Despite the risk of being tied to a tree and kicked to death by Doc Martins, I’m going to say it:
Stop being a whiny bitch, punk has changed. It’s split into two different things. A movement, and a music genre. This has happened because it’s not the seventies, CBGB doesn’t exist anymore, and upper middle class girls from Yale are wearing Ramones shirts. That’s reality. There’s nothing you can do about it. Your pouting will never make punk the way it was for you.
Take this moment to separate the two. It is very important that you remember that punk, and punk music should not be stereotyped as any man with a mohawk in a leather jacket with a thousand metal spikes on it listening to really loud music. Punk is intended to be a community and a realistic avenue for sharing ideas and making change in the world. That stated, please explain to me how Green Day’s American Idiot was not an attempt to drive down that avenue. I’m pretty sure the concept of that album was to enlighten and encourage listeners to stand up against the “redneck agenda”. I mean, seriously, why exactly is it that when NOFX and Green Day say the same thing, that the only one who is credible is Fat Mike?
Oh that’s right! It’s because Green Day sells records, and thats a cardinal sin in punk. Records sells can only come from selling out. When little kids wear hoodies with your faces on it, there is just no way that the words coming out of your mouth can be worth listening to.
To me, that goes against everything punk is supposed to be. It’s censorship in the most simple form. You’re discrediting the potential of a group of individuals based on their following. Now I understand that of the millions of people who have purchased Green Day’s music, only a few thousand of them may actually get the real point of this movement. Isn’t having those few fans aboard, pushing for change, actually better than having none at all? Fuck, I honestly think things are bad enough right now, that maybe punk should take all the help it can get. I mean, if Lester Bangs had fallen into overwhelming exposure, and reached millions, would you have discredited him also? Should we write off The Clash and The Ramones now that teenage girls have embraced them? Maybe we should just throw them out for being “post-career sellouts.” “Ruby Soho”was on the radio for a while, so should we even bother listening to Rancid? Most importantly, however, I’m pretty sure a handful of us can functionally see the difference between Black Flag and Simple Plan. If we can’t, blame us, not the bands.
Our stupidity is not their fault.
