Punk Isn’t Dead, but the Kids Are Writing Their Names on the Family Heirlooms

This isn’t meant to be political, but it’s 2023, and in America, we’re in the middle of a holy war, between two factions who both believe in the same false god: man.  Both sides think if they were in charge, we’d be in the middle of a Utopian existence only made possible by the elimination of their enemy.  But the truth is, I’m not interested in politics, much less your politics.  I am, however, interested in intellectual consistency and logic. 

Mostly a non-story, because it’s been a long time since the Offspring were relevant, the YouTube channel Rock Feed highlighted a tweet from Noodles Wasserman, guitar player in the Offspring, “throwing shade” on Alice Cooper.  I find this to be interesting because it highlights the state of “punk rock”, whatever that is, in 2023.

As Tim Armstrong once said, “what’s punk?  Who’s punk?  Are you a punk?  Am I a punk?  I don’t know.”  If anyone should know, it’s him, and he doesn’t know.  Individually, you can’t say who is punk and who is not, but I do believe punk had a set of ethics that most punks today have discarded in favor of the ethics that punk was initially a reaction to. 

Before I go on, I’ll disclose my bias.  I love Rancid, both musically, and I love how they treat cultural issues, even when I disagree with them.  Those are guys who I would love to hang out with.  Lars has ranted about the Patagonia liberals who moved into San Francisco and set up all these rules, they’ve ruined his city.  No longer can you “let your freak flag fly”, you have to play by their rules.  Not punk.

I hate NOFX and it’s safe to say that Fat Mike and I don’t have a lot in common, but I have a lot of respect for him.  In addition to putting out a Propaghandi album where they attacked him personally, he included every band in the Punk Rock Museum that should be there, with the exception of blatantly white supremacist bands.  That’s punk. 

Noodles is the typical “punk” these days.  Pro-establishment.  Pro-government.  Pro-corporations.  Pro-greed.  Nothing but a dying man worshipping at the altar of hate.

His argument was dumb.  Alice Cooper, dressing up as a fictional gender-bending character, like a Halloween costume, is not the same as giving puberty blockers to a six-year-old or performing a mastectomy on a teenager.  Whether or not you agree with doing those things, you have to admit they’re not the same thing.  At all.  Ironically, this is exactly what Alice was talking about.  At no point did he say anything hateful about anyone, he simply pointed out what has been obvious to all human beings since the dawn of time.

A punk rocker, in California no less, raging against Trump, conservative values, etc. is no different than a Pentecostal preacher raging against Satan.  The response is automatic.  It requires no creativity.  It requires no risk.  It requires no courage.  It’s much easier to float downstream than it is to, as Bad Religion would say, go against the grain.  Noodles had nothing to lose by saying what he said.  Alice did. 

Where Noodles and so many others go wrong is confusing inclusivity with support. I can include an alcoholic without approving of their drinking. I can include someone of different spiritual or political beliefs without supporting them. I can include someone thinking, feeling, and/or doing any number of things I might disagree with. Love is not conditioned by agreement. They use words like love, inclusivity, etc. but what they mean is, support. It wasn’t Alice who was being exclusive, it was Noodles.

I have no ill will towards Noodles or the Offspring. Biggest independent album ever. Mad props for that. They wrote a few good tunes, maybe a couple of Ignition, Smash and Ixnay on the Hombre each. I’m happy they’re successful. He’s probably a nice guy, but I’m just sick and tired of pro-establishment “punks” getting on their soap boxes and acting like preachers.

Rebellion is a part of our DNA.  It’s the most human of behaviors, but the question is, who or what are you rebelling against?  God?  Joe Biden?  Donald Trump?  The system?  The “man”?  Anyone who doesn’t bow down and validate your every fleeting emotion? 

You need to identify who or what it is because you look like an idiot when a member of the machine claims to rage against it.    

I don’t know if punk is going to die or not, but just in case, I wrote my name on Johnny Rotten’s safety pins.