300 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
300 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
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WHY ARE STRAIGHT EDGERS SUCH DICKS?
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A Rhetorical Question
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by Jim Testa
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I've been in this punk rock
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business a long time now -- my
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fanzine, Jersey Beat, just celebrated
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its 8th birthday - and I've seen bands
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come & go. I've know some great
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people who've played in bands; some of
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them still do. I've known some real
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assholes too. That just goes with the
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territory.
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But year in and year out, through
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all my dealings with all kinds of
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bands, there's one constant I can
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count on.
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If they're straight edge, they're
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probably going to be dicks.
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Now I know this sounds like one of
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Ben Weasel's diatribes, an unholy
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sweeping generalization, and I'll
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grant you that there are a couple of
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decent straight edgers out there.
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Well, maybe one or two. I have a lot
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of respect for Ian and the guys in
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Fugazi, for instance.
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On the other hand...
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The Case of The Vanishing Van
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ABC No Rio is an abandoned
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building on the Lower Lower East Side
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of Manhattan, in a neighborhood that's
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mostly hispanic and very poor, but for
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nearly a year, it's been the home of
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the only real hardcore scene New York
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City has known. The shows there
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starting in December, 1989, and have
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continued, week in and week out, on
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almost every Saturday since. They've
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missed two or three weeks, I think,
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but basically, ABC No Rio has
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delivered a show, with four or five
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cool bands, a low door charge, a great
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table that sells 7 inches and
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fanzines, and lots of fun. Most of
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all, there's no club owner or booking
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agent making all the decisions; the
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shows are run by a collective of fans,
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musicians, and writers. Every show has
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more than its share of fanzine people
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there, and a small group of regulars
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who all play in other bands. Nobody
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segregates the music by labels;
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"straight edge" and "punk," scum rock
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and stenchcore, everybody plays
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together and everybody watches all the
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bands. In a city where hardcore and
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even ska have been banned from almost
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every other club because of an
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uncontrollable violence problem, ABC
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No Rio hasn't had one fight in over
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eight months of shows. If that isn't
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what a "scene" is all about, then I
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don't know what is.
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Now the drawback to ABC No Rio is
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that it's small, and the shows aren't
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advertised in the newspapers; the
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regulars know about them, and spread
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the word with flyers.
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One week, the popular South Jersey
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straight edge band Vision was booked
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for a show. Now, remember, ABC No Rio
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didn't call up Vision and beg them to
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come; they asked for a show there. So
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Vision pulls up in their van, and take
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a look at the place, and count the
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number of people there, and sort of
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say, in an offhand way, that it's a
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lot smaller than what they're used to.
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So the band, with the exception of
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their guitarist Pete, clamber back in
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the van, and announce they're going
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for some food.
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Apparently they went all the way
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back to Trenton to look for it,
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because they never came back to the
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show. That left Pete to face the
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crowd and announce that his band
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decided they didn't want to play there
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because it was too small. I hand it
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to the guy, it took a lot of guts and
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he accepted responsibility for his
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bandmates' actions. Okay, Pete is one
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straightedge guy I respect.
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But the rest of Vision? Dicks.
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Ingrate, Thy Name Is Straight Edge
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Another straightedge band that
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came to play No Rio was called
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Insight, from Salt Lake City, Utah.
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They had some problems on the road and
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lost a lot of their equipment, so they
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show up without a drumkit or amps and
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ask if they can borrow some stuff.
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Since there are a lot of bands on the
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bill (including Supertouch, the head
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liners, who have a lot of good
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equipment), it`s decided that Insight
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would go on right before Supertouch,
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use their equipment, and save a little
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set up time between bands.
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So what does Insight do? They pack
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together in their van and stay there
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all through the first three opening
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bands. Then they come out, set up,
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play three songs, and announce that
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the singer's throat hurts, so they
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stop playing. Then they get back in
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the van, and don't even hang around to
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watch Supertouch, who loaned them all
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their equipment.
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Dicks.
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No Reply Necessary
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In eight years of publishing a
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fanzine, I've interviewed a lot of
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bands. After an issue comes out, I
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mail the bands who appear in each
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issue some complimentary copies and
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thank them for appearing in the zine.
