And don’t give me that crap about “it’s spelled ‘poseur’” because that’s a whole other thread!
Punk or poser? “We are 138”, or “I want my eMpTyV”?
Today’s debate asks the question, “What makes a band a sellout?” or “How much style can you have before it overshadows substance?”
I’ll fire the first volley.
It’s hard to cry “rebellion!!” and be believable when you’re driving a Ferrari. Green Day and Blink 182 are wannabes, trying to recapture the glory of the punk movement of the 70s and 80s, trying to be the Misfits, Minor Threat, the Exploited. But instead, they’re manufactured. They’re the Back Street Boys and the Spice Girls of punk pop.
But the movement is over. If it’s not all about the music, it’s all about the videos and the money. How can you be against the system when the system is paying for your mansion and your cars? I bet those guys don’t even have real drug habits! Their agents probably told them to go spike a vein once in a while, just for “street credibility”.
There will never be next Dead Kennedys, because the movement is over.
::yielding the discussion floor to my esteemed colleague Democritus::
Joe Cool
There are no dangerous weapons.
Only dangerous Men.
The minute a musician or artist put music to paper (in olden times), tape, or even performed it for another person, at that exact moment, they sold out.
Everything else is just a matter of degrees, but everyone’s a sell-out or you wouldn’t have ever heard of them.
TIME ELAPSED SINCE I QUIT SMOKING:
One week, one day, 23 hours, 37 minutes and 53 seconds.
359 cigarettes not smoked, saving $44.92.
Life saved: 1 day, 5 hours, 55 minutes.
Lemme just say that I’ve always hated Blink 182. Their brand of ‘punk’ always offended me.
Green Day, on the other hand used to have a shred of credibility earlier in their career. But that was back when they were playing shows at 924 Gilman.
I guess anyone can attach the ‘poser’ (sic) label to anything they don’t agree with.
“Penises don’t belong in the mouth, girls and boys. You’ve got the wrong hole there. Just like you wouldn’t shove pizza up your nose.”
-From the Brother Jed flyer-
Back in college, I had a friend who was a singer for a punk rock band. In the city’s free “here’s what’s happening around the city this week” paper, there was an article on his band that stuck in my head, and it seems appropriate here.
{Paraphrasing–this is coming from my memory, and it was probably 7 years ago) "There are two kinds of punk rockers in America today. First there’s Green Day, who sing songs about masturbation, and then go home and fuck groupies. Then there’s <fill in friend’s name here>, who sings songs about masturbation, and then goes home and masturbates.”
Still makes me laugh.
That movie taught me some important lessons in life. 1. I can build a robot that loves me. 2. I can reanimate my dead girlfriend by jamming bits of metal and silicon into her skull. Both are lessons I use on a daily basis…
