Got to Stick Together and Fight Them All Now
October 28, 2018 7:35 PM Subscribe
Shoot the middle school nostalgia straight into my veins
posted by midmarch snowman at 9:21 PM on October 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by midmarch snowman at 9:21 PM on October 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
“Ain’t nuthin’ wrong, with another unity song...”
I grew up listening to this stuff hahahaha. Wow.
Still informs me, really.
posted by nikaspark at 2:56 AM on October 29, 2018 [6 favorites]
I grew up listening to this stuff hahahaha. Wow.
Still informs me, really.
posted by nikaspark at 2:56 AM on October 29, 2018 [6 favorites]
FTA: I’m not sure any hardcore bands care as much about a president as they do about unity.
Oh man. That pretty much encapsulates my eventual realization that despite the radical politics (of some bands) and, yes, calls for unity despite our differences - very compelling to a kid trying to get through life at a socially stratified high school - the hardcore scene had the same bullshit drama as any other clique. "Unity" was in a lot of cases to hardcore what vague notions of "love" were to old pop songs: words to fill the space. (YLHCSMV)*
As an adult looking back I think that's probably a bit of a glib take; I'm sure we all wanted unity for whatever version of hardcore each person felt was "real." There's a lot that was really problematic about hardcore, but a lot of good that I took with me: people I'm still friends with today, values I still uphold, and hey: still vegan all these years later.**
*Your local hardcore scene may vary
**You kids these days with your Daiya and your vegan menus... come talk to me when you've been to a dumpster dive potluck because that's the only way to "go out to eat" with friends without annoying some poor server and inevitably just getting the salad
posted by AV at 3:39 AM on October 29, 2018 [6 favorites]
Oh man. That pretty much encapsulates my eventual realization that despite the radical politics (of some bands) and, yes, calls for unity despite our differences - very compelling to a kid trying to get through life at a socially stratified high school - the hardcore scene had the same bullshit drama as any other clique. "Unity" was in a lot of cases to hardcore what vague notions of "love" were to old pop songs: words to fill the space. (YLHCSMV)*
As an adult looking back I think that's probably a bit of a glib take; I'm sure we all wanted unity for whatever version of hardcore each person felt was "real." There's a lot that was really problematic about hardcore, but a lot of good that I took with me: people I'm still friends with today, values I still uphold, and hey: still vegan all these years later.**
*Your local hardcore scene may vary
**You kids these days with your Daiya and your vegan menus... come talk to me when you've been to a dumpster dive potluck because that's the only way to "go out to eat" with friends without annoying some poor server and inevitably just getting the salad
posted by AV at 3:39 AM on October 29, 2018 [6 favorites]
I grew up in Dallas and calls for unity in my punk scene were calls for Nazi punks to stop beating the shit out of and permanently disabling and murdering people in our scene.
Then the Sharps moved in and that helped a little but fuck, calls for unity where I was at was urgent because people were getting fucked up real bad and the scene was hurting for their friends and loved ones who were being targeted.
The whole reason one iteration of our punk club was called “Common Ground” was because there was so much fucking violence and hate in the fringes of the scene that a group of us worked together to create a punk club with a set of rules very clearly stenciled on the wall on exactly what kind of behavior would get your ass tossed out. Those rules basically called for Unity. Our club was so named because a call for unity was the only way some people in our scene were gonna survive the night.
posted by nikaspark at 4:21 AM on October 29, 2018 [7 favorites]
Then the Sharps moved in and that helped a little but fuck, calls for unity where I was at was urgent because people were getting fucked up real bad and the scene was hurting for their friends and loved ones who were being targeted.
The whole reason one iteration of our punk club was called “Common Ground” was because there was so much fucking violence and hate in the fringes of the scene that a group of us worked together to create a punk club with a set of rules very clearly stenciled on the wall on exactly what kind of behavior would get your ass tossed out. Those rules basically called for Unity. Our club was so named because a call for unity was the only way some people in our scene were gonna survive the night.
posted by nikaspark at 4:21 AM on October 29, 2018 [7 favorites]
This is great ("Maximum Rock N Roll, punk’s oppressive New York Times"), but heavy sigh at this part:
"Like America, the scene was for a long time a hard place to speak up and be heard for LGBTQ people, women, or persons of color. It’s better now, though still far from perfect. But the scene is pretty unique in that it was happily never a safe space for racists."
Conceptualizing racists as violent skinheads only really does a disservice to how bad punk scenes tend/ed to suck for people of colour, something that's been pretty well documented by folks like Mimi Thi Nguyen and Osa Atoe.
posted by ITheCosmos at 4:51 AM on October 29, 2018 [6 favorites]
"Like America, the scene was for a long time a hard place to speak up and be heard for LGBTQ people, women, or persons of color. It’s better now, though still far from perfect. But the scene is pretty unique in that it was happily never a safe space for racists."
Conceptualizing racists as violent skinheads only really does a disservice to how bad punk scenes tend/ed to suck for people of colour, something that's been pretty well documented by folks like Mimi Thi Nguyen and Osa Atoe.
posted by ITheCosmos at 4:51 AM on October 29, 2018 [6 favorites]
Not specifically related to this but a thought I've been thinking: For unity to have any use, does it need to be in opposition to something?
posted by memebake at 8:42 AM on October 29, 2018
posted by memebake at 8:42 AM on October 29, 2018
Roger Miret’s autobio was a fascinating read. I never thought I’d live to see the day that the old school hardcore guys would live to write their memoirs.
That said, this was a fascinating article. Thanks for sharing.
posted by dr_dank at 10:31 AM on October 29, 2018
That said, this was a fascinating article. Thanks for sharing.
posted by dr_dank at 10:31 AM on October 29, 2018
many years ago I spent a lot of time with the author of this piece - mostly screen printing band shirts, putting records into sleeves, eating pizza, driving to and from shows and listening to him expound on basically everything. He's a hilarious genius.
posted by youthenrage at 12:46 PM on October 29, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by youthenrage at 12:46 PM on October 29, 2018 [4 favorites]
I never thought I’d live to see the day that the old school hardcore guys would live to write their memoirs.
Sadly Todd Youth passed away last week. Everytime I Google search an old band I liked, all I find are obituaries.
posted by cazoo at 2:33 PM on November 2, 2018
Sadly Todd Youth passed away last week. Everytime I Google search an old band I liked, all I find are obituaries.
posted by cazoo at 2:33 PM on November 2, 2018
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posted by latkes at 9:06 PM on October 28, 2018