I was a bit of a late bloomer when it came to my introduction and subsequent love affair with punk rock. I was in my late teens, and at that time, my musical tastes leaned towards Top 40 and rap. I was a child of the 80’s and I worshipped a lot of the New Wave music of that era, as well as what is now known as old school rap. One of my best friends was a punk aficionado and after months of trying, he finally got me to cave in and listen to some tracks by bands such as The Dead Kennedys, Black Flag and The Business – among others. Needless to say, I was hooked. Most of the songs were simply constructed, had an incredible energy about them and most echoed my sentiments on life, the universe, the establishment and just about everything. My decade-long tryst with radio was abruptly ended and I went on a CD buying spree that dominated my finances for years. After attending my first couple of punk shows, I got hooked on bands such as Sick Of It All, Black Train Jack, Social Distortion, NOFX, Spring Heeled Jack and The Dropkick Murphys. These bands, while falling under the “punk” moniker, were all very diverse in both sound and content. Punk sub-genres represented were ska, NYC hardcore, rockabilly and others. All of these bands had something to say, from Sick Of It All eschewing society’s ills in tracks such as “Potential For a Fall” and “Scratch the Surface” to Social Distortion’s laments about dealing with issues of self in the face of today’s society in tracks such as “Story Of My Life” and “I Was Wrong”. These songs struck a chord in me. Most of the music I was listening to at the time didn’t speak to me like these bands did. I felt a connection to the music, to the bands, to the meanings behind many of the songs.
Flash forward to today. A quick genre search on an otherwise reliable music-buying website under “hardcore and punk” spits out the following bands at the top of the list: Good Charlotte, Fall Out Boy, Relient K and My Chemical Romance. Slightly further down the list are Dashboard Confessional, the All American Rejects and Modest Mouse. What in the name of Mike Ness is going on here? I had to see if other sites were using the same categorical standards, so I went surfing. Lo and behold, sites two and three had very similar search results. Perhaps in my rapidly advancing age, I had missed some new definition of what punk rock is supposed to be.
Wikipedia describes punk rock as such:
Punk rock is an anti-establishment rock music genre and movement that emerged in the mid-1970s. Preceded by a variety of protopunk music of the 1960s and early 1970s, punk rock developed between 1974 and 1977 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, where groups such as The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, and The Clash were recognized as the vanguard of a new musical movement. Punk bands, eschewing the perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock, created short, fast, hard music, with stripped-down instrumentation and often political or nihilistic lyrics. The associated punk subculture expresses youthful rebellion, distinctive clothing styles, a variety of anti-authoritarian ideologies, and a DIY (do it yourself) attitude.
I cannot say that I have spent a great deal of time studying the catalogs of the bands listed in the second paragraph. The songs that I have heard are usually very well produced. They tend to be somewhat whiny, but from what I have seen and read, the emotionally charged songs (which usually have something to do with a relationship going badly) seem to resonate with their audiences. Most of these bands are considered “emo”, which is apparently short for “emotional”. It is true that many of the songs I sampled were indeed emotional, but I am sorry to report that there is very little in these songs that I can call “punk”.
I generally loathe society’s need to classify everything – especially music. However, if you are going to do something, it should be done right. What is punk about “emo” bands? What is punk about singing song after song about girls that were mean to you and relationships that didn’t work out? What is punk about wearing eyeliner and please God tell me, what is punk about squeezing into women’s jeans? I swear I read something in Rolling Stone a year or so ago about prominent Warped Tour bands taking off together on tour stops on the hunt for women’s jeans. These are the bands that are being labeled punk? You have got to be kidding me.
I met Sick Of It All lead singer Lou Koller backstage at a Bosstones show at the Bowery Ballroom some years ago. He told a group of us about the band’s impending falling out with its major-label record company. Koller said a record company honcho wanted the band to be more “melodic”. His response to the record company: “Our music is not and has never been about melody. It’s about ENERGY”. Shortly thereafter, Sick Of It All signed with Fat Wreck Chords – an independent label based out of San Francisco. Now THAT is what punk rock is about. Non-conformity and a refusal to water down your message.
I can already hear the cries from emo fans who will take umbrage with my assertion that their heroes are not punk rockers. To prove my point, I challenge any of you who doubt my reasoning to take a punk rock “taste test”. Take any three tracks from your favorite emo bands and listen to them all in a row. Then download and listen to the following three tracks (provided herein for your listening pleasure): Leftover Crack’s “Born To Die”, Sick Of It All’s “Potential For a Fall” and The Dropkick Murphy’s “Never Alone” (these are the first three songs that come to mind and there are scores of others that would work for this test). Are you still going to tell me that the first three tracks represent punk rock? The bands I named in the second paragraph are very talented. Their songs are catchy, they create an emotional bond with their core audience and they are doing very well for themselves. But they are NOT punk bands. Some of them may have started out as punk bands, but today they are power-pop acts. There is nothing “punk” about them. Sorry, but wearing guy-liner and squeezing oneself into girls’ jeans sizes doesn’t make you anti-establishment. You may be a fashion trendsetter, but you are not punk.
I would also like to take issue with the term “emo”. First of all, I can completely understand why so many people are drawn to “emo” bands. The songs are introspective, albeit often depressing. Many of these bands give a voice to what troubled kids around the world are feeling on a regular basis. However, do try to tell me how this genre of whiny introspection gets to lay claim to “emotional” punk. Are the songs of Social Distortion, Sick Of It All, Leftover Crack not emotional? Perhaps we need to find another moniker to group these bands under. Perhaps “depresso”, “whino” or “slitmywristo”. Ok, so it needs work…
To take this matter a step further, these “emo” bands have been embraced by MTV (how they can still call themselves music television, is another story) and mainstream radio. There is absolutely nothing punk about that. Punk is all about the underground and being under the radar. These guys and their fans are seen as fashion trendsetters. Their albums usually chart high with Billboard and there is generally little struggle involved.
Let me be clear on this. I do not hate Emo. It’s a genre that has a huge following and I respect that. All I want, and I may be nitpicking, is a proper delineation of what is and what isn’t punk. My days of going to shows and hitting the pits or skanking the night away are pretty much behind me. But even old guys like me are allowed to carry a torch for an old love – and defend its honor.
Dead Kennedys- I Fought The Law
Dropkick Murphys – Never Alone
Leftover Crack – Burn To Die
Leftover Crack – Burn Them Prisons
Operation Ivy – Knowledge
Ramones – Blitzkrieg Bop
Rancid – Roots Radicals
Sick Of It All – Potential For A Fall
Social Distortion – Story Of My Life
