Music Scene
Punk: Is it alive? Is it Memorex? It's coming to Pipeline

By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Staff Writer

Punk On a Rock Featuring Strung Out, the Bouncing Souls, Swingin' Utters, Youth Brigade With local punk band The 86List 4 p.m. Saturday Pipeline Cafe $16.50 589-1999

Wandering around the Internet between interviews with bands playing this weekend's second annual Punk on a Rock concert at Pipeline Cafe, we found this gem of a lecture offered by the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee: "No Future: The Definitive History of Punk Rock."

For $15, UWM School of Architecture and Urban Planning dean Robert Greenstreet, no less, promised a "spirited" exploration of the differences between punk rock in the United States and England "at a time when nihilism was the philosophy of the day for many young people." Combining "his personal experiences of the time" with "slides and music" illustrating "this '70s phenomenon," Greenstreet's lecture would touch on the Clash, Sham 69, UK Subs, the Damned and "most notably" the Sex Pistols.

The definitive history of punk taught in 90 minutes from the college-age memories of a Wisconsin-based urban development professor? Sure seemed like an apocalyptic end of punk to us.

But is the quarter-century-old punk rock revolt launched by bands such as the Ramones, Television and the Sex Pistols on the legendary roots of ferocious punk godfathers such as the Stooges and MC5 really dead? Take a pulse reading for yourself at tomorrow evening's Punk on a Rock show, with its handful of variously inspired punk progeny.

In the meantime, feel free to read between the lines of the following band chats, while we call UH for a fall 2002 course schedule.

Swingin' Utters

Swingin' Utters formed in 1995 sharing a love of British punk bands, and especially the oddly soothing punk-Irish traditional folk brew of the Pogues.

"We like almost everything they ever did, man," said Utters vocalist, guitarist and resident multi-instrumentalist Darius Koski, confessing a particular admiration for the politically charged lyrics of self-imploding Pogue frontman Shane MacGowan. "I think ... (MacGowan) is one of the most underrated songwriters there is."

The San Francisco-based Utters' punk style is defiantly So-Cal energetic, infused with a good dose of the kind of social commentary that defined the band's '70s-era punk heroes. Heard within the Utters' sonic draft of guitar, bass and drums are hints of violin, accordion, mandolin, pedal steel and even cello.

"We all listen to that kind of stuff," said Koski, a somewhat reluctant violin and classical piano prodigy from ages 5 through 17. "There's no way that I'm just going to play punk rock for the rest of my life. I'd be way too bored. So we just like to mix it up a little bit. It makes us more interesting." Honolulu punk fans are promised some, but not all, of Koski's multi-instrumental talents.

"On the accordion, yes, and maybe some violin," said Koski. "I'm not really sure. It depends on how long of a set we have. You can't have too many songs with that weird stuff on it or it's going to scare people off, you know."

Essential Punk CDs, recommended by the band: "Inflammable Material," Stiff Little Fingers; "London Calling," The Clash," "Pink Flag," Wire

The Bouncing Souls

The Bouncing Souls are, and have always been, unapologetically pop-punk.

"The music I like instantly includes you the moment you put it on," said Souls lead vocalist Greg Attonito, phoning from a train station platform in Basking Ridge, N.J. "It lifts you up and makes you feel cool. The minute details of (our) music is yes, it's punk. But as far as the feelings behind it, it includes the listener in it instead of excluding them."

Melodic three-chord punk anthems such as "Streetlight Serenade (To No One)" and "The Something Special" from the Souls' most recent CD are about, respectively, a BMX bike and an ex-girlfriend. About as close to socially conscious punk as the Souls like to get.

"It's cool, and I've seen a lot of bands do that well, but a lot more of them do it really bad," said Attonito, explaining the Souls' upbeat ethos. "It never felt really comfortable, probably because it felt more important to me to express the things that I felt happening more immediately in my life. That's probably true of the guys in ... can you hold on a minute? My train is here."

The chat continues in transit to New York City, touching on the Bouncing Souls' recent appearance with Green Day on HBO's alt-rock concert series "Reverb."

"The funniest part of that was getting responses from people who had never seen punk or had only heard of us," said Attonito. "You know, like people who never leave the house."

Essential Punk CDs: "Sorry Ma," the Replacements; "Damned But Not Forgotten," the Damned; and anything from the Ramones.

Strung Out

Strung Out drummer Jordan Burns says the band never gets offended when its rollicking blend of punk, metal and pop sensibilities gets fitted with the arguably declassé "skate-punk" label.

"I don't think there's really any titles that offend us," said Burns, via telephone from his Los Angeles home. "You want to let each person have their own ideas about what your music is. And we definitely click on the whole skateboard scene and other scenes like surf, snowboard and motorcross. It's actually a really cool thing to be a part of all those scenes."

Fans of old-school punk and metal, the quintet — formed in Simi Valley, Calif., in 1992 — counts among its influences the likes of Bad Religion and the Descendants.

"I think we really have this 'in-between' mixture of a lot of different styles," said Burns, before stepping out to meet the rest of the band at recording sessions for its fourth album, set to drop in March. "There's plenty of old-school punk stuff that we all listen to."

Much of that is evident in the Clash-style leanings of songs such as "Blew" and "Everyday Game," along with each song's, dare we say it, surprisingly tight melodic structure.

"We definitely have a lot of melodic qualities to the music, for sure," agreed Burns. "Mixing the melodic with the heavy or metal side creates a good combination for things."

Essential Punk CDs: Bad Religion and (somewhat nonpunk) Slayer and Ozzy Osbourne.

Youth Brigade

The core of politically charged punk outfit Youth Brigade for more than 21 years, brothers Shawn, Mark and Adam Stern are also outspoken veterans of the L.A. punk scene's numerous incarnations.

"There's too many bands copying the style, the look and the sound, that really have no idea of what punk rock was about or where it comes from," said guitarist/vocalist Shawn Stern about the city's current punk scene in one breath, while praising its continued vitality in another. "They sing love songs and stupid adolescent songs that ... to me, that's not punk rock."

And what does become a proper punk rock band in Stern's opinion?

"It's really a lifestyle and an attitude and a philosophy," said Stern. "It's about trying to challenge things, change things and shake things up instead of just being complacent."

Counting the Clash, the Stranglers, L.A. peers such as TSOL and the Adolescents, and even English mod band the Jam among their early influences, Youth Brigade has its own punk label with a roster of six acts and remains a force on the Southern California punk scene.

"There are a lot of kids coming around to shows, which is funny because I could be their dad now," said Stern, 41, laughing. "It's kind of weird, but it's cool. I mean, my feeling is I'd much rather have kids listening to what we're doing ... than listening to the Backstreet Boys, or bands that are like the Backstreet Boys with punk rock clothing like, I don't know, New Found Glory, and crap like that."

Essential Punk CDs: First recordings from Social Distortion, X, Bad Religion and the Germs. Also albums by the Clash, the Stranglers, Television, the Ramones and the Sex Pistols.