This was like a cool glass of water on a hot day, as a black man who went to punk clubs in Orange County and Riverside I know how right wing punk can get. Much appreciated 🙂
This is something I've been saying for years. For every Propagandhi there's a Cock Sparrer. Conversely for every Lee Ving there's a Stza.
People, unless they're actually part of the culture, think that politically punk is leftism all the time but it's a really blinkered view that only reinforces the fact that the mainstream is pretty damned ignorant of counterculture whether it's ours, the hippies, the ravers, the goths, etc. They come up with stereotypes with a few grains of truth but it's mostly bullshit that doesn't hold up to any serious scrutiny.
I figure in our case, from my point of view anyway, it's likely because of the attention that got paid to the left leaning bands early on like The Clash (and X, D.O.A, etc) which was about the only exposure to our culture most people in the mainstream ever had, until the 2nd punk explosion in 1994 and with that a good number of the bands were left of center also.
tldr: The mainstream doesn't understand anything but itself, and even that's debatable
Beautiful essay. I've long been convinced that punk is just as much an adjective as a style(s) of music; and like many adjectives it's somewhat ambiguous and personal. I think to understand this, you probably do have to grow up around a bunch of drunk people arguing about whether this or that noun "is punk."
Conversely - that there have been rightwingers in punk doesn't mean their should be, or that we shouldn't strive to make punk exclusively left/anarchist by whatever means at our disposal. I feel like suggesting otherwise does a disservice to hardworking folk who've made punk something worth saving.
As someone who has helped out with my city's only DIY all-ages venue for the past bunch of years, I'm proud that we have no compunction about denying a platform to rightwing bands.
This was like a cool glass of water on a hot day, as a black man who went to punk clubs in Orange County and Riverside I know how right wing punk can get. Much appreciated 🙂
This is something I've been saying for years. For every Propagandhi there's a Cock Sparrer. Conversely for every Lee Ving there's a Stza.
People, unless they're actually part of the culture, think that politically punk is leftism all the time but it's a really blinkered view that only reinforces the fact that the mainstream is pretty damned ignorant of counterculture whether it's ours, the hippies, the ravers, the goths, etc. They come up with stereotypes with a few grains of truth but it's mostly bullshit that doesn't hold up to any serious scrutiny.
I figure in our case, from my point of view anyway, it's likely because of the attention that got paid to the left leaning bands early on like The Clash (and X, D.O.A, etc) which was about the only exposure to our culture most people in the mainstream ever had, until the 2nd punk explosion in 1994 and with that a good number of the bands were left of center also.
tldr: The mainstream doesn't understand anything but itself, and even that's debatable
Well written and well reasoned essay by someone who clearly really understands the history and subculture of punk.
Beautiful essay. I've long been convinced that punk is just as much an adjective as a style(s) of music; and like many adjectives it's somewhat ambiguous and personal. I think to understand this, you probably do have to grow up around a bunch of drunk people arguing about whether this or that noun "is punk."
Well put,"punk is dead,but Flipper will kill your mother!"
Conversely - that there have been rightwingers in punk doesn't mean their should be, or that we shouldn't strive to make punk exclusively left/anarchist by whatever means at our disposal. I feel like suggesting otherwise does a disservice to hardworking folk who've made punk something worth saving.
As someone who has helped out with my city's only DIY all-ages venue for the past bunch of years, I'm proud that we have no compunction about denying a platform to rightwing bands.
The more normal this becomes - the better.