Punk is Dead!  I got to thinking about Punk Rock when I read a comment somewhere from a  purist stating that  Green Day was not Punk. The first thing that came to mind was that this  person probably loved  them at some point but now professes to hate them because of their  immense popularity.

I think  a lot of people have bands they love but have lost interest in after  they got too big, it  happens. It sucks when you go from seeing a band at a club or pub, up  front and usually for  less than ten dollars to having to stand in line with the frat boys and  cheerleaders (well, I  don’t mind the cheerleaders so much) that have recently discovered your  band. Then you have to  sit in some crappy, over-priced seat only to watch the band on the  jumbo-tron, for fucks sake!  But you can’t fault a band for finding fame. Hell, the Clash opened for  The Who for crying out  loud. I mean, I wish my band played to sold-out stadiums every night.  So, “don’t hate the  player” as they say.

Of course Green Day is Punk. Face it Punk comes in many forms. Green day  are just running with  the ball that was handed off to them by bands like Ramones, Screeching  Weasel, and the like.  Just by its very nature Punk doesn’t have to be one thing or the other.  It has a certain  freedom. It can be filthy and lude like G.G Allin. Thoughtful like 7  Seconds and Bad Religion  or make you want to party until you pass out like Gang Green. It doesn’t  always have to be  fast or even melodic for that matter. It can even have keyboards (think  Cough Cool or Howling  at the Moon). See, no rules. However, Blink 182 is no longer punk. Their  membership has been  revoked.

So lets turn it into a metaphor. Green Day are the date that you can  actually bring home to  meet your folks. A little dangerous but you know they’ll have you home  by curfew.   GG Allin  is the one you have to meet somewhere and will never be allowed in your  house.  You love them  both but they are very different versions of the same thing. In my  opinion, I would love to  have been able to catch GG Allin live; in the same way you should  probably see one Tijuana  donkey show before you die. But I would rather sit down and bullshit  with Billy Joe over a  dozen or so pints.  Given the opportunity, I would have probably passed  on partying with GG  because I would have been scared to pass out with him around.

That’s what I know