If there's a better song to sum up my feelings
on the punk scene, I've yet to hear it.
John Roderick is right.
In case you aren't aware, bearded indie
dude/ex Harvey Danger singer John Roderick recently wrote a piece in Seattle Weekly entitled “Punk Rock is Bullshit,” the premise
of which is entirely self-explanatory, and admittedly not incorrect.
Sure, four pages on why a counter-culture started by glue sniffers
and perpetuated by suburban teenagers lacks self-awareness and base
with reality seems a bit much, and I think he gives punk way too much
credit when he blames it for destroying the world, but at the core of
his argument, Roderick is correct. Punk rock is indeed bullshit.
Alas, it wasn't always that way. Punk
rock used to mean something; at least to me. During my time as an
insecure college kid looking for an identity, punk rock was the most
important thing in the world. I remember the first time I heard Hot
Water Music like it was yesterday: Christmas Eve, 2009 – I was
supposed to be watching The Muppet's Christmas Carol with my family.
Instead, I was hunched over my laptop, headphones in, listening to
“Kill the Night” and wondering how in the fuck anyone could make
such great music. Sure, it wasn't pretty sounding, it wasn't complex,
and these guys sure as hell couldn't sing, but god damn, did this
music ever speak to me. Something clicked in my head, and even with
the narrowest frame of reference imaginable, I knew I had found what
I was looking for. Whether I knew it or not, I was destined to become
a punk rocker.
If you're a kid who hates structure and
values immediacy, getting into punk and hardcore is like winning the
lottery. Since you have no frame of reference, every band sounds like
they're from a different planet. Since you've never seen a mosh pit
before, a live show seems like the closest thing to anarchy you'll
experience in the first world. Best of all, since the musicians look
like you, act like you, and play directly in front of you, you start
to realize all you need to make something fulfilling is three
friends, some gear, and a place to play. Then, you start to realize
how ridiculously easy it is to become part of the scene. You want to
put on a show? Find a space, find some bands, and boom, there's your
show. You want to interview a band? E-mail the label, grab a voice
recorder, and Bob's your uncle. Pretty soon you'll find yourself
fully immersed and up to speed on both punk music and the culture
that goes with it. You've done it! You're officially a member of “teh
punx.” Grab your card on the way in, there's juice and cookies at
the back.
Unfortunately, once you understand
enough about punk to identify as one, you realize the definition is
nebulous and doesn't always fit you perfectly -- identity crisis not
solved. Furthermore, since familiarity breeds contempt, you start to
realize maybe your little slice of collective anarchy isn't as
utopian as you once thought.
Let's face it; mosh pits are a
liberating experience until you realize how quickly they can devolve
into structure-enforcing machismo. Mic tosses lose their luster as an
exercise in humility when you hear kids brag about getting the mic
after the show. Hardcore is all about unity until somebody fucks
somebody else and some other asshole feels the need to have an
opinion about it. Dressing the way you do is all about inclusivity
and self-expression until you find yourself rooting through your
closet for your “coolest” band shirt in an effort to stand out
from the crowd in some imaginary pissing contest. Oh, and the music
once so fresh and foreign? You start to realize a high percentage of
it is actually more derivative
and devoid of original thought than the shit you were listening to
before (thanks in no small part to a community more interested in
identifying with a distorted idea of what music should be than with
music itself). In a sense, Roderick is absolutely right; punk rock
is, unequivocally, complete and utter bullshit.
But here's the
thing; punk rock is allowed to be bullshit, because everything else
is bullshit too.
Does punk have a
social hierarchy? Absolutely. Is punk easily commodified?
Beyond a shadow of a doubt. Is punk catered to white males aged
16-25? Almost exclusively. But let's not pretend this type of
hypocrisy is exclusive to punk. The first foundation of rave
culture's PLUR mission statement, peace, is in direct contrast with
how its' beloved club drugs are distributed. Hip-Hop's
misappropriation of consumerism as cultural empowerment does more to
perpetuate racism than any hate group could ever hope to. Any youth
culture – or culture in general – is bullshit when you look at it
as a monolith, but that's only because cultures are not monolithic.
Just because a culture doesn't always (or often) adhere to the ideas
it supposedly stands for, doesn't mean those ideas are invalid, or
even lost on the people who identify as part of the culture. Punk
rock is no exception.
Perhaps
the biggest downfall of punk is that it believes it can save the
world – and though Roderick now sneers at the idea, it's pretty
obvious he once held this pipe dream close to his heart. Yet if punk
rock couldn't defeat Reaganism, it was certainly never capable of
freeing youth culture from the trappings of youth – and getting
angry at it for failing to do so is just as irrational as believing
it will. All punk does is teach hyperactive kids to make structure
from chaos and community from individualism, and that's all it needs
to do. DIY is obviously not a “punk” idea, but when you're a 17
year-old with no start-up capital for your muffin store, a punk band
is a great place to cut your teeth. Message board bickering about
feminism is obviously derivative and ego-driven, but if you've never
been exposed to the idea, it's a good place to start learning. The
scene is obviously dictated by stupidity, self-consciousness, and
sexual politics, but if you're too tied up in that shit to get
something out of it, that's on you, not the scene.
Of
course punk rock is bullshit; everyone with half a brain knows that. But for a lot of us, it's the bullshit that makes the most sense.
Let the kids have their fun.
Let the kids have their fun.
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