By:Lynn Hix
I am sure that everyone has noticed that in the last several years punk has managed to make it back in the main stream. But I think that punk made its come back with a different effect. Which was bound to happen since it came back to a new generation of listeners. The new generation of punk listeners (I feel) believes that punk is more of a clothing and hair style than it is a life style. That’s not how punk was introduced. When punk first came out in the 70’s it was a new life style and music style. Appositionally I will admit the punk scene that emerged from the 70’s also popularized new clothing and hair styles for its listeners. But the main intention of punk music was the music itself.
This new generation of punk listeners focuses a bit too much on their appearance, and not enough on the music. There are certain musicians that make it into the main stream and call themselves “punk”, but their music hardly adds up to it. Take Avril Lavigne for instance. While she may think that she has the “punk style” down to an art, her music doesn’t resemble punk one bit. She is a pretentious person and a poor musician. She seems to be insecure about herself but tries to come off as not giving a crap what people say about her.
Have you ever noticed how quickly she will correct an interviewer when they call her music “pop”? Or how she is always explaining herself and her music? Well, Avril, what do you expect people to call your music when it is clearly pop songs with obnoxious attempts of punk sporadically thrown in? She has said that she is a “rocker chick” and loves to just “rock out” when on stage. If you have ever seen any of her stage performances she looks rehearsed and unnatural. She may be “rocking out” on stage, but it does not look like it comes naturally. It looks like a sad attempt of her being too showy.
She has said in interviews that she plays guitar. Well la-dee-da, good for her! Yet, we never see her actually playing guitar at live shows or in her videos for a whole song. Unless you count playing guitar as stroking a few chords throughout a song, then I am afraid that our little friend Avril is not a guitarist. In her “Complicated” video she is standing in the middle of a skate park while striking a few chords on her guitar. Then she imitates the hard core She is simply a pop musician that is stuck on the fact that she dresses like a “punk” so there fore she is punk. Like I have already established, punk is not a clothing or hair style. Evidently, to her it is. Take a look at her the next time one of her obnoxious videos is being played on MTV or VHI. You will notice that it seems she has robbed Hot Topic of all their clothing and jewelry items. Oh yeah Avril, you’re so punk because you can afford to buy every clothing item Hot Topic has introduced to its consumers.
How about her “I’m With You” Video. We have all seen it aired on MTV or VHI at one point or another. Well, the little “punk” is walking around in a party where she roughly pushes people out of her way. Yeah, Avril try doing that to me at a party. We all know that if she was not shooting a video and was at a real party, she would get beat up. First of all she weighs two pounds so it would not be difficult to defeat her. But we better watch out, she’s a tough Canadian hockey player that toughs it up with the guys. I’m scared.
In simplest terms, she’s an egotistical, arrogant musician and person. She is a very fake person and you can gather from her interviews exactly what type of person she is. As long as she continues to portray someone she is not, people will not like her. She needs to establish a sense of security in her identity and how people perceive her. Maybe someone should define good punk music to her and she can take it from there.
