As Long as There’s Angst There will be Punk Music
Punk Music has evolved over the years from its not-so-humble UK beginnings back in the mid-to-late 70’s. Today there is still a thriving punk scene in North America, Europe and Japan. In fact, thanks to the Internet and ease of file-sharing programs, punk bands that normally would be confined to their garages now have the opportunity to expand their popularity exponentially in an attempt to gather a larger and more loyal following. If in fact they had such thing in the first place.
Fortunately for Punk bands and for followers of the same, as long as there are angst-ridden youth there will always be an outlet and a market for Punk bands and the Punk culture that follows suit.
So what is punk? Or maybe it’s better to say what WAS punk? In the good ‘ol days Punk was referred to the anarchic disregard for anything mainstream and respectable. In case you forgot Sid Vicious was Punk’s poster-boy and his disciples ran the gamut from Iggy Pop to Elvis Costello. But somewhere along the way, rebellion gave way to earning a living. Even if you weren’t exactly proud of it.
Punk Music found itself caught in a real Catch-22 situation: hating your father and your father’s music and anything else that represented selling out, yet at the same time, hey – those residual checks sure come in handy in a weird capitalist kind-of-way.
Reagan and Thatcher have evolved into Bush and Blair and here we are in the new millennium and suddenly punk bands have gained a certain respectability that they lacked before.
Some good music continues to come out of all this rage and on some level it’s nice to know that the punk culture is alive and well and fully ensconced in a love-hate relationship with the rest of society.
