
The People Must Have Something Good To Read
In the past few weeks we've spoken with a number of bands. Don't miss out on these interviews:
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 would you rather see between Flag and Black Flag if they were playing adjoining clubs on the same night?A: Good question, Justin! Good question, indeed! I would really be torn. On one hand, you have Greg Ginn, who is a certified genius. Like for real. If you've ever seen one of the multitudes of live shoes that Ginn has done, it will just blow you away. Ginn has been criticized for being a difficult person to get along with, and just generally being a weirdo, but, honestly, if that's what one has to accept to get pure, magic guitar like Ginn plays, it's way worthwhile. Don't believe me? Here is evidence of Ginn's genius- watch the second half where he just DESTROYS the theremin (Greg Ginn @ Coachella 2012) Also, Black Flag has Ron Reyes who i just interviewed and is a hella nice dude. Plus, live he still kicks out the jams. (Black Flag Jealous Again - Greg Ginn at Ron Reyes 50th B-Day July 24, 2010).
But, on the other hand, the last Black Flag project with Ginn, the ill fated 2003 shows, were… terrible. Still, I am sure that the Black Flag shows will be stellar.
On the other hand, Ginn was fundamental to Black Flag, but he wasn't the only fundamental part of Black Flag. Flag has Keith Morris who is making some of the best music of his life and is still in his prime with OFF!, it has Chuck Dukowski who is still in his prime with CD6 (I saw them live and they were AWESOME), when Dez is doing BF songs with the Misfits, they are totally awesome. Plus, Bill Stevenson and Stephen Eggeton are as clutch a unit as there is.
Word is that Keith may also do some post-damaged material. Also, we know that FLAG is amazing live, because they already played an amazingly amazing set. (BLACK FLAG - Nervous Breakdown EP (FULL SET). LIVE 2011 Santa Monica Civic. GV30)
So, it's a tough choice. Right now I have plans to see both bands. But, if I had to pick…
Because Flag has 5 legends that I'd love to see play BF songs, (as opposed to Black Flag's 2), because Flag might have Keith perform "My War", and because Keith Morris is THE MAN (The Duke is the man, too) (and Dez Bill, and Stephen) I'd have to go see Flag.
But, as both Ron Reyes and and Stephen Eggerton expressed, you don't have to pick! You can see both, and I HIGHLY advise that.
Also, stay tuned for a really awesome FLAG feature coming up soon.
-John G
Of course your day wouldn't be complete without knowing every inane detail of your humble editors' lives. Follow @aubinpaul, @adamwhite, @justinaugust, @brian_shultz, @dante3000, @ameliaaacline, @kiraface, @mcflynnthm, @kidecono, @wackymondo, @BrittStrummer, and @bryneyancey'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 San Jose, CA's Point of View, a new song from Albany, NY's After the Fall, and a new song from New York City, NY's Stigma.
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: So, we're ALL aware of bands having a new direction in sound and making it either more poppy or more experimental. Is there such thing as a band that did the opposite and released a bunch of poppy records then surprised us all with a real banger?A: I mean, I guess the best example would be The Monkees. Hang with me. While the band is entirely prefabricated and what not. Their first two albums were pretty much handed to them and they just did the vocals. On their next two (Headquarters and Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.) they played much more of their own music, picked the songs and even had music written by members (mostly Michael Nesmith). These two albums were not only some of their most successful work but generally their best material. The albums were far more cohesive and even groundbreaking, with Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. featuring some of the very first use of a Moog synthesizer. Now this isn't exactly like Smashmouth releasing a grindcore album but you basically had a group of four guys (two who weren't even musicians) who were handed a gift wrapped career playing prefab pop garbage and decided to push to become actual musicians and it fucking worked (mostly, if you ignore their utter implosion a few years later). I mean, even their soundtrack to Head was fucking out there.
-Rich
P.S. I'll work on a more contemporary answer later, but I'm feeling like old people music right now.
Of course your day wouldn't be complete without knowing every inane detail of your humble editors' lives. Follow @aubinpaul, @adamwhite, @justinaugust, @brian_shultz, @dante3000, @ameliaaacline, @kiraface, @mcflynnthm, @kidecono, @wackymondo, @BrittStrummer, and @bryneyancey'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.
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:
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: Is punk rock still punk? Whatever the punk ethos and attitude was or is, does it still hold true in modern punk rock music, or has the concept of what punk means "grown up"?A: This is a complex question for a lot of reasons. One, "punk" the music of the concept isn't (and has never been) monolithic. Individuals often derive their own meaning from the music/ideals of punk rock. What I believe punk represents, might be entirely different than what a G.G. Allin fan might feel it represents.
Beyond that you need to consider where punk started to really figure if it really had some unified set of ideals. Look at the big three punk bands people tend to list; The Sex Pistols, The Ramones, and The Clash. All three were on major labels (something that's still a bit of a stigma, even today). The Sex Pistols and the Ramones were unabashed in their desire to be rock stars (though as I mentioned earlier, their completely counter intuitive approach to their goal was awesome) and Johnny Rotten is a huckster and willing to be a talking head to anyone who listens. Does his lack of concern for the opinions of others regarding his actions make him more punk or does it make him a corporate shill?
[[ Even bands that came later who seem to express very counter culture ideas had their hang ups. Black Flag's "Damaged" was originally slated to be distributed by Unicorn, an MCA property (this, of course, fell through and led to one of the BEST Black Flag stories ever). Jello Biafra for much of the 80s would talk to any media outlet that would have him and Dead Kennedys even did a big publicity stunt of playing the Bay Area Music Awards and playing "Pull My Strings" as a sort of, "Fuck you" to the industry. But is it a bigger statement to show up and play a shocking song or to not play at all?
These are all bands I love and they all made a number of decisions I never had to and that I don't feel qualified to judge one way or the other. I'm just using these instances to sort of highlight how varied the term "Punk" is and how complicated "punk ethos/attitude" can be to define.
Personally, I know a lot of bands who have worked hard to maintain ethics (both business wise and artistic) that are important to them and I guess really being true to what you believe is pretty punk rock.
So, yes?
-Rich
Of course your day wouldn't be complete without knowing every inane detail of your humble editors' lives. Follow @aubinpaul, @adamwhite, @justinaugust, @brian_shultz, @dante3000, @ameliaaacline, @kiraface, @mcflynnthm, @kidecono, @wackymondo, @BrittStrummer, and @bryneyancey'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 Essex County, NJ's 96 and a new song from New York City, NY's Stigma.
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.