Why is punk so popular?

[ofmknockoff]

I don't mean to be rude or anythinng but I'm just wondering what you shmoes like about it. I guess I just have trouble relating to the current trend of mainstream punk, I have the strange feeling that N'SYNC decided to but on funny costumes and start a band called Good Charlette.

[John Dark]

Originally posted by ofmknockoff
I don't mean to be rude or anythinng but I'm just wondering what you shmoes like about it. I guess I just have trouble relating to the current trend of mainstream punk, I have the strange feeling that N'SYNC decided to but on funny costumes and start a band called Good Charlette.

Now, in 2003, Punk has finally become safe enough and mainstream enough for public consumption.

Strangely enough, a great majority of the fans of present day pop punk seem to feel as if they are expressing some sort of individuality or rebellion by listening to it. Kinda like that old zinger, "I want to be different, just like everybody else." -anon.


JD

[badberry]

I like the music. It is pleasing to my ear. Nuff said.

However "mainstream" it may be is irrelevant. Pop punk is the trend of the day, but who knows how long it'll last. Quality punk music will always continue to be around.

Personally, I'd rather see kids getting into this kind of stuff rather than the dance-pop and MTV hip hop. It just may lead them into some cooler bands.

[El Bracamonti]

i wouldn't say i hate punk like i would rap, but punk sounds all the same to me. i can't tell between the blinks and the sums and the good charlottes or the new found glorys........they're all the same to me.

[ofmknockoff]

I agree with you, I don't hate it but it all sounds the same to me. I used to listen to hardcore and oi quite a bit but I got tired of that. especially PunkCore, how can people make such shit?

I still think the Dead Kennedys were great but they were too good to ever be called punk. I love Plastic Surgery Disasters but it seems really experimental.

[dionysus]

Originally posted by El Bracamonti
i wouldn't say i hate punk like i would rap, but punk sounds all the same to me. i can't tell between the blinks and the sums and the good charlottes or the new found glorys........they're all the same to me.

these bands are really just pop. the only reason people call them punk is some of them have rancid shirts and they play their own instruments. afew years ago n'sync would have been called punk if it was popular because they wore misfits shirts at one of their interviews.

[beastieben21]

Originally posted by dionysus
these bands are really just pop. the only reason people call them punk is some of them have rancid shirts and they play their own instruments. afew years ago n'sync would have been called punk if it was popular because they wore misfits shirts at one of their interviews.

Agreed. Now I do loathe punk music, but what passes for punk today is sort of ridiculous. Punk music has never, NEVER been what it once was and never will be again. NOFX and MxPx aren't really punk, just because NOFX uses 'clever' play on words like the War on Errorism and talk...sorta...politics (it's not really informed, just kinda...'we hate the 'system'') doesn't mean they are rebelling. Bands that mean something to a culture and can start a mini-revolution like The Clash and the Sex Pistols won't be seen for a while...a looong while. Punk music is just nostalgia. It's a bunch of kids wearing leather jackets with faded Sid Vicious shirts thinking they are a being original when in reality they are just like the teen's that call in and vote for TRL each day. Putting feathers up your ass doesn't make you a chicken.

[Annie Hall]

Why is rap so popular?

Why do very few people under 18 know the name "Lou Reed" and all that it means?

Why is Christina Aguilera considered a "mature adult" by being naked more often?

Why is The Clash passed over for Good Charlotte and Sum 41?

Why is Bob Dylan just an "old dude screeching" while Ludacris is said to have talent?

Why is some of this modern day "punk", though some of it I admittedly enjoy, shite popular?

(shrug)

The world may never know.

[the p&j experiance]

It's popular because now it's cool to rebel, rebellion used to be cool, when not everybody and their fucking mom wanted to do it, now everybody thinks they're rebels because they wear abnormal clothing and do interesting things with make-up and their hair. If it wasn't for the fact that MTV wasn't saying it was cool, then everybody would probably still be stuck somewhere between boy bands and Nelly.

What the hell is up with Avril Lavinge thinking that she is punk? That's what I really want to know.

[John Dark]

Originally posted by El Bracamonti
i wouldn't say i hate punk like i would rap, but punk sounds all the same to me. i can't tell between the blinks and the sums and the good charlottes or the new found glorys........they're all the same to me.

edit: redundant.

[bankholdup]

Good Charlotte, Simple Plan, all of those bands, are NOT punk. Punk was a lifestyle, like the Sex Pistols and The Ramones. They were punk. Punk wasn't about money and being famous and getting airplay, nowadays, it basically is. Punks back in the day couldn't give two shits if they got on TRL (or whatever was back then), they lived their lifestyle. "Punks" nowadays are all over the place, and it's ridiculous, it makes me sick to my stomach. These guys out now are what I refer to as 'Pussy-Punk'.


But I have no idea why "Punk" is so popular. I remember a day when you had to have at least a good voice to be in a band....thems were the days.

[skaaddict3303]

god i hate punk rock posts. they always turn into political things. someone close this before it gets too messy, please. honestly people. just get the key points down, like omg nfg and gc and blink arent punk, dude mtv sucks blah blah blah. i mean i agree with these statements but guy, come on.... there are a lot of posts like these!!!! forget it!!!!

[Kastman]

i like it cuz it sounds good...

[badberry]

Originally posted by Kastman
i like it cuz it sounds good...

Yay. Someone who agrees with me.

My favourite genre of music. Bad Religion > anybody.

[teenkiller]

Originally posted by badberry
Yay. Someone who agrees with me.

My favourite genre of music. Bad Religion > anybody.

