Friday, August 6, 2010

Repo Man


I can certainly hear why this soundtrack appealed to me, even though quality of the recordings nearly breaks my ears now.

This was, I think, my first exposure to West Coast punk rock. To my ears it sounded much more like "punk rock" as it might be depicted on television or in films. Plodding, repetitive and defiantly lo-fi. Contextually, this worked on many levels when you consider the state of American white person-rock at the time. On the metal end of the spectrum, virtuosity without restraint was being fetishized and there was an oogie kind of "Dawn in America" patriotic songsterizing happening on the JC Mellancamp/Bob Seger side. This was designed to be as different as possible (New Romanticism, preparing to wheeze its last, Michael Jackson, indeed anything that may be construed "disco" is outside the scope of my considerations here).

Instead of the palpable rage that you get from the economically devastated U.K. punk rock, here we have a emphasis on irony and witty takes on the low-stakes melodrama of middle class life. This was a revelation to me at the time. And really, if you think about it, a continuation of the Baby Boomer tradition of seeking to create music that will, ideally, frighten or mystify the previous generation.

Does punk rock or really any music do this anymore? Wear so many hats and have so many layers?

Some of the actors in the film were later members of Joe Strummer's band for his fantastic but completely ignored album "Earthquake Weather."

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