Punk and Pearl Jam: A definitions thread

[McParadigm]

Rocket science? Not really.

*aerospace engineering

[Whitey McTeeth]

Punk isn't about what you're playing, but the attitude behind it.

Yeah, I get this but I don't like it as a philosophy. If it doesn't matter what you're playing why play at all?

That's what other styles are for.

Which is why I listen to other styles. Rocket science? Not really.

Or slow cooked dentistry.

[harmless]

Punk isn't about what you're playing, but the attitude behind it.

Yeah, I get this but I don't like it as a philosophy. If it doesn't matter what you're playing why play at all?

That's what other styles are for.

Which is why I listen to other styles. Rocket science? Not really.

Or slow cooked dentistry.

[epilogue]

Growing up, my parents listened to The Moody Blues, Eagles, CSN, Three Dog Night and the like. Even when they listened to the Beatles it was always Abbey Road or Rubber Soul. I didn't even hear the White Album until I was 19 or 20. And it kind of fucked me up in the best possible way.

Needless to say, punk and new wave and garage (and to a lesser extent blues (not Clapton) and jazz) were things I had to search out on my own. Nirvana was the first "punk" band I listened to. My uncle bought me Bleach when I was ten years old and told me not to tell my parents. I had a hard time wrapping my head around it until Smells Like Teen Spirit hit a little later.

Suddenly, music didn't need all the polish and sheen. It became more about lyrical imagery and emotion. It became about movement and drive. Things didn't have to sound perfect anymore. But, I fully admit, that I still have a hard time with some of it. Some of it is far too abrasive; too hateful or outside my experience to appreciate it. But the power and the melody inherent in the best punk music still gets me.

I've never studied or understood at the dividing lines between genres and subgenres. So some of what I might reference here may not be "punk" technically. But here are a few bands that I think (at the very least) circle the genre that I've found through Pearl Jam (bands members talking about them, wearing their shirts, or because they've played covers/tags by them) or through friends who have told me that if I like such-and-such Pearl Jam song, I would like such-and-such punk song.

The first example I can think of is the Buzzcocks song What Do I Get?



To me, this is a prime example of the kind of thing I think Pearl Jam is aiming for in a lot of their "punk rock" songs: crunchy, melodic, propelled forward, always pushing, but as catchy as it is aggressive.

[McParadigm]

Buzzcocks had the best fucking singles, man

[harmless]

I've enjoyed the fuck out of listening to The Specials tonight with my wife.

[epilogue]

So what is the difference between garage and punk?

They have a lot in common! The original wave of punk was very much a return to the garage-rock stuff of the 50s, with added influences of what came later. Think of it as a melting poet. I wrote this thing a while ago (in response to an RM song tournament!) about why I love punk music, especially that initial wave of bands. I repeated some of those points in my conversation with BadMusic earlier today, so some of it may sound familiar if you read that exchange .

Thanks for posting that link to your blog again. I've read it before. But it made me throw on Marquee Moon for the first time in well over a year. God, I love that record.

[Lament]

Buzzcocks had the best fucking singles, man

KNOW IT. LOVE IT. YOUR LIFE WILL BE SO MUCH BETTER FOR IT.

[warehouse]

i think the "punk" that inspired 'mind your manners' is a little different than what we've seen from pj before. usually its new york/ramones influenced stuff, or new wave/dev. i think 'mind your manners' is a little more socal punk than anything they've done before. bad religion/dead kennedy's kinda stuff. its a little more aggressive, a little less catchy. i dig it though.

[spike]

this might be the most RM thread of all time

[VinylGuy]

I hear a lot of Social Distortion ( Down, Green Disease), Guided By Voices ( even if they are not "punk" per se, Eddie has been influence by them in ITW and BS) Devo ( The Fixer), The Ramones ( supersonic), some Fugazi ...

The new song sounds like Bad Religion...

[E.H. Ruddock]

I like Pearl Jam better when they are covering punk songs, not trying to make them.

[stip]

it sounds like punk is pretty much everything that's not parachutes and all or none

[VinylGuy]

it sounds like punk is pretty much everything that's not parachutes and all or none

Nope. Most of the first record its not really "punk". Vs too...i think Eddie did his first hardcore/punk record with some of the songs from Vitalogy.

[McParadigm]

it sounds like punk is pretty much everything that's not parachutes and all or none

Some of these things, shouldn't you just skip the middleman and post them directly to the Most stip Posts thread?

[stip]

it's chud's job to currate my wisdom

[McParadigm]

I sure hope you lifted your nose and sniffed a little as you wrote that. Maybe had a monocle, I dunno.

[stip]

i did take my pipe out of my mouth as I leaned back into the overstuffed leather chair in my richly appointed and wood paneled study

[McParadigm]

Ahhhh....so you DO 'get' punk.

I have to admit, being an REM fan was the perfect cover.

[BurtReynolds]

If you are a punk fan, but are worried about bands ripping off and copying things, you probably aren't a punk fan.