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Their response differs - sometimes
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they'll send a t-shirt, they'll
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usually always send their next record
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to be reviewed, and more often than
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not, I get a thank you note.
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Jersey Beat #40 featured two
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straightedge bands, who both were
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received a lot of space - photos,
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interview, the works. One of those
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bands was Carry Nation, from
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California. Two of the members -
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Frank and Dan - each run their own
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(straightedge) record label, and I'd
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never received anything from either of
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them in the way of press materials.
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This is not surprising. Most
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straightedge labels don't support
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fanzines by giving away review copies
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of their records. I guess they figure
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that all the straight edge zinesters
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will run out and buy all their
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releases right away anyway, and nobody
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else matters. This is a fairly
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typical attitude among the SE crowd;
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if you're not SE, you don't matter.
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Anyway, that's why you never never see
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reviews of Revelation or Schism
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Records in Jersey Beat.
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So anyway, when the issue came
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out, I sent both Dan and Frank a few
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copies of the zine, and mentioned
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casually that I had never seen
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anything from either of their
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respective labels. Now that Carry
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Nation had been featured prominently
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in Jersey Beat, and they'd seen the
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quality and reliability of the
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publication, maybe they'd like to send
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some of their releases for us to
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review? (Frank's label, Nemesis
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Records, released Vision's lp, by the
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way).
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Well, I didn't receive any records
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to review. Neither Frank nor Dan even
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bothered with the courtesy of a reply.
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Dicks.
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Another band that was profiled in
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the new issue is called Bedlam Hour.
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They've been around a long time, but
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haven't had much national exposure.
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The lead singer and band leader, Chuck
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Walker, is straight edge, and makes
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quite a point of it in interviews and
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lyrics.
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I sent Chuck four copies of the
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new issue for the band and a nice
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little note. No reply. Then I saw
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that Chuck and a friend had released
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some old tapes of early Bedlam Hour on
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a new EP. I wrote again and asked
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about getting a copy to review. No
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reply. Then I wrote again and asked if
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there was any reason he wasn't
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answering my letters, since he seemed
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so open and friendly in the interview
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we ran. No reply.
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Dick.
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Now I know a lot of this sounds
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like whining and sour grapes, like I
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expect something out of a band if I
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give them space in my fanzine. But
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that's not true. I don't solicit
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advertising based on who we interview.
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We get records to review from all
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kinds of labels, from the majors down
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to kids who press up 1000 copies of a
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7" they recorded in their garage.
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But there are rules of behavior
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that govern all human discourse; old
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fashioned concepts, perhaps, but I
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still believe in them. Like being
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polite. Like answering your mail. Like
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realizing, if you're in a punk rock
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band, that your ability to function
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depends on a complex inter-related web
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of fans, fanzines, clubs, promoters,
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radio, and record labels, and that
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everybody in the web should be helping
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one another.
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Straight edgers, because they're
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convinced of their moral superiority,
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feel they are entitled to their share
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of the scene without putting anything
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back. They take, but all they give is
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advice on moral conduct. Well, I've
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got news for them.
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Generosity, consideration,
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respect for fellow bands - those are
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all positive moral values too. And
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greed, selfishness, self-involvement
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and the disrespect you show other
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bands are just as wrong as drunkenness
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and promiscuity. Maybe worse. You can
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get drunk and not hurt anyone else
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(assuming you don't pick fights or try
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to drive a car while you're bombed).
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The sort of self-righteousness
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displayed by bands like Carry Nation,
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Vision, and Insight hurt the very
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people who are pouring part of their
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lives into the scene. When Ian
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MacKaye was writing songs about the
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straight edge movement for Minor
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Threat, he wrote, "Don't drink, don't
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smoke, don't fuck."
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He never said anything about being
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a dick.
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X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X
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Another file downloaded from: The NIRVANAnet(tm) Seven
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& the Temple of the Screaming Electron Taipan Enigma 510/935-5845
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Burn This Flag Zardoz 408/363-9766
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realitycheck Poindexter Fortran 510/527-1662
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Lies Unlimited Mick Freen 801/278-2699
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The New Dork Sublime Biffnix 415/864-DORK
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The Shrine Rif Raf 206/794-6674
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Planet Mirth Simon Jester 510/786-6560
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"Raw Data for Raw Nerves"
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X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X
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