Punk rock progeny
The other day I’m in the car with my four-year-old son Austin and he says, “Daddy, I want to listen to Uncle Matt’s music.”
“Uncle Matt’s music,” which as far as Austin is concerned is one conjoined phrase and a genre in itself, refers to Rube, the latest album from my brother-in-law Matt King. We both like Uncle Matt’s music. But, Austin’s fandom borders on obsession, to the point where I’m concerned that he may one day boil Matt’s rabbit.
I absolutely love that CD. But we listen to it all. The. Fucking. Time.
“I don’t want to listen to Uncle Matt’s music right now. If I listen too much to it, I’ll become totally desensitized to its awesomeness and will begin to resent it in the way I resent the green onions in the fridge, which have become a pile of decomposed, fetid stank.”
“Oh,” Austin replied. “Then I want to listen to punk rock.”
It’s moments like this that warm my heart. Kids are amazing because they’re like little create-your-own-minion kits. Even if nobody likes what you’re into, you can totally add new followers to the cause by brainwashing your children. I’ve explained to Austin the differences between pop, general rock, punk, ska, rockabilly, and Daddy’s favorite subgenre, Celtic punk. For those of you who are uncultured, that last contains Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys, and The Pogues. At my wedding, some of my friends and I did an impromptu jig in formalwear to The Pogues’ “Living in a World Without Her” and hence got odd stares for the rest of the night.
“Do you know The Goops?” I asked from the driver’s seat.
“No.”
“The Goops are way cool,” I told him, and started their self-titled album on my iPod.
Time passed. “You like this?”
“Yeah.”
“I love punk bands with girl singers,” I told him. “Girls should sing punk more. Do you know any other punk bands with girl singers?”
He nodded in the rear-view mirror. “Tilt.”
“Good boy.”
I had forgotten how cool The Goops were. They broke up, regrettably, back in the late 90s. I discovered The Goops when they opened for Samiam, and I discovered Samiam when they opened for Bad Religion. The Goops ended up doing a mini-tour with a rockabilly band called Buzzsaw and I went to see them in four cities. At the time, I liked to think I was working on some sort of punk documentary, so I kept trying to get them to let me interview them on my old gigantic VHS camcorder. They finally relented and I spent a few hours after a show hanging out with them until dawn in their motel room. Ah, The Goops.
“The Goops. The Goops. I like that name,” said Austin from the back seat.
“High five for The Goops,” I said, offering my hand. He hit it.
I was totally geeking out, so I made a mental note to listen to The Goops during my workout the next day. It would give me punk rock power, which means that although you may not set any records, you’re still really bad ass.
When I got home, I decided to look up The Goops, to see if they were still floating around cyberspace. Google revealed surprisingly little. Nada on Twitter. But on Facebook, I saw that there was an Eleanor Whitledge. Eleanor is super awesome. She threw up on Iggy Pop, then wrote a song about it.
Her avatar was of an inanimate object, like a UFO parked at a train station. So I messaged her: “You’re not by any chance the Eleanor who was in the band The Goops, are you?”
And the answer was, “Yes. I am she.”
So now, I think she’s totally bullshitting me because neglecting that I still haven’t gotten a response to my gushing response, that communique isn’t very punk rock at all. Such grammatically correct brevity. No cigarette burns on the email. No mention of huffing gas. I have my doubts that this is indeed the woman who sang, Passing dogs take pees on me / This really is the life for me.
Hell, it’s been ten years. My orange hair has grown out. The smoke smell has finally left my clothes. Maybe The Goops have gotten all civilized. Maybe they’re now tax assessors or chicken farmers. All respectable and possibly covered in white bird shit. With like, dental insurance.
I have no tattoos to make me regret the impetuosity of those younger days. Hair goes back to normal. My Pennywise tour shirt gets used to wax the car.
Okay, fine. The minivan.
Comments
21 Comments on Punk rock progeny
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Lisa Paul on
Tue, 25th Nov 2008 9:35 pm
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Mike on
Tue, 25th Nov 2008 10:23 pm
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Zed on
Tue, 25th Nov 2008 10:28 pm
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Tracy on
Tue, 25th Nov 2008 10:42 pm
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Amanda on
Wed, 26th Nov 2008 12:00 am
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chris Zydel on
Wed, 26th Nov 2008 1:15 am
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Elizabeth on
Wed, 26th Nov 2008 10:02 am
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Delmont88 on
Wed, 26th Nov 2008 1:02 pm
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Mrs. Truant on
Wed, 26th Nov 2008 2:08 pm
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Chuck Westbrook on
Wed, 26th Nov 2008 2:43 pm
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Johnny Truant on
Wed, 26th Nov 2008 2:52 pm
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Johnny Truant on
Wed, 26th Nov 2008 2:52 pm
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Margaret (Nanny Goats) on
Wed, 26th Nov 2008 3:10 pm
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Dan on
Thu, 27th Nov 2008 6:24 am
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Johnny Truant on
Thu, 27th Nov 2008 10:29 am
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The Economy Isn’t Happening » Blog Archive » Heeeeere’s Johnny! on
Mon, 23rd Mar 2009 10:54 am
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Deborah on
Wed, 25th Mar 2009 2:18 pm
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Johnny B. Truant on
Thu, 26th Mar 2009 6:06 am
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Spongebob Squarepants on
Sat, 11th Jul 2009 4:17 am
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Wayne John on
Tue, 23rd Feb 2010 10:30 pm
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Johnny on
Tue, 23rd Feb 2010 11:45 pm
Careful there, better give your boy a few doses of Jonas Brothers and the Wiggles so he doesn’t get beat up in pre-school. Or grow up to bring a submachine gun to school. Oh, sorry, that’s Death Metal fans. Still, I think you have to be at least well into puberty to handle Punk.
