Features

-Smiling,

by Matt Roth ([email protected])

The last time I saw you,
You were smiling,
smiling because I did something wrong,
smiling to cover up your hatred.
faking everything you once believed in.
gasping for air.
within your soul your falling,
falling from your most treasured sanity,
you cry out"Why do I feel this way?"
You know your end is near
Why try to fight your unknown fear..
In the woods so dark and cold
In the tree full of moss and mold
Your body hangs in your drenched clothes
you killed your self, I would suppose......
As they rolled your strecher away to the ambulance, I knew under that white
sheet..you were smiling.

go to more poetry...

The Featured Link is

Hunger Free America

-Punk Sitting,

by Yeugar Hulfscuttle ([email protected])

go to more art...

-Punk and the Economic Slowdown,

by Neal Ganslaw ([email protected])

In 1995, while labels like Lookout and Epitaph were blowing up with the enormous successes of bands like Green Day and The Offspring, every unsigned band was scrambling to become national acts. Most of these bands started in the early '90s playing punk, right around the time when Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and other Grunge bands became MTV mainstays. Before mega-selling releases by Green Day and The Offspring re-introduced punk to the masses, most bands on the East Coast scene were self-described as a "groove bands" or "a funk-jazz-blues type thing." These were the bands that packed NYC clubs, playing Pearl Jam cover songs, or if they actually had it in them, some original material.

In the midst of the Grunge phenomenon, and before punk became acceptable mainstream music, aggressive punk bands, including radio style pop-punk, were denied gigs in favor of lowest common denominator cover bands. In fact, one of the only places in NYC where punk bands could play was ABC NO RIO, a DIY club located in a shitty lower-east side neighborhood. Shows took place on Saturday afternoons, where punks would congregate to see what was left of the rotting scene.

To finish...