On Monday morning fans of punk rock said goodbye to a landmark. Rock poet Patti Smith played the final concert at CBGB, the hallowed rock venue located in Manhattan’s East Village.
Famous for playing host to punk’s original acts, CBGB will be permanently shut down by the end of the month as a result of a dispute with its landlord. For many, it is yet another opportunity to lament the death of punk rock. But rather than mourning the movement’s downfall we should be celebrating the music that was born from its ashes.
Punk rock gave birth to some of the most interesting and influential music of its time. Two major genres emerged from the punk scene: post-punk and new wave. Each expanded upon punk’s bare musical palette while maintaining the genre’s ethic.
Post-punk most resembles its parent genre with its jagged guitar riffs and unpolished vocals. Early post-punk bands like Gang of Four and Wire played with the intensity of punk but weren’t afraid to throw in a funky bass line or synthesizer. Joy Division contributed a certain gloominess to post-punk: Ian Curtis sang with utter despair over mangled, chainsaw guitars. Sonic Youth revolutionized the use of guitar feedback and influenced many modern indie bands, from Trail of Dead to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
New wave took a more tuneful approach and often featured nervy, intellectual lyrics. Many of the seminal new wave bands even incorporated other genres into their punk-influenced formula. The Talking Heads eventually dabbled in Afrobeat and Tropicália while Blondie opted to embrace disco. Elvis Costello borrowed from ‘50s greats Buddy Holly and Elvis, adding playful keyboards to the mix.
This past August I had the fortune of walking through the sacred club. The first thing I noticed was the rank smell. Innumerable fans and artists had left something behind, whether it be a flyer or bodily fluids. Every inch of the walls, counters and speakers was covered in corroding punk stickers, each advertising a show that had long since passed. Many rock critics will point out that punk was not a sustainable musical movement. One look at CBGB makes that clear.
The reverence with which punk fans treat the club is perplexing; the place is essentially a bar and a stage completely covered by outdated punk stickers. What people need to realize is that the legacy of punk isn’t confined to a certain venue or stage. It’s not even in the urinal where Joey Ramone peed. Punk lives on in the music it influenced, and that’s what people should really care about.
