The documentary Punk: Attitude gives great insight into the true depth of the genre. Several of the bands highlighted in the film I have heard of before like the Clash, the Ramones, Black Flag, the MC5, the Velvet Underground, the Sex Pistols, the New York Dolls, and Sonic Youth. There were also several bands though that I have never heard like the Slits, the Heartbreakers, X-Ray Spex, and Siouxsie & the Banshees. The title sums up all that is punk. Punk is truly just attitude. As Henry Rollins stated, "Punk is a state of mind, not a type of dress." He was referring to all the wannabe punk kids who purposely ripped apart their clothes just to safety pin it back together. The movement got somewhat of a bad reputation for the misrepresentation of their interests. True punk rockers disapproved of these young teenage kids calling themselves punk just because they spiked their hair. And parents disapproved of their kids' rebellion.
But parents would never understand it. Punk is doing whatever the fuck you want to do, when you want to do it. It was about paving your own path and speaking up for what you believe in. Don' be afraid to be controversial. The MC5 was insistent upon "kick out the jams MOTHERFUCKER". The New York Dolls were unphased by people bashing them for dressing like women. And the Clash were always itching to express their political opinions through songs such as "Rock the Casbah". Unabashed, raw attitude and the f-bomb make punk what it is.
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