FishByte - Writing

Defining punk as dead is not some sort of new thing, and I am not claiming that I am 'better than thou' for thinking it. But it is a revelation on my part. I myself generally like punk music, but as a cultural movement, it has become a bastardization of itself. What punk is, as seen today, is consumption of what makes someone think they are different. Corps see this need to stand out, and with their copyrights and royalties they will market to it, just like anything else. It's completely backwards, and just a joke. I went to a punk show as a highschooler with a friend of mine. The band was someone I had gone to middle school with, and I absolutely loved it, how raw it was. Since then I have been seeking out that sound. Not too long ago I decided to check out a punk festival, a dreary day in a nearby city. And man, punk is a joke. All it was was idolization of corporate fossilized puppets and just selling genuine garbage with a punk aesthetic. This was not what I thought punk was, and what I experienced was a far-cry from what I expected. Maybe you could say this "actually wasn't punk", and that the experience I had before was the "Real(TM) punk", but how the hell do you define something like that. Hundreds of people had gone to that punk fest, wearing their favorite band's shirts and silver dotted belts, while maybe 20 people went to "Punk-o-Ween" as I recall the colored in one off poster at the entrance of the forest (behind my grandma's house of all places) in early 2020 on the cusp of covid. My logic here being that with the majority agreeing that punk is consumption of tat, and they are fine with that, then the majority have defined it as just that.

I know this is just whining, (definitely what the internet needs more of) but man, it is disapointing to be led on to an idea, only for it to not be quite what you thought it was. Can I still enjoy the music? Oh for sure. But do I need to buy all the clothes and band shirts to validate myself. No, I'm good, that isn't what punk is to me. Maybe I need a new word for the opposite of modern punk. Which is ironic. A counter culture of a counter culture. You'd think that would just put you back where you started, but that's not me either. I am undefined. As I am sure many others also have come to the same conclusion. Hell, why do I need to have a culture to share with others anyhow. I will just be my own culture heh.