#i was just raving about them and then i open spotify and have a total shitfit you have GOT to be kidding me

[jesterguy]

KUMO 99 NEW ALBUM IM GONNA BE SICK

[untitledtallgeesepodcast]

There were a total of five OSTs released for Gundam Wing (the fifth was dedicated to the music of Endless Waltz, which will not be covered in this post or this playlist). Caitlin asked if I (Cathy) would create a playlist of my favorites. I didn't think she expected I would also write a novel. But here we go.

Let’s listen to some of the music of Gundam Wing!

(All song titles will be described with their English name and also the strangely romanized Spotify name.)

There are three main categories of Gundam Wing OST songs: (1) shoot 'em up fighting tracks which usually feature loud riffs, drums, and blats and blares coming at you at the same speed and frequency of mobile suits firing pointlessly at the Gundams, (2) instrumental, orchestral songs meant for the intermission period of a ballet that was never written or performed, or (3) synthy stuff with saxophones that wouldn't be out of place in a dingy rainy bar scene of a tame movie from the 80s. Most of the really recognizable tracks are in the first OST. OST 2 tends towards less interesting instrumental waltz-like stuff, Sanq Kingdom ballroom music as I've termed it in my head. They're fine, tolerable pieces of music, but you don't hear them and instantly think "Gundam Wing." By the time you get to OST 3, you're digging into the really deep cuts of Gundam Wing OST tracks, some of which I don't remember being in the show at all. (OST 4 is almost entirely character songs.)

We open with two of the best OPs—nay, songs—to have ever been made, "Just Communication" and "Rhythm Emotion," both by TWO-MIX. "Rhythm Emotion" was not, as you may have imagined, a mid-season swap-out. It was only used for about 10 episodes, and you may have even forgotten what it sounded like until just this moment, but "Rhythm Emotion" is no slacker. With alien, wintery synths that make you feel like you're soaring through the sky and between enemy mobile suits, this is one of those songs you would hear heavily remixed for knock-off DDR machines in arcades for years to come. The breakdown is cheesy, overemotional, and yet gives me the same goosebumps I would feel, years later, when listening to Love Live's "Snow Halation." Its more accomplished older sister, "Just Communication," dates itself from its opening note, but it owns its place in time and history unapologetically. Timeless, instantly recognizable, and eminently singable, you could, as Caitlin says in Episode 1, play this in a karaoke room full of randos and you're guaranteed to have someone scream along. There are some songs that make everyone feel like the star of their own shounen anime when they hear it, and "Just Communication" is one of them. Turning it up full volume in your car is like blasting "Take My Breath Away" while speeding on a motorcycle with a leather jacket. You are invincible through all 4:20 minutes of this song.

After that, perhaps one of the most famous instrumental tracks from the series: "The Wings of a Boy that Killed Adolescence / Shisyunki wo Koroshita Syonen no Tsubasa." (That boy is Heero Yuy. I know you know that, but this OST makes it explicit with its last instrumental track, "Code Name Heero Yuy," which is just another version of this melody.) There are a lot of songs like this, fighting tracks that hurry along at a clip, heroic but a little bit anxious ("When the Dragon Swims / Ryu ga Oyogutoki...," "Break Out," "Scattering Left Light / Kakusansuru Zanko" which barely sounds like music and is clearly hoping to be the soundtrack to your next laser tag game). I want to call out among them "Mission Accomplished / Ninmu Suiko," which has a last half that is so tied in my head to the world of Gundam Wing that when I hear it, I am instantly transported. It's almost a letdown that it's just an OST track, because it builds up such amazing tension that it releases just as quickly. "Mission Accomplished" is a bridge between these energetic tracks and more headbang-y, hard metal type fight songs like "Use the Cloak of Darkness / Kurayami Karano Tsukai," one of my all-time favorite guitar riffs from the GW OSTs. A lot of OST 1 is full of this "Enter Sandman" type stuff, though you still get reprises in the later OSTs, like "Well-Planned Tactics / Butsuryo Sakusen." The back half of "Cloak of Darkness," though, is a completely different track, this time pure fascist military fantasy. A lot of OSTs were like this, two short BGMs together masquerading as a one- to two-minute track. I'm not sure if it was just more expensive to list out a bunch of 45 second tracks, or if Otani Kou just ran out of emo names for all of them.

