Yunk = Yuppie Punk

30 July, 2003 || 14:25

And while at the Galleria yeaterday, Caffè Mocha in hand, I saw a guy wearing a T-shirt that said "PUNK IS NOT DEAD". My reaction: Oh, please. What is punk today: Blink 182. I rest my case. Punk of the past: The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, etc. In the past, punk meant funky hair of many colors, grunge clothing that you decorated yourself, multiple piercings and safety pins. I can buy all that stuff premade at Hot Topic. Hell, it's even filtering into stores like Foley's and JC Penney's. Capitalism has claimed a new victim: Punk. (Btw, I am *not* anti-capitalism. Remember my Starbucks addiction.)

"But Sfida," you say, "what about the garage bands where punk has its roots? They're alive, kicking and screaming (especially screaming) even today." I say: yeah right. I had a conversation with a couple whose 16-year-old son is in a garage band of that sort. (Unlike stereotypical parents, they actually like their kid's music.) But they were careful to point out that their son wears Tommy Hilfiger and has clean cut hair. Just like the rest of the band. Just like all the others. I pronounced it Yunk: Yuppie Punk. Just like Blink 182. Yunk is easy to recognize; it generally falls into one of two categories: the overprivileged white kids who like to fritter away their parents' money on beer, pot, and porn, of the overprivileged white kids who are angry at the world for no particular reason. Blink fits into the former category.

The stereotype is that kids who like punk are different, and like stuff that sounds different. But where I went to school, that wasn't true. Girls liked pop (i.e., Britney, 98­­°) and guys liked punk. At least the popular ones anyway. Funny how most of them also liked Pink Floyd's classic anthem against conformity, "Another Brick in the Wall", yet wouldn't tolerate anyone in their circle not behaving just like them. Anyway, in light of the evidence, I think we can say that, if not dead, punk is at least dying.