When speaking of the punk scene nowadays it is difficult to know exactly what to say. Sure we’ve got our Bad Religion’s and our Against Me!’s, but the impact of these bands from their onstage persona all the way to their brutal name’s are minimal at best in a world where the media’s commercial nature overrules the original point of the band itself. For this reason many argue that punk is, to put it bluntly, dead.
Shortly after punk’s initial collision with society in the 1970’s an ironic response had already began to rear its intricately pierced head. As Johnny Rotten spat his way unapologetically into the spotlight, single-handedly terrifying every conservative individual in the UK, the media had already started to minimise the backlash. The punk kids who lined the catwalk streets of London adorned in safety pins and ripped denim were soon to become an example of the ‘how to dress Punk’ features of 'Melody Maker.'
Punk was the aggression of individual’s who felt without a voice, the boredom of those apathetic to the current music scene and the aspirations of drop outs to contribute through the DIY nature of the movement. Often filled with an anti-authoritarian rage fit to burst through society’s conformist boundaries with catastrophic results, punk songs were vicious, unrepentant and above all, necessary.
Since the acceptance of punk into the mainstream it has been more difficult to identify punk as a movement still in effect. Rage against the Machine’s performance at this year’s Leeds and Reading festivals fell under criticism simply due to their current lack of relevance. Despite these critiques from various media sources, it still stands that using music as a vessel for political dialogue is effective and live performances give the opportunity for public protests. Rage’s songs may not be entirely valid in 2008, but their energy and general anti-capitalist stance can certainly be applied to modern day.
That is not to say that punk is still going strong. Sure the opinions of bands are able to be communicated well through their music, but the nature of rebellion is diminished by the commercialisation of the genre. In the same way 'Melody Maker' demonstrated how to dress like a Punk, young women’s magazines like 'J-17' educate girls how to dress like Avril Lavigne, the 21st century answer to ‘safe’ teen rebellion. On top of this, American chain Hot Topic has ensured the further commercialisation of punk clothing, reminiscent of Vivienne Westwood introducing safety pinned clothing as a fashionable item in the 70’s.
Acts like Avril Lavigne and Busted are the nail in the coffin for any possibility of a punk uprising. Since the emergence of these bratty empty stereotypes it has become almost impossible to observe modern day punk bands without feeling uneasy. The line between the two has become so blurred that it is often difficult to tell the difference. Bands like Good Charlotte come across on the surface as a typical punk band. Tattooed from head to toe and fans of NOFX it comes as a surprise upon listening that they simply promote generic pop idiocy.
If one were to argue in favour of a punk revival the closest they would get would be Green Day’s 'American Idiot' of 2004. Filled with songs themed around an anti-Bush stance it was the first political record for a band previously concerned with getting high and dropping out.
For some reason, unlike the 22 million who bought the album I wasn’t convinced by this sudden change for the trio. Perhaps this was because of the decade in which Green Day invested most of their time making songs completely unrelated to any political beliefs. Perhaps it was the sudden concurrence between this lyrical change and the band’s image moving from baggy pants and converse to black suit, red tie-wearing Gerard Way twats. Either way I didn’t buy it, and just to strengthen this the ones that did were similarly groomed, From First to Last fans. If this is the punk revival god knows what punk was in the first place.
This brings me to the area of subcultures. Now, this is a difficult one. Unlike punk and mainstream pop ‘punk’, the blurring of the boundaries is much more extreme. Goths and punks have been around for decades, but later years brought pop-punks, emo’s, goth-punks, ska-punks, scenesters and hardcore kids. Eh? Without going into too much detail it is obvious how we can no longer characterise punk as a separate genre and for this reason also it is difficult to see how punk can still exist nowadays.
Having said this and at risk of contradicting myself, it is important to realise that despite the commercial mainstream exploiting many elements of punk there are plenty of modern underground punk movements happening regularly across the world. Fanzines are still heavily produced, musical gatherings offer a pallet for protest and bands like Valhalla Pacifists and Fuck with Fire are as venomous as ever.
Considering this it seems that punk is gasping for air amongst the smothering of the media spotlight. The punk movement as it originally began is dead, mainly because a movement has happened; an impact has been made and consequently cannot be repeated. That which punk stands for still refuses to be extinguished purely because of the people themselves and the beliefs of the minorities. For those individuals to still ensure they are seriously acknowledged despite the Avril’s of the world, the commercial media glare and the blurring of the genre boundaries, surely shows just how strong punk really is.
Posted In Features, Sep 20 2008.
Words - Jenni