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Punk turns 30: It's still bucking the system, just in different ways
from: getoutaz.com
by Chelsea Ide
Punk rock is supposed to be young and rebellious.
But it’s been 30 years since the Ramones’ genre-pioneering first album came out.
Punk rock is now married with kids.
Age, however, is only a number to the bands still screaming against the establishment and championing the alienated.
No where is this more evident than this summer's Warped Tour, punk rock's annual showcase founded by Kevin Lyman in 1995, which comes to the Valley on Tuesday.
The 2006 Warped lineup brings together early '80s rockers like JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS, '80s political punk Anti-Flag and current ties-and-makeup screamo cover boys My Chemical Romance.
This makes the tour appeal to a wide range of ages.
Ashley Adams, the 31-year-old drummer of Tempe punk trio The Dames, can catch JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS.
"I remember taking my 45 of ‘I Love Rock N’ Roll’ to third grade, and now she's playing Warped tour," she says.
And Adams' kids Corbin, 13, and Aislynn, 8, can take in the younger punk screamo bands like Hawthorne Heights.
Many rockers who experienced punk in its infancy have trouble accepting emo and screamo bands as punk rock, says Will "Vil Vodka" Tynor, former member of Valley glam punk band Blanche Davidian.
"Punk is a far more abstract idea than people are willing to admit," says the Tempe resident, who manages a handful of bands. "Punk, representing the anti-pop culture, is still free of musical characteristics. Whatever music is pushing the boundaries in the opposite direction of pop, whatever cultural movement experiences the most social resistance, is punk.
"Many of the jewel keepers of the punk aesthetic strongly oppose that theory, because all of a sudden you have moms dropping their 14-year-old kids off at a ‘punk’ show, but vowing that they would never let their kids listen or go see Marilyn Manson.
"Marilyn Manson holds a more dangerous element than Blink 182, but calling Manson ‘punk’ would ruffle a lot of feathers in the punk community."
Punk rock evolves
Of course, those are moms who didn’t grow up as punk rockers. But even those who did still set guidelines.
Adams, who also works a 9-to-5 job at a Tempe data storage company, won't let her kids come to Dames shows if they’re at bars (which is the majority). But she doesn’t restrict Corbin and Aislynn from listening to any type of music.
"I want my kids to make their own decisions on what they like to listen to. So rather than coerce them into going (to a punk show), I’d rather support their desire to see live music, however that may manifest itself," she says.
Her son Corbin, though, is definitely a punk rocker; his first show was Boston punk-rock band Dropkick Murphys last year. Although mom didn’t take him, she bought the tickets and let him go on a school night.
(Plus, having a mom in a punk-rock band works pretty well for a teenage boy. A cute girl from school approached him simply because of his The Dames shirt. She liked the band; he just supports his mom.)
The standards of punk rock have evolved: Those who got beaten up by jocks and went home and cranked Black Flag may not get how Against Me! does the same thing for their nephews and nieces.
Younger generations always rebel against standards and work to redefine them, Tynor says.
"Musically, the ’60s will always sound better to my dad than anything released today. I have to agree with him sometimes. But when I was 15, The Clash were to me what The Grass Roots were to him. A.F.I. is to people 15 years younger than me what the Misfits were to punks my age," he explains.
The unifying factor is the integrity of the bands. Adams puts it simply, "Punk is to the point, honest, raw and unapologetic."
Punk goes pop
When 29-year-old Micah Elliot started going to the Warped Tour's Valley stops in 1996, it was a mainstream punk-rock show featuring Bouncing Souls and the Descendents.
"It’s pretty obvious where their attention is being diverted these days. . . . The punk-rock tradition seems to be taking a back seat to over-marketed, more popular bands like My Chemical Romance and Hawthorne Heights," says Elliot, one of the founders of AZPunk.com.
The online music site has sponsored a local stage at the Warped Tour's Valley stop each year since 2002.
"What used to be a punk-rock Lollapalooza has turned into a popularity showcase to draw more ticket sales," he laments.
But maybe punks shouldn’t care if Saves the Day is labeled punk rock.
"Deciding what’s right or acceptable for everyone is exactly what punk ideology has directed its aggression against, and as far as I’m concerned that is much more important to keep in mind than who makes the ‘punk list,’ " says Adams.
The popularity of mainstream punk hasn't hurt the Valley scene, Adams and Elliot agree.
"It’s no bother to a majority of the local fans," Elliot says. "We tend to create our own punk-rock events out here for the love of the art, and from what I've seen throughout the local music community, it’s not going to change."
Those putting on shows in the East Valley have paid attention to the breadth of punk rock, making sure to cater to traditional sounds like Phoenix's Glass Heroes and new punk and emo like Montreal's Simple Plan, although Elliot says not to assume older punks like only one type of punk and the younger fans like another.
Making punk punk
Elliot says punk is changing; for example, he thinks people are pretty much over screamo.
"A large portion of the community demands the gritty, analog sound that punk rock was created from, but there’s also a chunk of fans that want to get away from the screamo and over-produced sound that has been popularized over the past 15 years," Elliot says.
But he thinks change is a good thing.
"People will continue to love and hate it all," he says. "That’s kind of what makes punk, punk."
Tynor agrees to an extent, though he encourages change.
"Punk music today is too interwoven in the pop-culture fabric, and I urge today's young rebels to look beyond the Green Days and Chemical Romances," he explains. "It doesn’t mean they need to look toward 1977 or 1982, necessarily, but it does mean they should look past what mass media is force-feeding them."
Although younger bands don't speak to him musically, Tynor says he gets they speak to another generation.
"What it comes down to (is): Who does the music speak to? Black Flag spoke to me because of the many tales of isolation and self-humiliation," he explains. "I could relate. ‘What's My Age’ by Blink 182 didn’t quite do it for me, but I can understand it did for many of those younger."
Even if screamo bands are headlining this year’s Warped Tour, Elliot knows punk rock is alive and kicking.
"Despite what (’80s punkers) Crass say, I believe that punk is not dead," Elliot quips. "It’s just gotten old, bitter and angrier with the way people have been trying to take advantage of it.
"Doesn’t that usually happen when you turn 30?"
Warped Tour 2006 opens 11 a.m. Tuesday, July 3, at Cricket Pavilion, 2121 N. 83rd Ave., Phoenix. $28.75. (602) 254-7200.
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