Old Punk Moment 98

Yesterday at a Las Vegas buffet a pudgy, dumb looking mom and her pudgy, dumb and angry looking 12 year old son sat down in the next booth. He's wearing black jeans and a new Aus Rotten t-shirt. It was black since the tie-dye ones were sold out. It might have been this one. I try not to look at these people directly.... because they threaten the status quo and challenge my beliefs.

What can I say about 5th generation Crass bands whose visual motif comes from Maximum Rock N Roll and Pusmort. It appeals to belligerent kids and nihilistic adults who hang around belligerent kids. It's a patch and a handful of slogans, where at concerts you hear "This is a song about pathetic humanity. It's called 'Pathetic Humanity'!" Then they throw their instruments down the stairs and whatever sounds come up is the song.

I spent a few minutes coming up with different things I'd say as I walked by. To him I could say "Smash the State, Timmy, as only a doughy pimple farmer like you can", or to mom I could just whisper "You failed" or tell her not to worry since it's a phase most children grow out of. You know, give her hope when all she can see is despair.

Thankfully this suburban chud nonsense didn't exist when I was 12. In 1973 everybody had long hair, from hippies to stoners to the junior Bowie kid I was becoming. The worst I could have been was this, which was actually pretty scary.