1979. Disco at it's height, new wave coming to be and metal gods Page and Plant were sold out.
In the dark, lurking in the shadows and sounding like something from the 21st century were a group of misfits and anarchists - The Plasmatics.
"Butcher baby, they're gonna put you away!"
"Ni, si, su, chi"
Slam!
What was it? Punk-metal, metal, the apocalypse? Nothing sounded like that before and hasn't since. Even in 2008, with it's pseudo punk Fall Out Boy top 10 trash, the music from "New Hope for the Wretched" and "Beyond the Valley of 1984" still defies full classification. "Metal Priestess" and "Coup D'Etat", though more metal still lay beyond Metallica and have yet to be reproduced by any band around.
Today, hearing a Plasmatics tune, the sound is still fresh but almost contemporary. Not that it's mainstream or radio-friendly, but today's hordes of poser teens may find some recognizable roots in the tune.
The true anarchists, punks and deathheads would immediately recognize the spirit in which the songs were written. Yet still, much of the Plasmatics work is still ahead of it's time.
The last album returned to the anarchist roots of the band and, though much more complex than "Wretched," somehow manages to assert the Plasmatics lasting place in music history as the band way too ahead of their time.
Showing posts with label punk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label punk. Show all posts
Friday, July 11, 2008
Thursday, September 6, 2007
What the Punk?
Remember 1977?
Remember the Ramones, the Clash, Patti Smith, the Damned?
Remember 1982?
Remember the Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, X, Ism, the Minutemen, the Dicks?
What do you listen to today?
Do you consider it to be punk?
Green Day? Not so much.
Fall Out Boy? Not at all.
Punk is an attitude, a way of living, a way of thinking and a way of rejecting the status quo.
It is not a fashion, despite what the record companies and design houses want you to think.
I stumbled across a fashion magazine the other day and between the gloss of J.Lo and Fall Out Boy there was a section dedicated to "alternative" fashion in music.
The punk section reads, "not much has changed since the 1970s ..." Which is fact for the true punk. But only a poser would invest $1000 to look the part. A real punk finds their clothes at the Salvo, the thrift store or the ultimate cool place, the trash.
To think you are punk because you buy the marketing and clothes is really posing and defeating the whole concept of punk.
Same for Goth.
A real goth is morose and finds their clothing in second hand shops, looking for that 19th century feel. When I found that the "goths" being offered for fashion were wearing $15,000 Ralph Lauren dresses, I had all I could do to keep from vomiting.
And I can't even go into Rave. Any self-respecting club kid would retch at the thought of actually paying $10,000 for a shirt. Real club kids put their look together from second hand bits, trash and whatever. Designer rave takes all the creativity and joy out of it.
Punks, goths, ravers all formed as a way to say FUCK YOU to the system. Tragically, the posers don't really understand that. They sacrifice spirit and inner truth for high couture and demean all those who have that true attitude in their hearts.
Hey ... did you hear that? That was Joey Ramone spinning in his grave. Of course it was a 4/4 beat at hyperspeed.
Remember the Ramones, the Clash, Patti Smith, the Damned?
Remember 1982?
Remember the Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, X, Ism, the Minutemen, the Dicks?
What do you listen to today?
Do you consider it to be punk?
Green Day? Not so much.
Fall Out Boy? Not at all.
Punk is an attitude, a way of living, a way of thinking and a way of rejecting the status quo.
It is not a fashion, despite what the record companies and design houses want you to think.
I stumbled across a fashion magazine the other day and between the gloss of J.Lo and Fall Out Boy there was a section dedicated to "alternative" fashion in music.
The punk section reads, "not much has changed since the 1970s ..." Which is fact for the true punk. But only a poser would invest $1000 to look the part. A real punk finds their clothes at the Salvo, the thrift store or the ultimate cool place, the trash.
To think you are punk because you buy the marketing and clothes is really posing and defeating the whole concept of punk.
Same for Goth.
A real goth is morose and finds their clothing in second hand shops, looking for that 19th century feel. When I found that the "goths" being offered for fashion were wearing $15,000 Ralph Lauren dresses, I had all I could do to keep from vomiting.
And I can't even go into Rave. Any self-respecting club kid would retch at the thought of actually paying $10,000 for a shirt. Real club kids put their look together from second hand bits, trash and whatever. Designer rave takes all the creativity and joy out of it.
Punks, goths, ravers all formed as a way to say FUCK YOU to the system. Tragically, the posers don't really understand that. They sacrifice spirit and inner truth for high couture and demean all those who have that true attitude in their hearts.
Hey ... did you hear that? That was Joey Ramone spinning in his grave. Of course it was a 4/4 beat at hyperspeed.
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