One thing I didn’t realize until this project is that there are no less than five variations on Relena’s theme in OST 1 alone:

Soft Hair and See-through Eyes / Yawarakana Kami...

Inside the Girl's Heart... / Syojyo no Mune no Oku Niwa...

To Beauty, to Elegance, and to Noble-mindedness / Karen ni Yuga ni...

I Feel Like I Can Cross Even That Rainbow Bridge / Ano Niji...

As Relena Peacecraft / Relena Peacecraft Toshite

When you've heard one, you've heard them all, so I’m putting on "Soft Hair...,” the wonderfully 80s and slightly boozy "adult contemporary" version of it, completely with a Kenny G sax. The others feel much more pure and dignified, especially "To Beauty...," which I think of as "waltz music" as it shows up in many of the early series' ballroom scenes. ”Rainbow Bridge..." is a worthy remix/variant, and for another similar boozy 80s feel, also try "Coolheaded Bloodthirstiness / Reitetsu na sakki" from OST 1. While I’ve left most of this playlist in chronological album order, I’ve moved up "I Believed We'd Meet / Kanarazu Aeruto Shinji” from OST 3. This track is not particularly noteworthy to me, but I leave it here as an example of how even later in the series, Otani Kou makes references to this refrain, even if it's not played note for note.

Because like any good soundtrack, Gundam Wing reuses themes and motifs. "Searching for Peace Buried Amid the Corpses / Shikabane ni Umoreta..." and "That Clown Doesn't Need Make Up for Tears / Sono Doukeshi..." share the same melody, only one is a fighting song and another is a mourning song. I actually like the rendition in "Hourglass of a Sad Color / Kanashimi-iro no Sunadokei" (also from OST1) better, but while "Hourglass" is a straightforward BGM track, "That Clown..." shows off one of the more interesting aspects of the Gundam Wing OSTs: its frequent blending of synths, cheesy sax, and more classic orchestral strings. You can hear it in second half of "That Clown...", but also in tracks like "Unknown Pressure / Michi no Pressure," or OST 3's " Behind The Scenes of The Blackout / Anten no Butaiura de," which is a typical "woe is me" orchestral track that is for some reason constantly interrupted by digital "beep boop" mumblings. Without that blend, you're left with a lot of grave-sounding tracks with bombastic Phantom of the Opera-worthy brass sections, like "Soldiers Who Don't Have a Gravepost / Bhyounaki Senshitachi" or "Legend of Zero / Zero no Densetsu." Not that those songs are bad, which is why I include the last of the instrumental tracks from OST 3: "Who Will Give Their Life / Darega Tameni Inochi," which takes itself very seriously and very earnestly, just like the show itself.

One of the other frequent moods of these OST is anxiety, perhaps no better demonstrated than "You Can Hear a Voice Calling the Soul /Tamashii wo Yobu Koe ga Suru", which has a guitar emitting screeches of existential despair. “Signs of Consciousness / Ishiki no Taido" is from this same school, but its second half is more "I am walking into a rave already a few minutes into what I know is going to be a bad trip," which is not really a mood I remember from the series itself. By the time you get to OST 3, you start venturing into tracks that wouldn't be out of place in a horror film. You can hear an example of it in "The Eyes of a Mobile Doll / Mobile Doll no Me," which is on this list because it sounds like a fever dream, but you could also check out "The Abandoned Horse of the Age / Jidai no Sutegoma," which is not on this playlist and has the same effect. Some of them, like "I Don't Like Fairytales / Otogi-banashi wa Sukijyanai," are inspiringly atmospheric, almost hypnotic. Is Gundam Wing horror? [Treize Voice] Yes, the Horror of War.

Some quick call-outs in the odds and ends group: “Tokimeite Harmony” is the 3x4 theme, a literal duet between a violin and a flute, and it’s there for that reason and that reason alone. I could not tell you for the life of me where in the series “Yasuragi no Hitotoki...”, “Kizuna,” “Sonzai Syomei,” or “Kioku no Gyakuryu” come from, but they sound like beautiful tracks from a video game I’ve never played. Similarly, “That Day Was The Last Day I Saw Your Smile / Anohi Saigo ni Mita Egao” is uncharacteristically fluttery and beautiful for a Gundam Wing OST piece, an almost Ghibli-esque track which nevertheless ends on an anxiety-inducing note of unrest.

