Punk rock doesn't apologize. It doesn't make nice. It rips into convention without wondering how it's going to come across, whether it will be able to be taken seriously by the establishment.
For all those reasons, punk is something most people grow out of. Including me. My love of it now has become somewhat superficial, which is sad. But there is still an occasional liberation in just saying "fuck it" and really believing the angry, pessimistic, rejecting attitude of punk rock. It can be cleansing. Sometimes you want to believe in the future and the goodness of people and your ideals will someday see fruition. Other times, when Jello Biafra sings "My job is to help destroy/what's left of your imagination/by feeding you endless doses/of sugar-coated mindless garbage," you can only nod along and say "fucking A, man."
Now, I know there is a small and not entirely vocal group who grew up "like me," very much into serious punk rock. Record collecting like fiends, leather jackets (that our parents usually paid for), not getting along with "the hippies" even though we had far more in common with them than the average Joe Blow (ha ha, with the exception of my high school, in which the punk kids & the hippies (they far outnumbered us) got along famously despite a great deal of shit talking at each others expense).
But sometimes, despite my mature old age where I listen to music that is often--horror of horror--very much descended from the hippie tradition (a good deal of the weepie folkie shit in indie rock these days has more in common with that stuff than they do with, say, Millions of Dead Cops (yes, a real band, part of the infamous far left 80s "gay hardcore" subgenre). But MDC sang "John Wayne Was a Nazi," and well, sometimes I need to hear shit like that. I know many here might not take to this music, but for those who remember, for those who loved it...it just gets to the fucking point musically, lyrically...if you know, you know. If you don't, well, it's not the sort of stuff you tend to gain a ton of appreciation for later in life, to put it mildly.
In the 80s, there were serious musicians making serious statements about Reagan, with the hopes of being, well, taken seriously. And don't get me wrong, that's great. It's important. Like Springsteen or something. And in the long run, likely more influential to more people than anything I like. But there's also a place for kids into obscure music for the Reagan Youth to really get NASTY about it.
Anyway, what follows are few videos of some of the good ol' stuff. Sure, I might listen to friggin' Bon Iver these days, but I still get pumped for the old stuff.
Misanthrophy:
I don't need anyone
don't need no mom & dad
don't need no pretty face
don't need no human race
Distrust of the Police:
In and out of trouble, he cheated and lied
But who'd have thought he'd join the other side
[Chorus]
He's in a riot squad
The wanna fight squad
The shoot on sight squad
For law and right
James Kelly lied
he said what the cops wanted him to say
James Kelly told us
of the shit that went on in the cell of his
Broke his ribs told him not to speak,
said you're drunk now on your feet
Into the van Kelly did go
never seen again now everybody knows
Rejection of Self-Abuse In The Face Of Drunken & Drugged Up Teen Peers:
Don't smoke
I don't drink
I don't fuck
at least I can fucking think
Okay, Celebration of Self-Abuse:
It's hot as a bitch
I shoulda been rich
but I'm just digging a Chinese ditch
I'm living on the Chinese Rock
All my best things are in hock
I'm living on the Chinese Rock
Everything is in the pawn shop
Acceptance of Being Sexually/Gender-ID "Different" As a Teen:
Tomorrow, who's gonna fuss?
And they love each other so androgynous...
(Not to mention):
Kewpie dolls & urine stalls
will be laughed at
the way you're laughed at now
Stupid (But Excellent) Americana:
I Met Her At the Burger King
We fell in love by the soda machine
So we took the car downtown
The kids were dancing all around
Then we went down to Coney Island
On the coaster & around again
And Silly--But Fun:
I tapped her on the shoulder and said
"Do you have a beau?"
She looked at me and smiled and said
She did not know
Punk Rock Girl
Give Me a Chance
Punk Rock Girl
Let's Go Slam Dance
We'll dress like Minny Pearl
Just you and me, Punk Rock Girl
I Don't Know How To Categorize the Great Rastafarian Hardcore Band from DC, but here it is: