I gotta disagree here. Punk music in it's real form is dead. It's become a style, which is totally seperate from what it was intended to be. It was in a sense, a non-style. Be what you want to be. The spirit lives on in a few bands, but even true metal conforms itself to styles, save for a few amazing bands (like newer Dimmu Borgir, Therion, Blind Guardian, Nevermore, Lacuna Coil, and oddly enough, Iron Maiden). The ideals rage on, but I don't think "teenage angst" has much, if anything to do with punk. They are loosely related, in that teenage angst can actually bloom into a true feeling of disobedience, but I think all the punkers are becoming bizzarre communist defects. Communism, as a rule, would never be able to exist alongside punks. For communism to work, people would all have to be the same. For punk to work, you have to think for yourself. They cancel each other out. While people are inherently sheep, they also inherently aspire to greatness. A good reason why Capitalism has ruled so long. It's a good balance. Let them believe they're thinking for themselves, but give them enough security to know they can always become part of the herd anytime they wish.
I have no problem with people listening to old school punk music. Appreciate the classics as you wish. I just want this stupid MTV-bled generation to realize that dressing up like a "sk8er boi" and acting like a frat brother while singing songs about how much you hate your parents, then singing songs about how much you love some girl, does not make you a punk band.
Green Day, in my opinion, was punk. It was punk even through the album after Insomniac and Dookie. But at some point I started noticing the songs started to sound alike. Then they started to sound like other bands. Maybe the other bands sounded like them, I'm not sure. But the day I heard a couple tracks off of "Warning", I though "huh, another Blink 182 clone." I never listened to the band agian.
It goes the same for many different genres. Bands start to sound like the more popular bands that they inspired. Look at metallica. Originally an aweosme thrash band, now another mallcore clone of a clone that sounds just like Korn, watered down, and spiced with even more angst. Angst? Those guys are in their late 30s by now. I'd think they'd be past "angst", and moving into "fear of dying".
In any case, the disappearance of good music and people in the punk "genre" just left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I wasn't there for the beginning, but I think I saw the end of punk in a true form. It now masquerades itself in many forms, and clings to ancient traditions via old bands. Thus, I departed the music, and the people I thought I knew, and began a journey into being a metalhead. Oddly enough, it was easier to feel accepted in such an insular group that prides itself on being fairly exclusive. Now the challenge is finding people who like real metal, instead of the "nu-metal" mallcore crap.
As for punk not being dead because people still listen to it, one could say the same for Swing, 50s rock, classical, and old style R&B. It's dead. Maybe only clinically, but it's still dead. I would say metal is dead too, but when a band like Iron Maiden can still fill a stadium, while turning away people in droves because the entire facility is occupied, I tend to think otherwise.
At least I still have Drexle.
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