And finally, the character songs. I leave you with one for each of the six main characters, and then a bonus.

Heero Yuy: "With Only My Words / Oredake no Kotoba de." Did you expect Heero's singing voice to sound like this? Neither did I. I have no idea why they thought this was a good image song for Heero. It's not. I leave it here because you must listen to it. The better "sounding" song is "Flying Away," which shows up in this CD later, but it doesn't give me the same dissonance as this one.

Duo Maxwell: “Wild Wing.” "Good Luck & Good Bye" is the superior song. (there's a little bit of Wang Chung “Everybody Have Fun Tonight" to it), but the sheer hilarity of this chorus (WILD WING BOYS!) means that i have to include it.

Trowa Barton: “Clown / Doukeshi.” What to say about this? This is a typical ballad, something you may play during a romantic moment of a kdrama or during the slow motion death scene in a Hong Kong film that would be released around the same time as GW was. I feel bad for Nakahara Shigeru who clearly is straining himself singing this. but it is nothing if not period accurate.

Quatre Raberba Winner: “Star’s Gaze / Hoshi no Manazashi.” Poor Orikasa Ai. Quatre’s voice is passably bishounen in the series itself, but it's hard to hide that his seiyuu was a woman when it came to the image songs. That said, her voice has a much fuller quality than her fellow pilots, and this is actually a decent-enough filler song. You could imagine debuting an idol maybe in the late 80s with this track.

Chang Wufei: “Knock at Tomorrow's Door / Asu eno Door wo Tatake.” If Wing were a kpop group, Wufei would be the rapper. You don't get to argue with me here. It's hard enough to imagine Wufei actually singing, but Ishino Ryuzou's singing voice also doesn't bear that much resemblance to the voice he adopted for the character. 

Relena Peacecraft: “Love is Not Crying Yet / Ai wa Mada Nakanai.” One of the most unexpected of the image songs is this bossa nova inspired track for Relena. Like Orikasa's ballad, this song almost works as a real song, and the purity of Yajima Akiko's voice is incredibly charming, which makes it all that more surprising that she's actually best known for being the seiyuu to the eponymous Shin-chan of Crayon Shin-Chan.

I do not include the image songs for Zechs and Treize, simply because they're boring. Both of them are extremely well-known and popular seiyuus, who have since done a number of musical projects. You can tell that they will fare better at that endeavor than Trowa’s seiyuu, but there's really nothing interesting to say about their songs. As always, the men of Gundam Wing are shown up by their female counterpart: Lady Une's "Brightness & Darkness" is positively anthemic and fun to listen to. Sayuri doesn't hit all the notes perfectly, and you can sense there is Fleetwood Mac / Stevie Nicks impersonator out there who could really knock this one out of the park, but if I were to keep one image song out of the whole bunch, it'd be this one.

[kreenieweenie]

Pinoy Akapela in 2017

Vocal group performance has persisted to be a style for the Filipino mainstream audiences to listen to, to watch, and eventually to imitate. It really has been more accessible for aspiring a cappella solo singers and groups to join in the loop, find their own tricks and knacks, and to truly just have fun and share what they have worked on -- may it be by simply arranging covers, sharing them online, or going as far as getting into tireless months of training and rehearsing to compete in local and international competitions. And what has probably generated such a bustling and astounding contemporary a cappella atmosphere in 2017 would be the independent labors of the unceasing up-and-coming groups to further accelerate in honing their craft; and their renown. Filipino morale in contemporary a cappella has just gotten ever lustrous this year. 

