Word: punkness
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
What Gob—and most punk revival bands of any commercial note—fail to realize, is that punk exists in words and not notes (that in fact punk is about a devaluing of musicianship), and that love songs in the guise of punk chord progressions just don’t cut it. This, though, isn’t yet a complete value judgment: We’ve said only that Gob fails as a punk band, not as a band at large...
Before we flesh out this distinction, some background information might be in order. Roughly speaking, punk comes in two very similar flavors: British and American. British punk developed in the late 70’s as sort of disillusioned political outgrowth from lower-class neighborhoods, influenced by old-school rock n’ roll as well as reggae. Offshoots included ska, and later oi, music. American punk, taking its cue almost directly from the British punk sound and attitude, was formulated as a direct affront to the overly commercial arena rock scene of the preceding decade. Since that time...
...Don’t even know how to sing / Couldn’t sell out a telephone booth / What I’m telling ya is the truth.” These words define—albeit in grossly generalized form—what it means to be a punk...
...more accurately, this is the conservative punk perspective. Of course, it’s almost absurd to mention conservatism and punk music in the same breath, but that’s the very point we hope to make. In order to battle a stubborn social and commercial hierarchy, the punks are forced to adopt their own equally stubborn and doctrinaire ethic about what should and should not be done. Within the punk culture, the political spectrum is inverted, but equally rigid: The hard-nosed right of the punk movement, the purists, hold all of the principles we?...
What, then, about the punk as musician? Clearly, the situation of the punk musician is somewhat untenable, since he has an allegiance both to the decidedly anti-commerical punk ethic and to the musician’s ideal of sharing and disseminating music. This is the conflict at the root of most punk “sellouts...