response 76 of 99:

Dec 12 23:21 UTC 1997

Well, there's been rap that comes fairly close to punk, and much punk/ska also
uses bits of rap.  The difference is that gangsta rap actually tends to be
fairly heavily produced, and not very punk-ish to my ears.

response 78 of 99:

Dec 13 15:15 UTC 1997

re #75 Not true!  The Bad Brains did punk reggae back in the early 80s.  
Fishbone did punk ska/funk in the mid 80s and they are still making
music. X-Ray Spex one of the original British punk bands had black
members.

As to the earlier thread I would argue that punk is not a style of music
or a way of dressing it is the do it yourself attitude.  Thus I would say
must of the true punks today would not be doing what is commonly thought
of as punk music but more something like free jazz world culture influenced
music like you might here from Morsel or some of the bands from Community
High like Poignt Plectrostomos.

response 80 of 99:

Dec 14 06:22 UTC 1997

But a band like PP or Morsel is quite punk in their ideals, maybe not
so much in their sound.

response 82 of 99:

Dec 28 03:11 UTC 1997

Intriguing...no, I've never heard of them, but you've piqued my curiousity.

response 84 of 99:

Apr 6 00:41 UTC 1998

I have been surprised to see almost no modern bands that are actually punk
mentioned here.  Punk is most definately not dead, as is made obvious by the
popularity of bands like Avail and there are quite a few bands here in
Indianapolis like Illithed.  Punk can not be popular in the mainstream, simply
because of the fundamental basis of punk. If it is the majority, then it
certainly isn't punk. Personally, I am not into punk, I strongly disagree with
the self destructive attitude of the whole scene. But punk lives in many forms
other than just punk. THere have been several music styles to come from punk,
the most positive, and in my opinion the best style of music there is, is
hardcore. I could go into the entire history of hardcore from the Teen Idles
to Minor Threat to Earth Crisis, but I think this already long enough. If
anyone wants to know more, e-mail me.

response 86 of 99:

Apr 9 23:03 UTC 1998

Here we go again. :)  Someone may have to define punk a bit more tightly now..

response 88 of 99:

May 2 19:03 UTC 1998

I agree that kids playing music in sarjevo (agh, my spelling is fuct) probably
have a more diy attitude -- but the music doesn't reflect it. I don't think
any music form that originated with a 50 year old american musical style and
was subsequently processed through a foreign culture can be "punk" for the
simple reason that the music doesn't sound punk, and the message promoted by
the music (though perhaps not by the musicians) is nothing like "punk" music.
This is a discussion of music, not musicians (if you can seperate the two,
that is).

response 90 of 99:

May 4 17:28 UTC 1998

Isn't punk itself a 20-year-old style?

response 92 of 99:

May 6 01:00 UTC 1998

Still, we've been debating what punk music actually *is*.  If that logic is
true, then punk has to change itself to a new incantation just to keep a
rebellious low-profile.

response 94 of 99:

May 7 04:06 UTC 1998

Hmm... I met them when they played at the gypsy caffe (on 4th st, i think)
a couple months back... they are really progressive musically. I like them
a lot.

Anyways, I asked the guys who I was sitting with before the show if it could
be called punk music. Judging by the answer I got ("Yeah, right, its hardcore
punk, in fact they will be shooting up heroine in the middle of a violin
solo") they don't think so, and their audience doesn't think so. It sounded
as if they don't want to be associated with "punk" music at all. 

On the other hand, perhaps the musician is qualified to do anything except
create music, and judge whether or not not music is "good." 

Perhaps a way to help answer the question "what is punk?" would be to decide
what *bands* are "punk." For instance, are the bands on the Epitath label,
such as Pennywise (one of my favorite groups), NOFX, Operation Ivy, Rancid,
and Millencolin punk? Why or why not?

response 96 of 99:

May 7 16:09 UTC 1998

  I thought Lawrence Welk was the *absolute* antithesis of punk..

response 98 of 99:

May 8 13:07 UTC 1998

Punk is based on emotion, usually anger. It was/is a reaction to
over-blown attitudes that permeate much music, such as the bombastic
ending, the over-done dynamic, the overly-complex arrangement. Most
odd-metered songs lack the visceral quality needed for punk. If I were to
make a comparison of A2 bands, I would suggest that Morsel, which also
uses odd meters, is more "punk" than PP, since the meter of their songs,
at least sometimes, seems to be used as vehicle to further the emotional
impact of the song, rather than an exercise in cleverness.