My mom’s guide to punk rock

Circle Jerks, through the repetitive, almost mesmerizing guitar riffs, the destructive, even childlike drum beat, and the crass vocals of “World Up My *ss,” “rip” the rules of their society to pieces and “tear” the norms of their culture down. Dead Kennedys decry the old-fashioned proponents of hate and condemn fascists over the course of their one-minute-long, yet jam-packed rant, “Nazi Punks F*ck Off.” Black Flag, in their instrumental, “Screw the Law,” start off with an unvarying bass melody and a steady drum beat to build the system of the law and then introduce an erratic guitar melody and an irregular rhythm to break it down. Circle Jerks, Dead Kennedys, and Black Flag were not afraid to defy convention, and neither was my mom.

Yes, my mom was a punker, starting in high school at age eighteen, but mainly in college. During the eighties, she played a part in the infamous punk rock movement, which was concentrated in her hometown, Los Angeles, where she witnessed the virtuosos of punk rock in the flesh, and she immersed herself in the punk rock sub-genre, mohawks and all. A teenager during the Reagan Era, a period characterized by conservatism, consumerism, and conformity, my mom understandably had angst. She was fed up with social injustice and sick and tired of complying with oppressive rules and societal norms, and, as a result, she was drawn to punk rock. Introduced to punk music in high school and immersed in the punk subculture in college, my mom used punk rock — listening to it and identifying with its subculture — to rebel against the aforementioned three Cs of the eighties. The fast-paced rhythm roused her spirits, the fervent drum and bass combinations dug into her psyche and unearthed her pent-up angst, and the loud, rant-like vocals reproduced the rebellious thoughts in her head.

Of course, she has grown up since then, but the punker with a pitch black-dyed boy cut, piercings, and Dr. Martens continues to live beneath the surface. The songs that helped her escape still echo in her head, and the culture that she escaped to still somewhat defines her. And, she has conveyed vignettes of her experience as a punker and provided me with a guide to punk rock, which has helped me understand a genre that I otherwise would have a hard time understanding, admittedly. If you are also curious about punk rock as a genre, then this guide, which includes anecdotes as well as bands, songs, and albums recommended by a first-hand punker, may help.

• Wasted Youth: “Uni-High Beefrags,” “F*ck Authority”

In 1981, four students at University High School in Los Angeles, Chett Lehrer, Jeff Long, Allen Stiritz, and Danny Spira, formed a hardcore punk rock band called Wasted Youth. My mom, also a student at the same high school, heard the news, but was not phased — her musical world consisted of Madonna, MTV, and Blondie. Not until 1983, her senior year of high school, did she pay attention to Wasted Youth. Face to face with social injustice, at the core of consumer culture, and surrounded by conformists, my mom was fed up and “totally bored.” As a result, she searched for activists, rebels, and misfits, and eventually found them in the LA punk scene. She started listening to Wasted Youth — it was the only punk band she knew and that communicated ideas that she could relate to. She took a liking to “Uni-High Beefrag,” a fast-paced ode to the “wealthy” and “stuck-up” girls at her high school, and “F*ck Authority,” a melodic middle finger to the system.

To get a sense of Wasted Youth, watch this:

• Dead Kennedys: “Holiday in Cambodia,” “California Uber Alles,” “Nazi Punks F*ck Off,” “Macho Insecurity,” “Chickensh*t Conformist”

“‘Chickensh*t Conformist’ was my mantra,” my mom told me. The driving force of my mom’s attraction to punk rock was her disdain for conformity. Growing up in a society dominated by MTV and large corporations that mass produced and advertised consumer goods, my mom was constantly surrounded by Madonna imposters and feather haired “Stepford Wives.” She felt trapped in a box, and wanted to break free, so she fled to the world of punk. With its fast-paced drum beats, its sharp, minor-toned guitar riffs, and its rhythmic rants, punk provided her with a space to escape social conventions and to be herself. Listening to punk, which she described as “raw,” “real,” and “alive,” she could shatter the walls of conformity and build a new home on the island of misfit toys.

