There used to be Teddy Boys, balding, big beer guts hanging over big belt buckles, ducks ass turning into a mullet, brothel creepers stained with fifteen years of pale ale… wearing a little lapel badge bearing the legend: ‘rocknroll will never die’. Then there were the 1980s punks, huge mohican peaks stiffened with punk and soap, chains from nose to ear, old leather jackets with the letters scrawled on the back in Tippex: ‘punk will never die.’
I still sometimes see the remnants on a Saturday, clinging on in Camden Town. Every town in the UK will have one. Old men, now.
Who would have thought that punk rock is actually being kept alive by young people, people like Mediocre, shes and theys, who look like they still get dizzy from half a cigarette, who are probably the grand children (!!!) of old gits the same age as the originals? And, in their hands, it is just a joyful sound, a being alive sound, the soundtrack to years of fun and freedom. That is a much more attractive proposition than die hards (die-slows?) fading away on the bridge across the Union Canal.
Here, they answer a list of questions, so you can find out who they are.
How important is...
Pop music?
Very! Let’s stop pretending we don’t like catchy music.
Innovation?
Innovation for innovation’s sake isn’t necessarily important, but if it’s the result of someone’s authentic expression then sick! Deserves importance in our book.
Image?
Sometimes too important.
Youth?
Screw ‘em! Just kidding guys. We love you.
DIY?Doing it yourself is essentially surrounding yourself with people also doing it themselves; and as a result doing it together. And that’s very important to do.
Suits?
I hear they make a great outfit to run around the city in while also trying not to die
on a train track.
Volume?
Only as important as its relationship to the other volumes it’s interacting with.
A proper job?
Depends on how important paying rent is.
Essential Info
Mediocre image by Ginger Port
To Know You're Screwed Is To Know A Lot is available now from Dangerbird Records⇒
