The Committee to Save Punk Rock soldiers on

I have a pretty broad range of musical tastes thanks in large part to the loving wife (HUGE hippie - just kidding dear) but 9 times out of 10, I am listening to something loud and fast. But finding good music has not always be easy. I came to musical conciousness when Poison was ALL the rage. Then, in the musical wilderness of '80s and early ‘90s hair metal, Nirvana dropped from the sky like a Messianic tour de force and path to sonic righteousness. Grunge had come to rescue us all. Then Grunge sort of fell to pieces when Cobain blew his head off. Pretty soon, every A&R guy went out looking for the next Kurt Cobain. The unfortunate side effect of this rediscovery of punk was that the bands they wanted had to be radio friendly. Hence, Blink-182 and Good Charlotte are huge while most of the bands on Hellcat records are still minor players in the music biz. I don't want to take anything away from the pop-punk scene - it has its place. But not in my music collection.

So in my head, I formed the Committee to Save Punk Rock. Think of them as the Justice League for the music your parents will hate. These were the guys out there playing loud, fast and smart music that has more to say than bitching about why everyone thinks you are weird. They have been doing it before the second wave of punk came rolling in. And they didn't change their music to increase their profile or make it friendlier to the radio. The founding members are Tim Armstrong and Lars Frederiksen of Rancid, Fat Mike of NOFX, Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion, and Mike Ness of Social Distortion. Just as the Sex Pistols, the Clash, and the Ramones paved the way for the Dead Kennedys, the Misfits and the Talking Heads, these guys are doing the same for the pop-punk bands as well as lesser known folks like the Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly, Bouncing Souls, and Pennywise. And they are still churning the pit. Rancid has a new album out next spring. NOFX released their new one this week. Bad Religion is out touring this summer. Social D just finished a tour a few days ago. So to every fan of punk, I suggest we all thank our lucky stars for these folks. And to the Committee I say, keep making your music and I will keep buying.