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Originally Posted by foreverasskiss
the only time someone mentioned "gutter punk" was some schizo hippie who visited Monterey once and got his ass kicked by them. now i know what he was talking about.
also, why does punk or The Misfits have to be pissed off? can't it just be a bunch of jerk-offs playing 3 chords?
and guitars are a great way to deal with ex-girlfriend problems. always has been.
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Punk is, by my definition, more often the latter than the former. When I think of punk, true punk, I think of Half Japanese, Beat Happening, Sonic Youth, Spacemen 3, the Fall, Ramones, Stooges, and the Birthday Party. All bands that it would be unfair to call " angry," since they made music that channeled so many emotions other than anger and frustration.
That said, I also think of tons of pissed off bands, who were defined by their pissedoffedness (Minor Threat, Albini/Big Black, Nirvana, Dead Kennedys). most of those bands were more frustrated than angry, or they were angry about social issues. Anger is definitely part of the deal, but it's not a prerequisite for punk. Emotion, however, and an absolute refusal to inhibit the expression of your emotions, no matter how chaotic, silly, or retarded it makes you look/sound... That is an absolute necessity.
Those bands up there did anger, sure. But they also did whatever the fuck else they were feeling. Punk is more artistic by design than angry, from my perspective. I think it's a broader genre than the stereotypes would suggest.
Gutter punks are pretty angry and violent. Though the angry ones tend to be the alcoholic ones, who are usually pretty good people. It's the smack and speed fiend gutter punks who will surprise you with how quickly they can get a sharp object into your leg and start throwing blows.
And these are the 39-40 year old "GP" I'm talking about. The 20-30 are probably absolute fucking bastards, and I hope I never encounter anyone under the age of 20 who I would call, or who calls himself (because really, what's worse than that, you know?) "gutter punk." I don't think I would be able to handle it.