So, when did it become punk rock to have dreads and armpit hair? I would assume around the time it became groovy to have spikey hair and wear studs. Wait, it never became groovy to do that..So why the fuck do so may kids these days look like Summer of Love rejects? There is more to punk rock than a dirty hooded sweatshirt with bottle caps on it, kids. More to it than Profane Existance and a constant skin irritation. It makes me wonder wether these kids would be "punk" if they knew Punk Rock's true roots and ideals.

So you've gone out and picked up a new SubHumAns LP, because now you're too cool for NOFX and GreenDay. Now you're gonna' go home, smoke pot with your friends and bitch about how the school's dress code prohibits you from wearing your Excrament of War baseball cap. You're also pissed because they've repeatedly asked you to shower and change your JNCO's and Filth shirt which you wear everyday. Now you're thinking to yourself, what would Crass do in a situation like this? I'll tell you what they'd do...They'd get their heads kicked in by Skinheads and StreetPunks! Do you dumb rich kids in your dirty clothes think you're a threat to anybody? Get real, you're more like repulsive. Now, you're saying "But isn't that what punk is all about?". No. It's not about being repulsive. It's about Shock Value. It's about Spikey hair, studs, "SEX CHAOS VIOLENCE HATE DESTRUCTION IRRESPONSIBILITY ALCOHOLISM AND FUN" pissing people off, getting into trouble, being a kid, not caring about who or what or why. Jesus Christ, just listen to a Cock Sparrer song, that should give you the jist of what it's about.

Now I've pretty much calculated where everthing went downhill. I'll have to cite Crass' Christ the Album insert as a reference, so any of you PC homos who don't believe me, go check your record collection. Anyways, punk rock was cruisin' along just fine, upsetting people and causing Malcom McLaren's brand of Anarchy. All the while these filthy hippies, who lived in some youth hostel, were mourning their dead friend by planning to break into punk music. I don't pretend to understand why they wanted so badly to get into punk, I can only assume it was for monetary gain and to exploit anyone involed in the punk scene. It was just a wider audience for them to spread there message of anarcho crapola, nothing more. They openly admit to rejecting anything "punk"; fashion, ideals, attitude, etc. They even have song lyrics about any one who dressed punk being a trendy and that they should pogo out a window. I guess you're only truly punk with birkenstocks and overalls. For some reason, kids felt that Crass' brand of crap was punk as well. I don't know what could inspire a group of rowdy kids with anti-social attitudes to suddenly become political activists, but it happened. Shit went from bad to worse when StreetPunk bands like Special Duties sang about fuck all to politics and tried to put some fun back into the scene, but only ended up blacklisted from venues and banned from gigs. Even other bands had to drop them from showbills for fear of being blacklisted by Crass and other influential groups like the Dead Kennedys.

Freedom for everyone, unless you share a different view than mine, eh? It's really frightening that Crass was able to push promoters and club owners into backing off from StreetPunk bands. What happened to peace, love and respect? Shit, Crass' inablilty to practice what they preached was taken to a new level when Special Duties' Steve Arrogant ran into Crass at a rural bar. They threatened him with bodily harm if he ever sang about them again! I guess pacifism is all well and good when you're making your money, but ideals take a backseat when someone threatens your cashcow.... Not all punks lost their way and joined up on the Crass Records bandwagon. It was a small minority actually. It's just with the help of the Dead Kennedys and the rise of crusty political punk shit in Oakland during the eighties, Crass got so much attention it overshadowed StreetPunk. Jello Biafra and Crass anarcho bands did more to damage punk than the Rejects going metal! It has created irreprable damage and created huge divides in punk rock scenes, mostly because of kids' ignorance to true Punk and the belief that it's a political venue.

StreetPunk has grown in leaps and bounds from it's low point in the late eighties and early nineties. It's doing better all over the world. All of Europe has jumped on the StreetPunk bandwagon. The U.S. is really the last hold-out of Crustie, PC, Anarcho Crap. It's time for the kids to start acting like kids again, and not poiticians! Take pride in your appearance, put up your hair, stud your jacket. Shave your head, shine your boots. Get some decent music, go start a gang, get drunk and pick a fight! Do something! You're fucking Punk, you have No Future, and you don't care!


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