Monday, March 16, 2009

The Punk Rock Rosetta Stone

I often stay up late at night searching for that mythical musical bridge that must have existed between the so-called prepunk of the MC5 and Stooges in Detroit and the full blown, fully leaded punk rock played by the Ramones and Dead Boys in New York.

I had been pretty satisfied that the New York Dolls were that bridge - image wise at least, as the Dolls look and sound was an esophagus burning nightcap made of the androgyny and pure bloody weirdness of Iggy Pop, mixed with a dash of Mick Taylor era Stones, shaken with some accidental death in a bathtub (poor Billy Murcia - perhaps the saddest rock star death of them all), and served with a floater of soon to be Sex Pistols manager Malcom McLaren dressing up the band in red leather commie outfits. How punk rock is that?

Very punk rock indeed is the correct answer, but the problem with this "New York Dolls as the sonic bridge between the Stooges and the Ramones" theory is that the Dolls' music sounds just like the Stones (and no, that does NOT mean they sound like Aerosmith). Don't get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this sound. Tis a sound other bands would do well to emulate, if only they could. Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders worshipped the spoons that Keef used to melt his smack, so much so that Thunders threw the cat amongst the pigeons by becoming a heroin addict before he became famous, never a good idea.

As righeous as those two original Dolls albums are (and the third record that the last two surviving members put out in 2007 is pretty damn good too), this Stones-ish sound the Dolls played is decidedly un-punk, or at least that's what my old pal Tim would say. And if Tim doesn't think it's punk, then it's not punk. Dude.

So what is a punk rock historian to do?!?! Thank God for articles like this.

I've never actually heard this band Death (never even heard of them - I'm embarassed), and I'm not about to fork over $800 but for a single, but the idea that three black dudes from Detroit could have saved rock and roll from disco is just so damn cool I think I'll just have to go with it, songs unheard.

So there you go. Death is now in my "Top 10 Most Influential Bands of the Punk Rock Era That No One Listens To Anymore." The actual list shall be forthcoming.

And speaking of influential bands that no one listens to anymore, I saw John Doe, the bassist/singer from L.A. punk band X, play an acoustic set at a jazz lounge in Christchurch last week. The X songs sounded great, especially The New World, which he of course dedicated to the new administration among hopes that he can sing The New World four years from now after we have seen an actual New World. Whatever, it's a great song, always has been, always will be, and hearing Doe play it solo acoustic Woody Guthrie style was neat-o.

John Doe's new songs all have that familiar thing he does with his voice where he gives us a rising vibrato at the end of each verse before a punchy chorus of lots of syllables in not a lot of time. I swear John Doe does this on damn near every song he plays, and it's great, it's his thing, just like Bono's hoo hoo's and Springsteen's rebuttals of "Mister" and Kris Kristofferson dropping the word "freedom" into every song he writes. So let me be clear that I have no problem with John Doe doing his elongated-end-of-verse-vibrato-thing-followed-by-punchy-chorus. I am cool with it. But when an honest to goodness punk rock legend introduces a new song by commenting about the mountains near his house or how much he misses his daughter (while cradling an acoustic guitar), you know you better be ready to cringe.

And cringe we did. But no worries, John, you still rock. Just don't write any more songs about mountains, daughters, or California.

1 comment:

  1. John, you forgot to leave out....never mind, you nailed it....Lester Bangs is giving a boney thumbs up on this one...

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