I’ve accumulated a large amount of my musical preferences from the guys in my life. I fell in love with Eminem when I developed a crush on a juvenile delinquent that time I had to go to summer school. I had only a vague idea of what punk was until this strange, surly boy in the army (I’ll call him, “MOMD” because, well, I do.) scoffed at me for not knowing much about The Clash or The Sex Pistols. Soon after, my life became filled with angry accented boys. Until then, the only “punk” I knew anything about was Blink 182 and Green Day-the same mainstream poppy stuff that’s still around today. A lot of my musical and boy preferences have changed over the years. But I still regularly vie for MOMD’s attention and I still like to thrash around private spaces screaming, “I AM AN ANARCHIST!”
I recently sent MOMD a link to an article in Nylon magazine (here) where Mark Hoppus talks about being a “punk rock dad.” I thought it was cute. The swoony girl in me immediately thought about what an adorable punk rock dad MOMD might be some day, so I sent it his way. Instead, he questioned whether or not Blink 182 was really “punk.” I’ll always defend music that I love. I also revel in the chance to prove him wrong. Plus, he can no longer remember why I started (a decade ago) calling him MOMD. So, I’m going to talk about punk music. He’ll have to read this, too, because somewhere in here is the reason why I call him MOMD. (PWNED, Bitch!)
To begin with (because it’s boring as hell), you have to look at the technical aspects of punk music. Wiki, God of Knowledge, describes the typical punk instrumentation as, “includes one or two electric guitars, a bass and a drum kit, along with vocals.” This is exactly the Blink-182 set up with Mark Hoppus on bass, Tom Delonge on electric guitar, and Travis Barker on drums. Wiki also claims that punk songs are usually in the verse-chorus form and in 4/4 time signature. Oh, and they’re short songs. The Blink-182 sound has evolved over the years and their latest album, Neighbourhoods, is filled with lengthy tracks. But in the beginning, they definitely stuck to the “short song” concept. Almost all songs off their 1997 album, Dude Ranch, were under three minutes. I’m really bad at picking out time signatures, but I’ve been assured from another musical boy in my life that Blink tends to follow that time signature.
I’m not entirely certain, but I think MOMD’s biggest problem with calling Blink a “punk band” is that the band is so happy-go-lucky and punk has always tended to be about anger, rebellion and dissent. But, if you take a second to examine the lyrics and attitudes in their songs, you might begin to see the punk-ness. As much as I hate to do this, I think a classic example of said rebellion is “What’s My Age Again?” The whole concept is that people expect them to act a certain way and they refuse. I don’t think I need to m-w.com the definition of the verb “rebel” for you to see the similarities. That same song, along with “Dammit,” employs the “relentless, repetitive “forced rhythm”” of the bass line that is also an indicator of a punk song. I won’t even go into “Dysentery Gary”-it’s rude, irreverent and, well, punk.
Most importantly in the punk scene has always been attitude. Aside from their music, they tended to have pretty rough interactions with fans. From stage diving to cursing people out, the guys in punk bands liked to get down and dirty with fans. These days Mark & Tom don’t get to much crowd surfing-I imagine it’s a little rough to do in arenas. But they certainly did “back in the day.” MOMD has their live album, The Mark, Tom and Travis Show. They curse and carry on with their fans throughout the concert. They act like badasses and appear to have a great time doing it.
Obviously, you have to keep in mind is that everything changes. Blink-182 has chosen not to roll down the road of political dissent, like their predecessors. If that makes them “wrong,” then it also only makes them more punk. They do what they want to, using a sound that they enjoy and they don’t give a fuck what people call it.
Like Blink, MOMD does what he wants. I’ve always liked that about bands and boys. That’s why I’ve loved Blink since the ‘90s, even during all the other changes in my musical preferences. Whether I was dating a football player or married to an architect, it’s also why MOMD has always been (though often said snarkily) the man of my dreams. He quotes me Smashing Pumpkin lyrics that I only get right because of his (and Billy Corgan’s) predictability and makes fun of my love for “open mic night” music. He also says inappropriate things to me that would warrant a knee between the legs from anyone else. I guess you could say he bonds with his audience by offending them. He doesn’t have a Mohawk, keeps his mouth shut about politics, and wore camo because it was his job, not because it was “cool.” He’s punk, too.
As always, here are a few songs.
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