Calm down guys! Shit!

Okay, look, Punk might no be dead, but in the places we’ve all learned to look for it, it no longer exists in it’s pure original form.

Punk rock was born in the UK and the American branch of the movement quickly formed in answer to the European culture. Punk spread quickly throughout what is mostly thought of as “Western Society”. Yes, this includes South Africa as, like it or not, pop culture in this country is based entirely around British and American influence.

As much as South Africans enjoy going on about how rough it is living in this country, beating the cold, hard streets of Jozi and facing brutal crime everyday, we actually have it easy. The country, the entire Western world, in fact, is soft.

Those in power are corrupt and violently raping the people, abusing their responsibilities to their countries.

Now, as much as I agree that the South African government is a corrupt and rotting fecal mess, it is by no means, any worse than most money-grubbing capitalist states. We just happen to live here and it makes here seem worse.

But the fact that punk bands have such freedom to play their music, to live unmolested, points to the fact that punk has largely lost it’s teeth, having become a love song-singing shadow of it’s former self.

At least, in the western world.

A New Light Shines In The East.

Look at Russia. Now this statement may piss of a lot of Punks out there but, frankly, I don’t give a shit. In Russia the kids truly flying the Punk flag are these kids here:

That’s right boys and girls, the Emos… Russian Emos are more Punk than any South African, British or American Punk on the planet… Embarrassing isn’t it?

“But why?” I hear you ask, your voice breaking with the strain of holding back the tears.

It’s simple really, at the moment the emo movement in Russia is rising up against the government in response to the government’s attempted ban of the scene. Open rebellion against an oppressive government!! Now that is punk!

The article, for those of you too lazy to go and read it yourselves (ie. Probably everyone) is about a group of Goths and other “alternatives” who were attacked by a couple of thugs after, here’s the important bit, AFTER the goth kids went to the rescue of a pair of girls the thugs were attempting to rob.

In light of the recent “satanic slaying” in our own country, I found this article particularly poignant. The “evil” kids who listen to “the devil’s music” were the underdogs, the heroes, they were the one’s hurt for trying to do the right thing, trying to rescue others from violent injury and injustice.

The sad thing is that this sort of thing is likely far more common than the slightly psycho assholes shining a bad light on the alternative scene and yet the Emo, Goth, Punk and Metalhead kids of the world will always get far more negative publicity than positive simply because they look like this: