Intellectual Rebellion

Originally written in 2014

Many people consider tragedy to be romantic. We idolize those who died young and tragically, such as: James Dean, Kurt Cobain, and John Lennon to name but a few. When you die young, you leave a small body of work to be judged and any indiscretions can be blamed on youth. Perhaps no musical genre benefits from this more than rock music and no subculture is more known for it than punk rock. And there are two reasons for that – Darby Crash and Sid Vicious.

Darby Crash, the lead singer of The Germs, a highly influential early L.A. Punk band (Hollywood, pre-hardcore) died at the age of 22 of an intentional heroin overdose in a failed suicide plot with his friend. He left behind a myth and legacy larger than his body of work which consisted of one album, GI, produced by Joan Jett. Darby was deeply troubled due to a number of things in his life, most notably his desire to leave a mark in this world and inner conflict due to his homosexuality. His death was overshadowed in the media by the fact that John Lennon was shot a day later outside the Dakota on the other side of the country.

Sid Vicious, the bass player (if you can even call him that), of The Sex Pistols, died at age 21 of an unintentional heroin overdose in New York City after being released from jail. He had been charged in the murder of his girlfriend, groupie and junky extraordinaire, Nancy Spungeon, who had been stabbed to death in the Chelsea Hotel where they had been staying. The Sex Pistols had been broken up and Sid was working on a solo career that was likely to go nowhere based on his lack of musical ability.

Conversely, two men emerged from the early L.A. scene who would forge quite a different path in life.  They would lead two seminal California punk bands, influence several generations of punks and academics alike – creating some of the best punk music of all time while getting Ph.D.s in scientific fields, and spending part of their professional lives working in science as well as singing in punk bands. 

Milo Aukerman is both the lead singer of The Descendents and holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of California at San Diego. 

I had the opportunity to interview him in the spring of 1997 for my zine, As Is, and I asked him what he did when he wasn't singing punk rock and he replied, “I fuck around with DNA and shit.”

Musically The Descendents have influenced everyone from Blink-182 to Face to Face and practically created the sound of Southern California pop punk. While not exactly politically correct, they wrote songs about parents, girls, coffee and food. Their music sonically was unique and the lyrics accessible (they weren't trying to be poets obviously). 

Around the same time, if you drove north up the 405 from Manhattan Beach, where The Descendents were based, to Woodland Hills, you would find Greg Graffin and Bad Religion. Bad Religion's influence on punk rock, California music and melodic hardcore cannot be understated. Even on their first album, How Could Hell Be Any Worse?, 16 year old Greg Graffin wasn't writing about girls, or getting high or being pissed off about his teachers, he was writing songs like, “We're Only Gonna Die” and “Fuck Armageddon... This is Hell”. 

Greg Graffin went on to receive his Ph.D. in zoology from Cornell University and teach part-time at both Cornell and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). He's written several books, including Anarchy Evolution: Faith, Science and Religion in a World Without God (a memoir of both his musical and scientific life), as well as crafted some of the most influential albums in punk history such as: Suffer, Against the Grain and Generator. 

So the question we (and more specifically kids today) have to ask ourselves, is, “Who is the better role model?”

It seems simple from the outside looking in right? But again, youth and insanity can be romantic and sexy. Why should kids follow Milo and Greg rather than Darby and Sid?

My answer to that is simple – hope for a better future. Instead of nihilism and saying, “the world is fucked up, fuck it”, look first at these men's ability to follow their dreams, as diverse as they may be. Secondly, look at what a difference they're making in the world. Both of them are part of a process to find out more about the world we live in, which in turn can lead to a better understanding about how to fix the world's problems. 

Furthermore, the music of Bad Religion itself can guide you to a better future. Don't read too much into this as even Greg sings in “No Direction”, “No Bad Religion song can make your life complete”, but the knowledge that somewhere other people are asking the same questions that you are should be of comfort.

Some people who are critical of Bad Religion have told me they don't like their liberal politics or they don't like being preached to. To these people I say, “You're not listening close enough.” The truth of the matter is – Bad Religion points out that things are fucked up and that we have the power to change them. Never do they offer solutions, merely possibilities. Questioning authority means not just questioning religion, but questioning scientists as well. It means questioning Democrats as well as Republicans. It means, most of all, look at all the evidence and make up your own mind. Don't just believe what you're told and don't try to fit facts and statistics into your theory. Build your theories around what the facts and statistics tell you. 

I know this is also easier seen in hindsight than in the present. While I would have always chosen Milo and Greg over Darby and Sid, it wasn't because I was interested in academia – I finished 362 out of 365 in my high school graduating class. I went on to get my B.A. from DePaul University and attend law school at the University of Louisville (see also punk rock lawyer, Joe Escalante of The Vandals) and have thought countless times about pursuing a Ph.D. but the politics of academia have always kept me from it. And I am not advocating everyone get a doctorate, I am merely advocating intelligent rebellion. 

Darby Crash and Sid Vicious were rebellious, sure, but what did they accomplish? Either in life or death? One album between the two of them (Sid did not play on Nevermind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols). That's it. Did they inspire people? Sure, but how much of that was positive inspiration? 

On the other hand, what's Milo and Greg's legacy? Professors who used to be punkers, who used to skate, or lawyers from punk rock bands or businessmen who used to put on punk shows and put out punk zines. They are people with a better understanding of how to relate to an ever increasingly diverse world. People who can relate to that kid who can't seem to fit in with his peers and just needs a spark from someone to believe in himself. People who start businesses with a strong moral compass who produce not only quality goods and services but have a strong desire to do what's right for their workers, their customers and their environment.

What's a punk rock hero? Guys like Milo, Greg, Dexter Holland from the Offspring (Ph.D. candidate in microbiology who is currently a doctoral candidate at a medical school working on issues regarding HIV), Jim Lindberg of Pennywise (author of Punk Rock Dad) and many, many others. Guys who looked at the world and said, “This is fucked up. I'm going to do something about it.”

Darby and Sid may make for better movies, but Milo, Greg and company make for a better world.