Punk Rock Writing

Is punk rock too popular? I don't think so.  As a 51-year old man cutting up blackberry bushes today and hoping their alternative tentacles did not carve me up in the process, I heard Police Truck by the Dead Kennedys--one of the oldest punk bands and perhaps the one with the most staying power when an epiphany hit me across the ears. This is great music no matter how popular it is at this juncture or how unpopular it was with mainstream music audiences in its heyday. I loved Police Truck then and I love it now. The delivery mechanism (vinyl in 1983 vs. Pandora today) does not matter to me. I got into punk rock when I was 15 in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and started going to shows in 1983. I once saw the Dead Kennedys in my hometown of Waltham for $7.00 with three other awesome bands and today people pay much more to see a modern version of DK sans its most critical component--the vocals of Jello Biafra. They pay more for way less as they are clamoring for a taste of

Because today is the 35th anniversary of Suicidal Tendencies' debut album, it led to some Facebook exchanges with fellow fans and to this story about music sharing. Right after this album came out, Suicidal Tendencies were still pretty small but word was spreading by carrier pigeon. Around this time, we went to see the Necros and Reflex From Pain in Cambridge, MA and we got to hang out with the Necros in their van. The Ohio boys told us about bands they knew of and about ones to catch. They played us a few of their fellow bands from Touch and Go Records on the van's sound system and we shared some Boston hardcore with our new friends. I was with my cousin Johnny D  from Newport and his friend Dylan Roy who stayed at my parents' house in Waltham. We took the bus to the show and shortly after, climbed in the van. We saw the Ohio plates and a bunch of guys with short hair and dark clothing blasting punk rock music and calculated that it had to be the Necros. They were so