“The desperate, innate desire to create and perform had been exploited rather than supported. It was like taking a basic human need, like wanting to love and be loved, and then finding a way to make money from it. Sick.” – David Byrne, ‘How Music Works’
Well, it’s punk rock year, it’s anarchy year. We began with George Hurchalla teaching us about Husker Dü and Naked Raygun and Reaghan Buchanan teaching us about Pure Hell and Big Joanie. I bet you have an image of punks in your head—mohawk or liberty spikes, tattoos, jackets with patches and buttons, torn jeans, Doc Marten boots. Sometimes they look like that. Even Henry Rollins grew his hair out at one point, though. So let’s see what Wikimedia Commons thinks punks are.
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There are a million images of dudes of all genders with spiky hair and patched-up jackets. They all look sick as hell. As Green Room reminds us, though, fashion does not always equal punk. These two dudes at Sound Of Music in San Fransisco in 1984 are just being polite about you taking their picture. They really just want to forget this last week at work before the pit gets started. But they do hope you have a good time at the show.
Punk is not exclusively white, and punk is not dead. This man is Bobby Vylan. He and his bandmate Bobbie Vylan believe in a free Palestine, so much so that it has gotten them into legal trouble for *checks notes* leading chants on stage. You can read up on it if you want. While youdo, just remember that Kier Starmer resigned in disgrace and the BBC employed and enabled one of the most prolific pedophiles of the 20th century for multiple decades.
So, so many shows we played in high school looked just like this. Not sure if this is someone’s backyard or carport, but we played so many backyards and carports. Apparently this band is named Lapsus.
Look at this flyer for a festival in Chile. This flyer rips. It’s not the coolest flyer I’ve ever seen, and I’ve never heard of any of the bands (all of the names are incredible, a pesar de mi español limitado), but what an aesthetic. Punk flyers are one part collage, one part ransom note. Lately, I’m seeing more and more “your AI-generated flyer looks like shit” posts on both Bluesky and Instagram (whenever I can be bothered to open Instagram and then after scrolling for a minute to see something from someone I know, that is). What has been lost, with flyers getting so shitty? So much. The whole point of Instagram (to me anyway) is basically flyers, and the flyers should look better. I’ve never used genAI at all, but I’m going to wean myself off Canva, too. Time to rediscover the old ways.
Buttons mean they won’t forget your message. Any punk rocker worth anything has a leftist message. Sure, sometimes it’s said alongside things like “wanna get lit and jump off the roof of my house?” But it’s not punk if it’s not lefty, at least according to yr man the shipwrecked sailor.
Sorry you got an email,
Chris