Re: OT(minutemen)

["Steve Lawson" <steve@steve-lawson.co.uk>]

> In the late '70s we use "new wave" as a catchall term and "punk" to
> refer more narrowly to the really raw, rude, and abrasive stuff. But
> the terminology lines got blurred pretty quickly.
>
> I suppose a lot depends on whether you use "punk" to refer to the
> music or the attitude. If a brash, iconoclastic, do-it-yourself
> attitude is punk, then a lot of artists might be punk artists even if
> the music doesn't sound it.

I think it certainly has more to do with attitude than a specific musical
style... While I'm sure it's handy for the majors to be able to market 
Blink
182 etc. as 'punk', there's not really much that embodies the spirit of 
punk
in the nu-punk scene...

The most punk thing about Mike Watt is that his DIY approach is 
undiminished
all these years on... 'Contemplating the Engine Room' has got some stuff on
it that is musically punk, and some that sounds more like Tom Waits, but 
the
vibe is still as punk as anything... :o)

...the interesting thing for me as a listener is just how intellegent a lot
of the US punk was compared to most of the crap that was coming out of the
UK, even though it was supposedly born here (The Stooges, New York Dolls 
and
MC5 notwithstanding... :o) - gimme Husker Du, Minute Men, Big Black and 
Blag
Flag over The Exploited, 999, Gen X etc. any day... :o)

any punk bands who are looping? ;o)

Steve
www.steve-lawson.co.uk