Here is an overview of some of the milestones achieved by these who have made this 2017 a remarkable one (based on my Manila-based radar, hehe), casting the affirming imprint that contemporary a cappella is also a Filipino thing:

Acapellago’s international and local stardom. The group has gone a long and exciting way, highlighting this 2017 with their First Prize and Audience awards at the Vokal Total 2017 International Festival in Graz, Austria. Beating other groups from Europe, their powerful repertoire includes their own arrangements of Ain’t No Other Man (Christina Aguilera, arr. by Happy), Conga (Gloria Estefan feat. Miami Soundmachine, arr. by Acapellago), Safe and Sound (Taylor Swift, arr. by Josh), and Queen of the Night (Whitney Houston/Lani Misalucha, arr. by Happy)

(photo from Facebook)

The streak continued on with the group producing and launching singles under Viva Records Corporation. Their first single is Peroplano, joined a few months later by some Christmas songs which are now available on Spotify. Performances here and outside the country continued to grow in number, as well as their fans. Always trending with their video posts, Acapellago knows how to keep their music-making active and their audiences entertained, not forgotten. They have given pop and novelty a new (and challenging) style to be enjoyed, giving viewers their fun takes of Titibo-tibo by Moira dela Torre and Pasok mg Suki. The group closes the year with more recognition under their belt given by one of OPM’s sought after award-giving bodies, The Awit Awards: Best Vocal Arrangement for Stars are Aligned with Jimmy Marquez, The People’s Choice Award for Best Group Recording Artist, and the International Citation Award for their accomplishments at the Vokal Total A Cappella Competition in Graz. Awe-inspiring, Acapellago! More power to you, Mitch, Almond, Josh, Bogart, and Happy! 

Competitions not only help in finding the finest in the a cappella community, and giving the opportunity for groups to develop their skills. They also, on the surface, give contemporary a cappella an identity to be raved about. COMBI A CAPPELLA BATTLE NATION made this hype big this year, creating this riff-off type of battle ground for the finalists at the Trinoma Mall in Quezon City last October 21. Finalists include previous competition winners like Astrafellas (2016 Akapela Open Champion), ConChords (2016 Akapela Open 1st runner up), GVBS (2016 Akapela Open Finalist), Musikality, Music Beats, and The Playlist, whose some members have joined Akapela Open as well. The brand’s ambassadors Acapellago performed, including 2016′s winner, Phisix (Akapela Open Finalist). Confident and promising when it comes to musicianship and musicality, Jowin, Coleen, Nica, Jec and Val of ConChords, all students from the UP College of Music, took home the badge. They performed their arrangements of You Give Love a Bad Name (Bon Jovi), Greedy (Ariana Grande, arr. by Lancelle Nantes), and a Moana Medley. GVBS came in 2nd, and Astrafellas came in 3rd. 

(photo from Combi-Nation)

Another competition that featured the current performance practice of popular a cappella singing sans the use of individual microphones would be the MBC National Choral Competition. Aside from their performance of a folk piece and the contest piece (by The CompanY's Moy Ortiz), part of each finalist’s repertoire must contain a “novelty performance” -- that is, having each choir’s own arrangement of a popular song or a medley of songs, complete with choreography, without a conductor in the middle. 

(photos from MBC National Choral Competition Facebook page)

The winners for the open category are Coro Obcento (Grand Champion) followed by the Oratory Boys Chorus, Tarlac Chamber Choir, and South Cotabato Chorale. Original tunes such as from the likes of Ricky Martin, Little Mix, Gwen Stefani, and Bon Jovi were heard in the competition, complete with exhilarating dance moves and even acrobatics. Flexibility and gusto in performing various styles of singing are really thrilling to know about our continuously evolving choral community! Mabuhay ang korong Pilipino! 

As I mentioned earlier, persistence is such a crucial key when it comes to making a difference, or pursuing another opportunity to having a breakthrough. Pinopela, the Baguio-based group who has been together since the beginning of the Akapela Open Competition in 2013, has continued to make the rounds in performing especially for corporate events. This year has been quite busier for the group, despite some changes in their membership, as they performed for local and foreign delegates in the various events of the ASEAN Summit. Capping off the year is their prestigious win at the Hongkong International A Cappella Contest, leading other performances from Japan, Hongkong, Taiwan, and Mainland China. They bagged 2 awards - Best Presentation and the recognition as the Champion. Their repertoire includes Salute (Little Mix) and a Power Hits Medley which includes, Say You’ll Never Let Me Go, Uptown Funk, Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing, Hey Momma, Salute and Can’t Hold Us. These were arranged by the group’s resident arranger, Ryan Vincent Lamaroza. Congratulations and thank you for your will and courage, Pinopela!

