of the new fathers on staff have even started a punk dad blog.
Where else are you online? Share your links below and keep connected with the Punknews community.