The Final Spasms of a Dying Genre

The mid to late 70s was littered with punk acts; a genre which, in retrospect, had a relatively short mainstream shelf life.  It was never defined by its musical quality or rich variation but instead by the message and image it created and lived.  The scene in the UK was largely epitomised by the Sex Pistols and Siouxsie and the Banshees, later followed to some extent into the 80s by the Manchester punk scene including bands such as the slightly misinterpreted right wing militants Joy Division.  Ultimately these were bands that played hard, lived outrageously and died young.  As it happened the Sex Pistols only ever cut one full length record entitled "Never Mind the Bollocks" and Sid Viscous died of a heroin overdose in February ’79 as was the fashion at the time, a trend set by Joplin, Hendrix and Coltrane.  The arrival of the 80s which bought with it a slightly better dressed crowd than its predecessors did nothing to cool punk’s fiery temper as the lead singer of Joy Division, Ian Curtis, hanged himself in May 1980 before the band’s inaugural US tour.  Potentially one of the most enduring groups of the age were The Clash who were formed in '76 as a band to challenge the mite of the Sex pistols.  They actually found their front man Joe Strummer playing with a band called the 101ers but managed to entice him away with promises of Sex Pistols scalping.  In the end they actually ended up touring with them on their "Anarchy in the UK" tour.  The Clash, after numerous personnel changes and a number of successful US tours, not least with The Who, finally permanently split in '86.  A monumental time span in punk history.  

It seems somehow ironic that a large part of the punk epoch spanned the Thatcher years; unquestionably a leader who sparked more controversy north of the Watford Gap than any one since Attila the Hun.  Well I’m sure he would have done if he had made it as far as the Watford motorway services of course.  The irony lies in that true punk is born out of the daily grind and teenage angst; at its heart is a deeply negative energy and punk serves as a cathartic medium for those feelings of anger and frustration.  Many blasphemers would argue that punk lives on at its new address in South beach California.  But this isn’t punk, affluent Middle America and its leafy suburbs are not a breeding ground for the type of emotions punk was designed to vent.  I am not saying for one moment that Blink 182 or Sum 41 aren’t half-decent at what they do and they have certainly made a good fist of the trad. punk sound if not for the want of a little less sound engineering and post production. A friend of mine coined the phrase "pop punk" and this is exactly what it is, popular.  It simply doesn’t fulfil the message and the "don’t give a fuck" image of punk; in fact their poster boy appearances are quite opposed.  

In my opinion the last glimmer of a punk revival occurred in 1995-’97 when the charmingly named Period Pain were unleashed on the world.  None of them were Brahms, and on occasion even simple musical concepts such as time didn’t seem to hold much significance for them.  But they were four sassy 14 year old girls with an attitude problem and something to whinge about-something which they set about with much gusto including songs about cheating on homework, gay boyfriends and the tawdry Spice Girls.  In that short period (no pun intended), in between schoolwork and sleepovers, they did manage to hack off their own small slice of fame.  Certainly their biggest break came with airplay for their album "Virgin Megastars" on radio 1’s "John Peel" show.  To add to that they played to their biggest audience of 1,000 on the Carling Stage at Reading 1997.  I truly believe these four were wise beyond their combined 56 punk years. They had an edgy uncut sound, probably because they had a recording budget of peanuts and they kept it as simple as it should be which was probably because that was all they could manage.  But these reasons simply don’t mean anything, because punk is ultimately an emotional explosion and in the music the face of the artist appears.  I feel with the earthy message these girls brought they could have found a dedicated youth following, but this growth in status never materialised for a couple of reasons.  Quite simply they arrived 20 years too late and missed the punk bus which tore around at break neck speed at least until the end of the decade.  Secondly I have some experience of the environment in which they were schooled and can assure any doubters that it was one in which punk was out and violin virtuosos were in.  In the end only one of the four ended up pursuing a career in music, at present Chloe Alper is the founder and singer of a British band called Pure Reason Revolution.  
And so it came to pass that another punk heart ceased to beat as the Period Pains went their separate ways.  

It has taken nearly a full decade for this rough cut sound to resurface and at present "Arctic Monkeys" are NME’s golden children and its easy to see why, because (sorry to write them off so soon) they just aren’t going to make it big.  NME knows this so has guaranteed itself sure-fire grounds for maintaining its typically obscure taste in contemporary music.  Admittedly they made it on to MTV with their video for the song "I bet you look good on the dance floor" but I predict them to cave in before too long.  Their band name makes me think of a reverse anti global warming message; I guess if it had been high priority on their list of punk gripes they might have considered the name "The Tropical Penguins"?

It’s a terrible shame but true punk simply isn’t diverse enough as a musical genre to create the type of longevity you see in other streams. A perfect example is that when the "The greatest punk album ever" was released they had even found a spot for Blondie's "Denis" (active punkers no doubt, but just not the right song!): it just goes to show that you can’t find enough musical diversity within punk to even fill a 25 track double album.  

On its tomb stone shall be engraved: here lies Punk, it was loud and proud and didn’t take no shit from the world but ultimately it died young and wearing Dr. Martens.