(photo from Facebook)

All male group Ten Thousand also went out of the country to compete at the 2017 Incheon Airport International Competition. Thank you for continuously representing the country and spreading our enthusiasm and presence in this field of performance! Just like being promoters of the Ricola brand through this jingle:

https://web.facebook.com/RicolaPhilippines/videos/1012797868860759/

PhiSix, another all-male group which was last year’s winner at the Combi Nation Vocal Battle, bagged the first prize at the 2017 ACaChamps in Singapore held in July. The group was followed in 2nd place by Ten Thousand, who also won Best in Vocal Percussion. Pinoys certainly have begun warming up overseas. Congratulations, guys!

A lot of schools, universities and companies seem to have involved more intensified a cappella singing competitions in their events especially this past Christmas season. 

I might have missed out on other events where contemporary a cappella has been highlighted, so please let me know! :D

Here is a wishlist for the coming 2018 from our artists:

all original a cappella album/s

more all a cappella concerts

a local festival and a ‘camp’ of workshops for a cappella groups, arrangers, and composers for educational purposes

a solid organization or society for the community

and more surprises

Thank you to all the groups and individuals for pushing to share your passion for contemporary a cappella music making!

(Nakakamiss!

[glamglaremusic]

Favorite Top 10 Albums of 2017 - Elke's Picks

While our focus at glamglare tends to be more on songs and videos, I absolutely love to listen to an entire album. For an album to make my Top 10 List, it would need to pull me in with the opening track and hold my attention until the last one. Most of the albums here I’ve been listening a good two dozen times, became my go-to-music and wonderful companions.

I also wanted to make sure though to not miss out on some of the albums bigger publications were raving about and listened to many indie rock and pop albums like the ones from Japanese Breakfast, Fever Ray, Big Thief, Aldous Harding, and more but also to 2017 released albums of super groups like The Killers, Cut Copy or The National.

For me, it boils down to these ten albums though and if you are into similar music like me, please give these albums a try. Spotify is just a click away and the videos are often from the maybe most alluring song of each album.

1 – Gold Class – Drum

August 2017 Melbourne, Australia Follow Gold Class on Facebook

In a vocals, guitar, bass and drums set-up without synths or other fancy additions, every instrument counts. And while the driving , energetic beats of Logan Gibson, bass by Jon Shub and guitar by Evan James Purdey, the vocals are maybe the strongest asset because Adam Curley‘s baritone is strikingly unique, fierce and powerful yet also tender when needed. “Drum” is the logic follow-up to debut album “It’s You”. It is definitely not one of the sophomore albums where all the stellar material landed on the debut and the leftovers make it onto the second album. These are all new songs, addressing lots of socially highly relevant topics and concerns. I’ve seen Gold Class twice last year, and also had a chance to chat with all band members both times. To learn more about the band and their music, check out this great interview  with Adam Curley by Nick Buckley.

Listen to “Drum” on Spotify.

2 – Eaters – Eaters

May 2017 New York, USA Follow Eaters on Facebook

Ever since I saw Eaters live in Summer 2016, I am a fan. Back then multi-instrumentalist Bob Jones and sound engineer/producer Jonathan Schenke told me about their upcoming album and I couldn’t wait to finally listen to it. And have been doing so since May. For fans of music with a lot of synths and electronic but also guitar, smartly put together to something really appealing.

Stream “Eaters” on Spotify.

No video for Eaters but awesome sound, still:

Eaters (2017) by Eaters

3 – Fufanu – Sports

February 3rd 2017 Reykjavík, Iceland Follow Fufanu on Facebook

“Sports” by Iceland trio Fufanu is one of the albums I was really looking forward to and for the first half of 2017, it looked like it would top my list. It’s a gritty, electronic album with some stand-out tracks like the title track “Sports”, my favorite “Liability” or “Bad Rockets”.

Stream “Sports” on Spotify.

4 – Pumarosa – The Witch

May 2017 London, U.K. Follow Pumarosa on Facebook

For “Priestess” alone, this would be one of my favorite albums. Turns out, there are more jewels where this gem came from. The quartet put a lively show on this year at Baby’s All Right and here’s to hopefully seeing them again in 2018!

