catapult magazine

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discussion

Is punk music valid?

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SARAH
Nov 02 2003
06:30 pm

I’m no expert on punk music. I’ll throw that disclaimer out there from the start.

But I dated a punk person (punkster? person of punk? punky person?) for a while, and must say that, aside from dodging all the safety pins that were randomly scattered on his clothing and around his neck, it was really quite an intriguing experience.

However, I did have issues. Although I’m not at all against fuck-you politics, my frustration was that the punk music he listened to (and hte attitude he adopted) never went beyond that. I like social protest, but I want it to promote transformation, not merely “hear me scream” or “let me count the ways I can antagonize society as a whole.”

I think that art that is infused with political issues is entirely valid art. I have questions about “art for art’s sake.” Ideally, though, I think good art transcends both of these things, and prods the receiver towards change of some kind.

As a sidenote, a good punk film is “SLC Punk.”

(in these comments, I am making no commentary on the Sex Pistols or the Pixies—only on the solitary and intimate time I spent with someone who avidly followed punk music)