I Get A Lot Of E-Mails Like This

Since I started writing oldpunks.com in 1997 I've received a goodly number of e-mails like this one. I'm never sure if it's written to me or for me to post as a letter to the editor. The content differs but the tone is always the same. Usually they're well written and display smarts and healthy introspection. Here's the good word from Ygfs81james3gvfP, or as him mom calls him, Ygfs81:

You're right when you say punk is only a word. I listen to punk. I was born in 91. Yeah, it sucks to listen to bands that died years before I was born. I know there's a stereotype about the one's who call themselves punk around my age, so I'll just name some favorite bands.

Bad Religion (mostly the older stuff), Dead Kennedys (Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables is O.K.) oh, and to alot of people who talk about how they dress, I want to quote Jello in saying "spiky hair don't make you hardcore!" and to racist skins "nazi punks f--k off!, Misfits (but I never wanna meet Glenn . . .evvvvvverrrr . . .crazy motherf--ker/baby killer), Black Flack (pre-Rollins and post-Rollins, I love the first four years and Damaged),Bad Brains (i against i is O.K.), Minor Threat (hardcore at best), Ramones (appeals to that poppier side), Descendents (Milo Goes To College got [is getting] me through those awkward years), Crass (punk's dead), Exploited (punk's not dead), Germs (shhh, what we do is secret), Sex Pistols (SQUID VICIOUS, haha that's funny!), (Charged) G.B.H. (no, I'm not a crusty), Fear (f--k you, I don't care about you! and f--k christmas too!), Operation Ivy (no, I'm not a rudi, but "Knowledge" and "Bombshell" are O.K.) here's a few of 'em

I'm 13. Don't have a mohawk or liberty spikes, don't see a point in plaid and safety pins, and can get dressed in under a minute. With knowing that, there are a lot of people who would say I'm not punk. It doesn't bother me. I don't think punk in general will ever be dead as long as there is one crazy 13yr old kid with a guitar and a DK album. And if it is, then I'm just a zombie with hardcore in my heart.

...That's all