Bad Religion is the shit. Minor Threat and the Bad Brains are also among the many bands I love. Well thats all for now GOoD JOURNEY my fellow schmoes.

[EvilDeadGirl]

Punk rock is some good shit. I've listened to it for a long time along with varous other types of music. Working in a CD store tends to broaden one's musical tastes. Anyway I agree with a lot of whats being said here. Punk rock isn't punk rock anymore. Punk rock nowadays is some band who got mommy and daddy to buy them their instruments and spend all kinds of money on clothes that "look" the part so to speak.

The other day I went into "Charlotte Russe" (Sp?) This is one of those stores that I normally don't venture into unless I'm buying work clothes, anyway! Guess what they were selling? The same "punk" shit I see in crappy stores like Hot Topic. Sorry felt the need to rant about that a bit....


It's popular because now it's cool to rebel, rebellion used to be cool, when not everybody and their fucking mom wanted to do it, now everybody thinks they're rebels because they wear abnormal clothing and do interesting things with make-up and their hair. If it wasn't for the fact that MTV wasn't saying it was cool, then everybody would probably still be stuck somewhere between boy bands and Nelly.


In short I agree completely.

[SykkBoy]

I want my punk rock to be angry, loud, aggressive and ugly...I want a pissed off motherfucker yelling about his life being shit and how he just wants to kick some heads in...

it should be sweaty, smelly and full of energy.....kinda like the toilets at CBGB's

A mohawk and a couple tattooes aren't enough......

[kidkre0le]

my favorite oxymoron used to be rap music.
it's now closely followed by mainstream punk.

[quoth_the_raven]

oh for gods sake, does it really matter what we call it? everyone likes something different, i admit i like some of this mainstream punk and i will also own up i like to listen to things that sound like a jumbo jet taking off.

who cares what tag its given if you enjoy listening to it?

[AFIFan]

What's popular now is not punk. It's boy bands tossed into a pot with a couple of earrings, skate shirts, and guitars. This delectable formula yields suck...I mean such lovable chart busters such as Simple Plan, blink 182, and Good Charlotte. You can't just wake up one morning and decide "Oh, I'm going to listen to punk today." You have to BE a punk, you have to look outside the box, whose inhabitants think they are being rebels, but are really dragging themselves farther away from what they really desire. You have to be yourself. And if yourself isn't punk, then gather up your Not By Choice CDs and get your bitch ass out of my way.

[stewiegriffin]

It's only popular because it sold out and went mainstream, this shit isn't even punk rock for christs sake, you wanna hear punk check out Black Flag or the Sex pistols that is what true punk is. And it's sad because I absolutely hate the shit and i know who the forefathers of it are

[shoe1985]

I'm not a big punk rock fan. Most of my friends listen to punk rock and they diss all the bands you have dissed. The reason punk is mainstream is because what else is there in music to get on the bandwagon too. Rap is dying down, pop music ended a few years ago, and punk was the next thing to get on. It will die down, and I hate to know what will be the nect big thing. Even though you don't considered these bands to be punk, they have been given the title "Pop-Punk".

[John Dark]

Dear Everyone,

Go buy, borrow or download all of the following albums:

The Ramones: s/t
Buzzcocks: Singles Going Steady
Sex Pistols: Never Mind the Bollocks
Wire: Pink Flag
Clash: s/t, London Calling
The Stranglers: No More Heroes
Stiff Little Fingers: Inflammable Material
Fear: The Record
The Damned: Damned Damned Damned
The Vibrators: Pure Mania
Dead Boys: Young Loud and Snotty
X-Ray Spex: Germ-Free Adolescents

Then -- and only then -- you may talk about punk. Until then, kindly shut the hell up.

[ofmknockoff]

John Dark,

I have owned/listened to almost all of those albums back in the day when I used to listen to that sort of thing.

The Ramones: just sped up '50s music, very boring after a few listens.
Buzzcocks: Not amazing but not terrible either.
Sex Pistols: HORRIBLE, the only reason that they are so orignal was because of how terrible they were. Their idiotic antics are the only reason that they are so well known.
Wire: I haven't heard them
The Clash: London Calling is one of my all-time favorite albums but it isn't punk
The Stranglers: I don't understand how they were ever grouped into the punk movement, enough said
Stiff Little Fingers: their music is only slightly better than the Dex Pistols, different but it still sucks
Fear: Not great by any means, nor did they do really stupid things, maybe that's why they aren't as well known as the Sex Pistols
The Damned: I'm not a fan of early Damned but I love their stuff from the eighties
The Vibrators: never understood what was so amazing
The Dead Boys: some of the songs were catchy but very empty
X-Ray Spex: so bizarre it's amazing

I'm not even asking why mainstream emo/hardcore is so popular, I'm talking about all forms of punk, it all has quite the fan base, even if it isn't mainstream.

And I don't think that there has ever been an American Punk band, it was a truely English phenomenon, America has hardcore and emo.

[Kastman]

Seriously guys, you have got to get oever the whole "whats punk and whats not" argument because the fact is, there is a new kind of punk, and no mater how much you don't like it, that's what it is catogorised (sp?) as, and you can't do jack shit about it... so give it up.well technically it's Pop punk, so theres a little bit better for ya.... and don't come back with the whole "the word pop has no meaning in front of punk" or whatever the hell you guys say because i have heard it heaps at other sites like mxtabs.net forums and shit, because as i have learned pop is short for popular music, and if your saying that punk is only punk if it isn't popular, then you are fucking crazy...


im not sure how much of that makes sense i just type what im thinking...

If that didn't make sense then i'll sum it up as short as I can.... Punk has changed, deal with it