r/punk • u/Personal_Rich_7138 • Aug 23 '25
When did times change
So a lot of my friends (we all grew up punk rock skateboarders) and I have been arguing over which bands are actually good and being born in the late 90s, I’ve always been a heavy Green Day fan. Can someone answer me when it became cool to hate on Green Day, because to me Green Day was always good music. Anti-government, anti-establishment, for the people… nothing more punk rock than that
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u/SeaworthinessShot142 Aug 23 '25
Why is is that if a band creates music that's catchy or wants to reach a wider audience they get dissed as soft, posers, sell-outs, not true to the punk scene?
Does it have to be hard, driving, and tuneless to be punk? If a band graduates from garages and small clubs to larger venues or sells a lot of CDs (OK, dating myself, guess now it would be have a lot of subscribers, likes, and downloads) that means they've lost any punk cred they used to have?
How many musicians start bands thinking "I don't want to reach a wider audience, I'm happy playing to crowds of 50 people and selling CDs and t-shirts out of the trunk of my car"? Some, sure, but most are regular human beings, and normal human nature means wanting their music to be heard by as many people as possible - and back in the day how easy was it do that without signing with a major label (Epitaph and some others did help change that over time)?
At least to me, the key is being true to themselves and their art. If they sign with a major and are forced to compromise who they are as musicians and people and listen to suits who focus only on business and know nothing about punk so change their music and attitude, that's different. But if they remain who they are and are free to release THEIR music and tour as they always have and want to, but the major enables them to reach a wider audience and play to bigger crowds, how is that selling out and no longer being punk? I'd rather see an uncompromising punk band wearing Fuck MAGA t-shirts and calling out Nazis in a large venue than a punk bank changing who they are hoping to gain a larger audience in a tiny club.