Stream “The Witch” on Spotify

5 – Dead Leaf Echo – Beyond.Desire

October 2017 Brooklyn, USA Follow Dead Leaf Echo on Facebook

Live show after live show, fans were introduced to most of the tracks of “Beyond.Desire”. The build-up to finally being able to listen to all the layered, often surprisingly noisy, yet super melodic songs from A to Z at home or on headphones while out and about became well, a desire. As usual for Dead Leaf Echo, the album is beautifully packaged, put together and produced with great care.

Stream “Beyond.Desire” on Spotify.

6 – Nothing But Thieves – Broken Machine

September 2017 Southend-on-Sea, U.K. Follow Nothing But Thieves on Facebook

Earlier this year, Nothing But Thieves released “Amsterdam” and then subsequently rather quickly “Sorry”, “I’m Not Made By Design” and “Broken Machine” and then it dawned on me, that the album could be a good one. And yes, it is. While I can hear that the band being influenced by Radiohead (and at times The Killers too), I can only applaud them for their choices. The guitar and drum work is stellar and Connor Mason’s vocals are superb!

Stream “Broken Machine” on Spotify.

7 – A Victim Of Society – Freaktown

April 2017 Athens, Greece Follow A Victim of Society on Facebook

For fans of fuzzy psychedelic rock with super cool rhythms and beats “Freaktown” is exactly the perfect album! One of the few I also featured on glamglare before. 

Stream “Freaktown” on Spotify.

8 – Methyl Ethel – Everything is Forgotten

March 2017 Perth, Australia Follow Methyl Ethel on Facebook

If asked to name only one song as my favorite single of 2017, then without a doubt it would be “Ubu”. I have listened to the track on repeat countless times and while I totally dig the entire album, I am looking forward to more gems like “Ubu”.

Listen to “Everything Is Forgotten” on Spotify.

9 – Rare Monk – A Future

July 2017 Portland, OR, USA Follow Rare Monk on Facebook

“A Future” is beautifully intricate guitar driven indie rock, with an almost meditative flow. And while putting together this Top 10 list, the coincidence of having two albums with “future” in it, strikes me as pretty awesome!

Stream “A Future” on Spotify.

10 – TORRES – Three Futures

September 2017 New York, USA Follow TORRES on Facebook 

Mackenzie Scott who makes music as TORRES, released her third full length album on her new label, the prestigious 4AD and luckily only slightly changed her sound. She is definitely bolder and more confident in her musician skin. She also plucks from more music choices like giving some of her songs a more electronic feel or expressing herself more explicitly than before, as especially evident  in her music videos.

Stream “Three Futures” on Spotify.

  #MusicMonday #albumsof2017 #favoritealbum

[charliehatesyourmusic]

The time I told a punk to listen to rap

   I recently went on a business trip to New York where I had some downtime to bop around the guts of Lower Manhattan. Scrolling through my phone one night in search of something to do, I stumbled across a bar that was spinning 80s New Wave and industrial music. A fan of both bars and 80s New Wave I thought what the hell. An hour later I found myself walking into a hole in the wall bar across the street from what looked like tenement buildings. As I walked through the already-open door, I passed a man in a safety pin-riddled leather jacket, a septum ring and a beanie. He was having a smoke and didn’t make eye contact with me when I went in. I took my place at the bar, ordered a beer and gave the place a once-over. Meanwhile, Smoking Man came inside, stood next to my seat at the bar and called the waitress by name. He ordered his drinks confidently.

     After he took his shot and sipped his chaser, he turned to me and asked where I was from. I told him. He said he knew a girl there (“Gorgeous, totally fucking crazy”) who was from the same place. Thus began my conversation with Smoking Man. When he noticed me mouthing along to Six Pack by Black Flag, the conversation turned to music and that’s when Smoking Man really opened up. At 45 (he didn’t look a day over 30), he told tales of the early years of the punk scene in New York; how he used to be the lead for a band that toured with the likes of GWAR and the Misfits. He told me stories of getting kicked out of clubs in LA and giant inflatable penises being passed over crowds of screaming, sweating, swearing men and women. He told me stories of when punk was a lifestyle and not a fashion. We talked about what constituted as good punk music, leaning into each other drunkenly so as to hear each other over the pumping Cocteau Twins in the background.

