The Last Gangs in Town: The Bloody Days of LA Punk

What people stupidly call "Punk Rock" today is a fetid puddle of bloodless, sexless schoolmarms -- beyond weak, beyond sad, beyond pathetic. Like so much of the rotting corpse of pop culture in general, come to think of it.

From plants and sellouts like Green Day, The Offspring, and Bad Religion -- and even old Hardcore has-beens like Jello "Pfizer's Bitch" Biafra and whatever pack of random no-talents Greg Ginn is passing off as "Black Flag" these days -- to all the porn-sickened AGP/MAP nobody-nothings stinking up what little is left of the scene, it's a sac-less shitshow of cosmic proportions, worthy of naught but utter annihilation.

Even the Hardcore scene is a pale shadow of its former glory. Not nearly as cringe as "punk," but nothing to write home about, either.

But don't get me wrong, Jack - there was plenty wrong with Eighties punk, especially when gun-toting gangs took over the scene in SoCal. In fact, every punk/Hardcore scene you can name - NY, LA, London, Boston - ultimately fell apart due to mindless violence and tribalism. Nothing to celebrate or glorify there, believe me.

These vids tell you the story of SoCal punk and its descent into gangland barbarism. I remember these days - hearing horror stories from people who went to LA, only to be repulsed by the mayhem. As it happens, Boston was just a few years behind.

The LAPD was largely responsible for the descent into Bedlam - Darryl Gates' decision to sic his minions on a bunch of harmless art students and misfits made for big news, and led to the impression that the punk scene was a good place to indulge in the old ultraviolence. That brought in surfers, jocks and cholos looking to raise some real hell, which ultimately killed the scene.

 

 So check out these vids - it's a fascinating tale. One I wouldn't like to see retold, mind you, but fascinating from the vantage point of History.