LiveJournalSound for a Pound Collection 2007
11 04 08 - 10:55What is Punk? Is Punk dead?
Well that is an interesting question. I guess you can go back to the garage rock of The Modern Lovers, through the glam of The New York Dolls, to the art-school influenced work of Adam and the Ants, Wire and all the other acts that spawned Art-Punk and Post-Punk. Punk is raw energetic rock and roll with an intelectual edge that subverts traditional gender and societal roles. From a British perspective it is riddled with folks like me, people from Working Class backgrounds who go to university thanks to a socialist taxation system and want to Rip it up and Start again.
But not all Punk is this way of course.In the US art-school and university have never been such a viable option for those who don't come from wealthier backgrounds. American Hardcore was butch as hell, and a million miles from the androgyny of aspects of Brit-Punk. Then you have Oi, Anarcho-Punk and Ska, this latter being the one of the greatest ideas in the history of music. Now this stuff isn't quite my thing, sure American Hardcore spawned the Emotive Hardcore of Rites of Spring, and without it Bikini Kill and other bands wouldn't have brought Riot-Grrrl into the world. We could blame American Hardcore for the worst of Pop-Punk and Emo, but there is still some good stuff in these genres that we shouldn't ignore.
So here we have 29 tracks of the Punk I don't listen to. For £2 delivered, or downloadable from Myspace, or £1 from a gig. Bargain.
One thing that ties Punk together is innovation. Wheras some genres are so technically obsessed that they can never innovate without hybridizing with other genres (and let's face it the whole New Wave of British Heavy Metal owes more to Punk than any other genre), Punk has always provided a space for new ideas and saying something. Soicialist, Anarchist, Feminist, Anti-Racist and Queer all go in front of the word Punk. And some rawk fans wonder why real music fans laught at them.
These are real acts brimming with energy and ideas and tension. Don't expect too much intelectualism , or wonders of technical creativity. Stop being an art-ponce and just enjoy Rock and Roll from people with something to say that doesn't involve continental philosophy for once.
There are some standout artists. Cambridge based The Tagnuts open the CD with a slice of high energy Ska, and they are on my list to catch a live gig. Dumpster Pop offer pop-punk that is all about smiling I guess, and sing about Zombies which is bound to go down well in my book. Worm are what I think Emo should sound like, grabbing you by the heart and wrecking your body. Burnt Cross are both politicaly and musically interesting.
The Transmission sound like a a bunch of Street Punks colided with some Crusties, and about time. Hotwired lay out Oi injected with some lessons learnt from Joy Division. Red Button offer 70's brit-punk vocals (rrrrrr) with some solid ska rythms which I challenge you not to dance to. The A.C.'s manage to make harder-punk sound kind of interesting with Reggae influences, and the lyrics are worth listening to.
And that is just what I liked. You might like something different. This compilation is easilly a match for anything that Hellcat or Hopeless Records can knock together. And to quote The Bullet Kings, it is about Punk not Profit.
This CD is an education. Punk is not Dead, and there is lots that those of us at the Artier end of things can learn from and just enjoy. It costs practically nothing. So go and get it. 4/5
Sound for a Pound Collection 2007
1) The Tagnuts - Laugh In Your Own Time
2) Hotwired - Control Freak
3) Dead Batteries - Media
4) Dumpster Pop - Drink Song
5) WORM - Fao Ceo
6) Dirty Protest - Fishhead Rice
7) Burnt Cross - Freedom Of Speech
8) The Transmission - Hate
9) Hotwired - Friday Night
10) Near The Knuckle - Jeremy
11) Hotwired - Love You Baby
12) Red Button Contingency Band - MF Stop ’n Go
13) Near The Knuckle - Needs A Remix
14) WORM - No1 International
15) Red Butten Contingecny Band - Nobody Breathe
16) Officer Down - We are Not the Enemy
17) The Deadenders - Pissed up, shattered
18) Power Is Poison - War On Freedom
19) PUS - A Life In Fear
20) Burnt Cross - Smash the Labs 21) The Deadenders - Squaddy Scum
22) The Transmission - Summer Nights Dream
23) The A.C’s - Burying Jerrusalem
24) The A.C’s -No control
25) The A.C’s -TA
26) The Bullet Kings - London Town Burnout
27) The Bullet Kings - Punk Not Profit
28) Dirty Protest - Wake Up
29) Dumpster Pop - Zombies
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