Punk Rock Docs

One of my pet peeves is how punks are often portrayed in popular culture. Too often they’re the lunkhead with the ridiculous clothes and hair who is treated like a running punchline. The image of the idiot punk is so ingrained that they’re almost automatically assumed to be falling down drunks who are little more than comic relief devoid of personality or prospects whenever they pop up. In my experience, it’s the direct opposite. Punks are the musical smart asses: the intelligent kid in the back of the room who can do the work but just doesn’t take it seriously. It takes a keen mind to zero in on society’s myriad failures in a way that’s hilarious, excoriating and trenchant all at once.
But some punks have taken that a step further by putting their diplomas where their mouths are, earning some serious academic accolades outside of the mosh pit.

Weekend Punk Pick: Bad Religion

Bad Religion (along with Dead Kennedys) is a big reason why I latched on to punk rock as a teen. I probably would have dropped punk if I hadn't discovered these wordy Californians. While I enjoyed the bratty attitude of most punk bands, too much of it was juvenile and pointlessly dumb. Bad Religion were one of the first bands of real substance I found, a band that respected its audience enough to drop an OED's-worth of sesquipedalian words (name another band that's casually dropped "pusillanimous" in a song) while still banging out some of the finest SoCal hardcore you will ever hear. After i ran out of Carcass Word of the Day material I thought about doing the same for Bad Religion. May be worth reconsidering that idea.