CANADIAN punk trio NoMeansNo played in a tiny New York club in September, and attracted about 300 fans who slam-danced until 1 a.m.—a normal Thursday night in the trendy Williamsburg district.
What is noteworthy, however, is that the band's drummer, guitarist and bassist are 44, 46 and 52 years old, respectively. Punk rock has firmly entered middle age, and is within sight of senior citizenship.
NoMeansNo play the specifically American strain of "hardcore punk"—a faster, louder, less tuneful version of punk rock that emerged in the '80s. Hardcore is now 20 years old, and—improbably—still going strong.
Hardcore began as a reaction to the decline of 1970s punk and its replacement by the more commercially palatable new wave. Hardcore took punk in the opposite direction: Songs were stripped of unnecessary accoutrements, like instrument solos, and the guitars' distortion levels were cranked. The songs were played at comically fast speed, often making the music difficult to comprehend, let alone enjoy.
The influence of punk on marketing has been well-documented. Even the logo from the movie Marie Antoinette is inspired by the Sex Pistols' ransom-note typeface. What is surprising is the resurgence—or at least persistence—of interest in hardcore, which remains among the least-listenable genres of pop music, and was only interesting to a tiny segment of the populace even at its height.
Earlier this month, the documentary American Hardcore began playing in theaters. It charts the glory years of hardcore, 1980 to 1986, when a small number of suburban kids in Washington, New York and Southern California formed bands, traded tapes and printed fanzines.
Last year saw the release of documentary Punk: Attitude, which contained a lengthy section on the development of hardcore in America.
And the year-long fretting over the closure this month of CBGB, the New York club where punk was invented and the Ramones were kings, has created tangential interest in the hardcore bands that played many more gigs at CB's than their punk forefathers ever did.
Hardcore bands have enjoyed the nostalgia; it was easier to see a hardcore gig in New York this fall than it was 20 years ago when the scene was born. Sick Of It All, Guerrilla Biscuits, Leeway, Bouncing Soles, Murphy's Law and Bad Brains all played here recently. Like NoMeansNo, the performances featured more gray hair, bald spots and spare tires than combat boots and leather jackets.
Hardcore is, in business terms, a marginal affair (see sidebar, page 21). Minor Threat, which defined the scene in 1980 and split up in 1983, is the most famous band from the movement, but its sales would be loose change to most companies: "I'm guessing that we sell 15 to 20,000 Minor Threat CDs a year," said singer Ian MacKaye, "but that figure goes up and down."
And it is not news that rebellious teenagers eventually turn into 30-somethings with disposable income who are happy to re-buy their record collections from youth on CD, DVD or as digital downloads.
But in terms of influence—how small, extreme trends spark larger, less offensive ones—hardcore offers a case study worthy of a Malcolm Gladwell essay. An enormous chunk of today's pop culture, from Green Day and tattoos to the resurgence of the plaid flannel shirt in the early 1990s, owes its health to hardcore. It also illustrates the difficulty and risk of deliberately attempting to attach your brand to a grassroots pop culture movement.
Aside from the noise, the defining feature of hardcore was its noncommercial nature. Bands and their fans largely organized their own concerts, zines and record labels because, as Paul Rachman, director of American Hardcore, said, "There's no record companies, no managers, no lawyers [and] I can't hear it on the radio, I can't buy it in the record store."
The hardcore scene thus emerged as a virtually brand-free zone. In fact, hardcore has historically been hostile to brands: Last year, Nike was famously forced to apologize after it appropriated the iconic cover imagery of Minor Threat's 1981 self-titled debut album for a skateboarding ad with the headline "Major Threat."
Despite the hesitancy of bands to "go corporate" and the tendency for hardcore songs to be far from melodic jingles, some ditties have been used in advertising, which can be lucrative for musicians. Two examples: MTV used the opening chords of The Descendents' "I'm The One" on its station promos in the late '90s, and Civ's "Can't Wait One Minute More" was used in a 2005 Nissan ad. The Dead Kennedys were approached by Levi's for use of "Holiday in Cambodia," but members argued over whether it was appropriate for a punk band to assist a large corporation in its marketing.
A few companies have prospered by allowing their brands to be adopted by hardcore fans without actively promoting themselves that way. Dr. Martens, for instance, is the default shoe of the punk movement, though it rarely, if ever, has advertised itself as such. This year, skateboarding apparel line Vision produced a Sick of It All shoe, but that venture was discontinued, according to Heidi Minx of Franky & Minx in New York, who brokered the deal. Those, however, tend to be an exception.