” Kids are amazing because they’re like little create-your-own-minion kits. ”
See it’s crap like that which makes me think me having kids is a good idea.
I need to find other ways to create my own minions.
Hope your kids avoid crap like the Jonas brothers and the wiggles. Garbage like that is what causes those kids to take submachine guns to school. Just give him the occasional dosage of pop punk so he knows how to socialize with others…maybe some hip hop just cause a four year old who can rap would be insanely funny.
Was just listening to the Pogues (Gentleman Soldier). I don’t have any photos, tshirts or albums from those days.. just memories. Wait… I still have my leather jacket. and lots of scars. Two tats.
Point is, if I DID have anything like a tshirt from that era I sure wouldn’t polish the car with it. LOL. I spend hours online trying to track down momentos from the bars I worked at.
I did find one thing from my past: a Circle Jerks poster, signed by all the members, to me. It’s in Richmond, VA. I’m negotiating with the current owner.
My minion creating abilities have totally failed. My 6 year old is pissed that we don’t send him to a hoity toity school where he can wear a suit and tie every day and make connections to get him a sweet position in the Oval Office. But, it’s fun trying!
Interesting. My 6 year old is less into a group / goops as he into a ‘jam’. we listen to jam bands, namely (esp. widespread panic, greatful dead, and the like) at home. he’s on the cusp of introducing his finds to us! we can’t wait (as parents & music lovers)…
I don’t have too much too say because I’m laughing way too hard! But I needed to respond… Oh, I just read your bio. You’re originally from Ohio. No wonder you make me laugh so hard. The wickedest, funniest folks are from Ohio.
I don’t know if you’re into spirituality at all but there’s a great book called Hardcore Zen: Punk Rock, Monster Movies and The Truth About Reality (the author of that book is also from Ohio) that reminds me of you and your writing style and your take on life. Hey, are you secretly a Zen master?
Really enjoy your site!
When my son was 6 or 7, we were driving to school and “How Soon Is Now” came on the radio. I said, “Oh, I love this song. It’s so sad.” My son listened as Morrissey lamented his long wait, lost hope. My son shrugged. “I’m not crying.”
But today? His iTunes library is liberally laced with Bright Eyes and Death Cab among all the political rap and old school punk. I think he WAS crying – like a little girl.
Kids are never too young to be exposed to music.
I have been playing the “Who sings this song?” game with the kids, everytime we get in the car, for over a decade, now.
“Hey, Delmont88, Jr. Who sings this song?”
Without looking up from his gameboy: “Elvis Presley?”
“Wrong. It’s the Supremes…”
“Hey, Girl Child of Delmont. Who sings this song?”
Removing her earphones. “Patty Cline?”
“It’s Patsy Cline, and no. Try Journey!”
It’s a fun game. They really enjoy it.
Sorry, but no child of mine will be listening to The Wiggles. Nor will they ever watch The Teletubbies. There is something freakishly cult-like about those big colorful blob-type things. And just so you know, the current green onions in our fridge are not “decomposed, fetid stank.” I checked them yesterday.
“I love punk bands with girl singers,” I told him. “Girls should sing punk more. Do you know any other punk bands with girl singers?”
He nodded in the rear-view mirror. “Tilt.”
“Good boy.”
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Great stuff.
@ Zed – I do have a pic of me with Dicky Barrett. That’s about it. But about the shirt; you have to understand that I wear things until they barely exist. My best shirts become rags whether I intend it or not.
@ Elizabeth – I have also rocked out to “How Soon Is Now?” with my son. I don’t think he was as impressed, but I’m a Renaissance man.
@ Mrs. Truant – Uh-oh, the missus!
@ Everyone else – Thanks!
Oh BTW, we do watch a LOT of SpongeBob. But to be fair, I’ve been watching that since well before he was born, so that’s also an imposed taste.
GASP! No, you do NOT have a minivan….do you?
My niece is all cool with her punk rock, her World of Warcraft, her Batman… but I’M the one who turned HER on to Spongebob Squarepants back in the day. So yeah, we do have SOME brainwashing capability, particularly when they’re your own kid and you have them in your captivity most of the time.
That’s funny because my 5 year old son is the same way. He mixes it up a bit depending who’s car he’s in. In my car he wants “Mohawk songs” which = Rancid. He also likes the Ramones, Goldfinger, Less than Jake. Now if I could only get him to hit the weights
This coming from a guy I happen to know gave himself and his kids mohawks. So I understand.
Margaret: It’s not so much a minivan as it is an “awesome transport vehicular system.”
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Create-your-own-minions indeed. I love that I have influenced my kids taste in music (and that they have taste in music!) Celtic punk? Just went to see The Dropkick Murphy’s at Roseland in NYC. Can’t wait to take the kids…
I don’t think there’s a way to NOT influence them, actually. I mean, my son currently loves everything I do. I wonder at what age that totally reverses?
Like to watch Stargate Atlantis episodes and also Lost. I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.
Two words: The Distillers
(for great female punkness)
Oh yeah, chick bands are so awesome. Tilt, Dance Hall Crashers… oh, so sweet.
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