| I stand in another firehall watching
another band called The Dis (insert literally any word here) ed playing one more Exploited cover while
20 tough looking guys with mohawks beat the shit out of
each other I wonder if I am part of an antiquated
movement that should have died a long time ago. Then it
happens, a band comes on in between The
Dis<whatever>ed and the Mis<blah>ed that
makes my skin prickle. Everyone goes to sit down and
compare the length of their spikes in a locker room show
of bravado, and the band begins to play.
Maybe I'm one of
5 people standing, but a band as sublime as Moral Crux
comes on and it doesn't matter, I'll yell loud enough for
everyone. No one there has ever heard of them because
their hair is short and their clothes aren't plaid, but
the music is amazing. It's then I realize that no matter
how many shitty bands play the same songs and try to be
the next Casualties, it doesn't matter if punk is
antiquated movement. I love it, and so do bands like
Moral Crux, The Prostitutes, and lot of others.
Of
course bands like Dead Boys and The Rezillos may rate a
bit higher in my esteem as far as pure musical quality,
but when I see a band like The Fuses playing to a crowd
of 5 kids with such spirit and energy I get excited!
While a lot of the punk bands today do border on metal,
the ones that really impress me are the ones that take
the 77 style and infuse it with their own personality and
take it one step further. Sure a band like the Chemo Kids
is paying tribute to The Clash and Cocksparrer, but they
are are not derivative.
My generation (I'm 19) never had
a big bang like most generations before them due to the
utter homogenization of the music industry and most kids'
willingness to accept it. When bored kids were
discovering The Stooges 20 years ago, kids today are
being spoon fed rebellion. Marilyn Manson and Korn are
safe forms of rebellion where it's nothing but a look and
a 17 dollar cd from The Wall. It's sad, and I am being
naive to think I can change the world, but I do, if in no
otherway then to turn a kid onto the Sex Pistols OR US
Bombs and let him see for himself what music can be.
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