     “Shit’s not like that anymore,” he told me sadly.

     Feeling the furthest away from an expert on the subject as one possibly could, I suggested the opposite. I told him that there is just as much unrest as there ever was, the means of dissemination have just changed.

    In the early 80s, the best way to experience a real punk band was to keep your ear to the ground, stay in the know about the scene. Word-of-mouth, I learned, is still the most effective transfer of information in the punk world. Smoking Man told me about up-and-coming bands who, of course, can’t be found on any streaming service. They can only be found if someone tells you where to find them. So in that regard, Smoking Man was right, shit isn’t the same. That was what he found so special in the punk scene: the sense of community. The same sense fans of any band feel at any concert, but without the aid of social media, making it more familial.

     The punk family has indeed suffered over the years. Things to get pissed off about have risen as they always have over the years, but punk bands (true punk bands) seemed to have evaporated from the public eye. Most have turned into something else, something worse. EMO BANDS. These bands served their purpose to the millennial crowds who banged their heads to the hyperbolic emotional ravings of singers with more zippers and straps on them than a goddam Thriller/Gimp hybrid. The target audience related to these songs of mixed emotions, whereas punk bands target audience focused on one emotion: unrest. Granted, when bands like Minor Threat, Misfits, Bad Brains, etc. came out with music, it was successful largely because of the shock value, shaking up the Reagan-era public. Today, we’re not so easily shocked by what they said, but I believe in a time where we’re offended by everything, punk has a chance for a real comeback. 

     But it’s hard to go back to basics when everyone wants to be known for being pissed off instead of taking action because they’re pissed off. Someone filming a punk show on their phone instead of thrashing with the rest of the crowd in hopes to show their friends how badass they are on Instagram are the real punk-killers. Don’t get me wrong, social media can do wonders if you want to gain popularity for a band, but the elusive nature of these bands and having heard about them through the grapevine make them a type of urban legend. And that’s what makes them special.

     These types of bands are still here, though, under the surface, known only to those on the lookout. Times and locations scribbled on bathroom doors. Homemade posters speckled with skulls stapled to telephone poles. A friend of a friend knows a guy. All of these are how, from what I learned from Smoking Man, punk still exists today. The world seemed to grow around it, as it did around my new friend. The genre relies on open-mindedness. It’s a brave thing to go see a band you know nothing about at an undoubtedly shitty venue. It’s healthy, though, and you can learn from it. Bands don’t need a discography on Spotify or Apple Music to validate their talent or message, and that’s what I learned as Smoking Man rattled off all the up-and-coming punk acts from Brooklyn (none of which I can find any information about online, to prove my point).

     At one point in the conversation I suggested something risky. I told Smoking Man that rap is becoming the new punk, or the closest thing to it. Acts like Kendrick Lamar, Run The Jewels, even (bear with me) Kanye West. Kendrick uses his wit and storytelling ability to fight to marginalization of black America. Run The Jewels uses shock value (as many in the genre do) to encourage dissatisfaction with the system (like Rage Against the Machine!). Lines like “we the type to greet the preacher with a grin and a gun,” “I put my pistol to your poodle and I shot that bitch,” and “When you n*ggas gon’ unite and kill the police motherfuckers?” are incredibly similar in effect as lines crooned by Glen Danzig in Bullet, which I won’t quote here as, even today, they’re massively shocking (check that shit out). Kanye West could even be thrown into the ring for his outrageous claims and actions (having sex with America’s Worst Sweetheart, calling himself the last rockstar) that early punk bands were known for. To my surprise, Smoking Man said he’d have to check my suggestions out. Even at 45 he’s living proof that punks still need to remain open-minded.

     Punk music inspired listeners to challenge what was happening around them and not let themselves be turned into something they aren’t. It allowed listeners an escape what they were being told and sold. Like Woody Guthrie killing fascists with his machine, like Elvis thrusting his pelvis on television, like Dylan being homesick for the Greenwich Village underground, punk is a call to arms and a call for unity. People will always be pissed about something. As long as there’s someone to vocalize what they’re so mad about, there will be punk. When people inevitably disagree with this anger is when there can be room  for discussion, and through discussion, progress. Punk’s far from dead, and in fact we might need it now more than ever.