To get a feel for the Dead Kennedys, watch this:

• Black Flag: Album: Damaged (1981)

The authorities were threatened by punk rock, as it shed light on social injustice and pushed the boundaries of societal norms. My mom’s boyfriend at the time identified with the punk subculture, defying social conventions. He rebelled peacefully, but since he was associated with a subculture that was generally unruly, he was a target. With spiky, bleached hair, piercings, and a graphic tee, he drew the suspicion of the authorities. Black Flag describes the war between cops and punks in “Police Story”: “They hate us, we hate them / We can’t win, no way.”

• Circle Jerks: “Red Tape,” “Wild in the Streets,” “Live Fast Die Young”

Two songs by Circle Jerks, “Wild in the Streets” and “Live Fast Die Young,” capture the essence of my mom’s college experience, which consisted of moshing to punk rock on the crowded streets of Del Playa and listening to punk rock in the house next door. She noted that there was a circle-A, the symbol for anarchy, spray-painted on the front of the house.

To get a sense of the Circle Jerks, watch this:

• Misfits: “20 Eyes”

Every night, when I was a child, my mom would sing me to sleep. Her gentle voice comforted me, lulling me to sleep, and her words painted a picture of a fairytale, sending me off to the realm of dreams. “When you’re seeing 20 things at a time / You just can’t slow things down, baby,” my mom often hummed as she tucked me into bed. As she would sing the phrase “20 Eyes in my head,” I would imagine a mythical creature with twenty eyes. Little did I know, my mom was humming “20 Eyes” by the Misfits and I was falling asleep to horror punk. How sweet.

Here is the music video for “20 Eyes”:

• Sex Pistols: Album: Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols (1977)

While the album Never Mind the Bollock, Here’s the Sex Pistols was not among her favorites, my mom recommended that I listen to it to learn about the roots of punk rock and to get a feel for punk rock as a genre.

To get a sense of the Sex Pistols, watch this:

• Suicidal Tendencies: “Institutionalized,” “Suicide’s an Alternative, You’ll Be Sorry”

When I asked my mom to define the punk subculture, she told me to listen to “Institutionalized.” “All I want is a Pepsi and she wouldn’t give it to me /All I wanted was a Pepsi, just one Pepsi /And she wouldn’t give it to me, just a Pepsi,” sings Mike Muir, the lead singer of Suicidal Tendencies. These lyrics occur amidst a raging rant about home life and mental health. The protagonist, an average, angsty teenager, asks his mom for a Pepsi, and she says no to his request. While these lines sound trivial, they perfectly encapsulate the punk movement: a refusal to participate in consumer culture, the resentment towards large corporations, a tense domestic environment, and a dissatisfaction with suburbia.

Here is the music video for “Institutionalized”:

• Descendents: Album: Milo Goes to College (1982)

For a person immersing herself in the punk scene at college, what could be better than the album, Milo Goes to College? The album, dedicated to Milo Aukerman, the lead singer of the Descendents, and his decision to go to college, deals with the conflict Milo was experiencing between his desire to be “normal” and his inability to comply with societal norms. My mom underwent a similar experience, balancing the ideology of a punker and the lifestyle of a college student.

Here are more bands, songs, and albums she recommended to me.

• The Clash: “London Calling”
• Bad Religion: “You”
• Social Distortion: “Mommy’s Little Monster,” “Anti-Fashion,” “It Wasn’t a Pretty Picture,” “Ring of Fire”
• Fear: “I Don’t Care About You,” “I Love Livin’ in the City”
• Butthole Surfers: “Who Was in my Room Last Night?,” “Pepper”
• X: “Los Angeles,” “Under the Big Black Sun”
• T.S.O.L.: “Flowers by the Door,” “Silent Scream”
• Toy Dolls: “Dig That Groove Baby”
• Generation X: “Dancing with Myself”
• The Jam: Album: This is a Modern World (1977), “All Around the World”
• Killer Pussy: “Teenage Enema Nurses in Bondage”

From my mom to you.

Article by Sophie Turovsky