What is more interesting for trendwatchers is why hardcore has resurged now. One answer is politics. Many hardcore bands stood in violent opposition to President Ronald Reagan and the Religious Right. When Bill Clinton became president in 1992, hardcore lost its main punching bag. Under the new Bush Administration, however, the political landscape contains targets strikingly similar to ones that hardcore railed against 20 years ago. The song "What If There's A War In America?" by 7 Seconds made sense in the declining years of the Cold War but seemed antique during the peaceful, prosperous 1990s. Today, lines like "One bomb could rip this place apart" sound eerily prescient.
Thus hardcore is a reminder to marketers that even the least-promising pop-cultural detritus can contain seeds that will re-bloom, newly relevant, decades later.
Re: Punks Not Dead...but it will be used in an tv d!
Hardcore rules.
I started listening to all the old stuff a few years ago and now all these bands are getting back together.
Coming in November, AGRESSION AND VERBAL ABUSE! ####### stoked.
Re: Punks Not Dead...but it will be used in an tv d!
Funny to think that classical music was once the day's pop music.
Now, it's just a bunch of people who keep listening to the greats for years on end.
In modern terms, the composers have had covers of their pieces/songs/what have you for the past few hundred years. Not a bad track record.
Variations are remixes (now for the Crystal Method's Remixes on a Theme by Paganini...).
Fortissimo has changed to jacked-up gain.
Same with classic rock.
Names and labels may change, but the music itself will be there.
People haven't changed all that much, so if someone liked a kind of music in the past, chances are that someone will like it in the future.
I'll both laugh and cry the day when I see a bunch of 100-year-olds tearing it up in a chaos pit.
Geez though ... time really does fly by.
Even Pokemon celebrated their 10-year anniversary. No joke. That's a decade folks.
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Re: Punks Not Dead...but it will be used in an tv d!
I started listening to hardcore in 1984 being introduced to Suicidal Tendencies through skating. Now I am one of those 30-something generation still listening to the old nostalgic stuff. I am sad to hear of the closing of CBGB, even though I never got to go myself it was an icon. The non-commercial element of hardcore was one of its best, now its all fashion punks and emo-crap( I hate emo!!). Anyways, just rambling with no real point........
Long live hardcore!!
Re: Punks Not Dead...but it will be used in an tv d!
are you a punk?
truthquiz.com
get the barf bag..NOW!
TruthQuiz Preview: Am I A Punk?Users who take this TruthQuiz will be able to rate you on up to ten of the questions/topics listed below. If you decide to go for this quiz, here's what your takers will see. You can pick as many as ten questions or as few as three.
... and yes, we'll replace the [your name] boxes with your actual name. Whadda think we are? Maroons? Yes, Make This My TruthQuiz!No Thanks. Back To Quiz Listing.1. Does [your name] prefer bands that scream to bands that sing?2. Would [your name]'s belt or neckwear set off a metal detector?3. Would [your name] feel at home in a squat?4. Does [your name] ever snarl?5. Does [your name] ever mold his/her hair into interesting and unnatural
shapes with the aid of a glue-like substance?6. Does [your name] refer to cops as "pigs" and spit on the ground
every time they're mentioned?7. How does [your name] feel about anarchy?8. Would [your name] get accepted into Rock and Roll High School?9. Does [your name] have a natural disdain for Avril Lavigne?10. Does [your name] rock the punk footwear?11. Does [your name] do a good impersonation of a cockney British accent?12. Does [your name] rock out to Good Charlotte? (Or: does
[your name] think that Good Charlotte is a bunch of poseurs and
will only listen to The Clash and The Sex Pistols?13. Does [your name] resent authority figures?Yes, Make This My TruthQuiz!No Thanks. Back To Quiz Listing.
Re: Punks Not Dead...but it will be used in an tv d!
Crazier than GG,
More PC than Ian.
Got colored teeth like Johnny,
Exudes a vicious disposition.
His hair sticks out like Colin's did,
he jumps, similar to Springa, he points his middle finga.
Not just he singer in the band.
Voted biggest asshole, and role model of the year.
Got a face like Charles Bronson,
Straight outta Green Bay Wisconsin,
Not just a singer in the band.
He'll puke on you, he'll #### your mom,
He'll smoke while huffing gas.
He was the punkest mother ####er I ever did see.
Punks Not Dead...but it will be used in an tv d!
Users who take this TruthQuiz will be able to rate you on up to ten of the questions/topics listed below. If you decide to go for this quiz, here's what your takers will see. You can pick as many as ten questions or as few as three.
