I first heard about Pussy Riot a few months ago from a friend who wanted to connect with me over our love for the various shades of punk music. This friend went on about how amazing the group is and told me that Pussy Riot is an all-female punk and protest band from Russia. “They’re fighting against oppression and the government on behalf of feminism and LGBT rights,” my friend told me. “They’re such a cool band.”
At first I got excited about a punk band that apparently utilized some of punk’s oldest, now-outdated themes: countercultural protest grown out of contempt for and rejection of the mainstream. A band that made music like that appears to be making a nod to the early punk bands like The Clash or the Ramones. The fact that Pussy Riot is all-female puts a new spin on that old-school style.
That’s what I envisioned when my friend was telling me about Pussy Riot. When I went to check them out later I found that they didn’t really have any original music to their name, nor did they have a stable set of band members. In fact, I began to realize that Pussy Riot shouldn’t have been described as a band at all. Their gimicky adoption of punk tropes only cheapens the meaning of punk itself.
Pussy Riot formed in 2011 but didn’t receive much attention until February, 2012, when five members put on a protest performance in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior. They filmed the performance of their song “Punk Prayer – Mother of God, Chase Putin Away” and posted it online.
Two members were arrested and later charged with “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred.” Their imprisonment sparked worldwide protest against the Russian government and its oppressive anti-LGBT policies, a protest which continues now into the Sochi Winter Olympics. The women were released and given amnesty just before this past Christmas.
While I do agree that Russia’s homophobic policies are inhumane and that Vladimir Putin’s apparently endless tenure as president is concerning, I take issue with Pussy Riot being described as a punk band. Pussy Riot is nothing more than a civilly disobedient protest group. They’re no more punk than Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks.
First and foremost, punk bands are defined by their musicianship. Pussy Riot has performed only seven songs to date, and, as far as I can tell from their videos, they’re all thrashy, poorly-written, and dissonant assaults on the senses. I listen to some intense bands, bands that people write-off as not being music because they sound too jarring. Even to me, Pussy Riot’s “songs” are just noise.
No matter how much a band stands against society, they need to have an artistic set of songs to be considered an actual band. Pussy Riot has the heart but they don’t have the music.
Pussy Riot’s anonymity and shuffling of cast members also takes away from their credibility as a music group. In order for a band to maintain a coherent discography and fanbase, it is necessary for them to have real, consistent, public identities. In the case of groups like Daft Punk, although the artists are anonymous, they at least have consistent personas that appear in public. This gives fans something to latch onto and puts a face to the music. It creates a musician. People need a Bruce Springsteen to appreciate the E Street Band, a Kurt Cobain to get into Nirvana.
The worst thing Pussy Riot does is give a false idea of punk ethics to the mainstream community. Pussy Riot gives people a bad impression of punk musicians. Even if people agree with Pussy Riot’s message, they can hear their dissonant songs and get disgusted, thinking Pussy Riot’s public protests pass as legitimate punk performances. That hurts punk’s few accessible qualities. It’s hard enough to get people into whiny, loud music without Russian feminists getting arrested in churches and calling themselves punks.
Of course punk bands can have a political message. Some of the most iconic punk bands of all time did. But those bands succeeded and generated lots of music because their political messages were woven into their songs and creative energy. They broke musical conventions before breaking societal conventions. Pussy Riot is just piggy-backing on the punk movement. I think their story and approach to protest would be much more sincere if they presented themselves as young women who will not stand by while their country passes discriminatory laws.
Some might argue that taking on a punk tone makes Pussy Riot’s message more inclusive and powerful in fighting Russia’s oppressive policies. I agree—it does help spread their message, but it does so at the cost of compromising the idea of punk musicianship. Obviously the trade is worth it for some, but this fan would rather those brave ladies have a pussy riot in someone else’s favorite genre.
IN NORTH KOREA ALL RIOT PUSSY RIOT
Easy there ginger boy – don’t get so high and almighty about Punk