Just the other day, I wanted to check up on some of the punk bands I loved when I was in high school. To my great surprise, I found some of them to be going strong.
One of those bands was Strung Out. I loved this band. They were fast, heavy, poppy/melodic, and technical. Surburban Teenage Wasteland Blues and Twisted By Design were two of my favorite albums at that time.
They came into punk notoriety through Fat Wreck Chords back in the mid 90’s. That label along with Epitaph were the popular punk labels back then. The whole punk scene shifted in popularity to the emo scene around 2000, yet the band still holds on to a strong fan base and is still touring.
They had no real radio hit, they had no scenester magazine touting them as the next big thing, they weren’t even the most popular band on the Fat roster, yet they still have a career.
I”m not talking about aging punk kids still coming to see them play. I’m talking about teenage kids falling in love with the band like I did. New blood.
Take this recent example: This kid clerk at the video store by my place was wearing a Strung Out hoodie while working. I told him I used to love that band. He just went off on how much he dug them. He told me how he drove 3 hours to see them and muscled his way into the front row of the pit just to be up close.
There is hope.
There are bands doing alright for themselves without any huge media blitzes, indie hype, or bandwagon jumping. There are bands staying true to themselves, working hard, making new fans, and keeping their careers alive and well.
I leave you with a vid of my fav Strung Out song, “Too Close To See”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYdBKzV8f48]
Hoover
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You would love punk when you were a kid wouldn’t you Hoov?
I love that a lot of these DIY punk bands are still around touring, and recording, and people still enjoy that punk spirit. More of those Epitaph style bands seem to still be in it, even after double digit years together.