I'm reading a book right now by a guy called David Marx about the universal human desire for status, and how it organises and informs the greater part of our identities - way beyond the obvious, conscious decisions we make about the clothes we wear, or the music we listen to. His assertion is that this drive for status, or the anxiety about losing or maintaining it, underpins wider class structures and in this way is key to understanding so much of human behaviours and motivations.
Marx explains that sociological phenomena of counter-cultures, subcultures or alternative cultures, generally come about as a way of smaller groups, often people shut out or unable to gain high or normal 'global status' (i.e. wealth, social capital), creating their own forms of cultural capital, often in direct opposition to the the global status values, and thus achieving a degree of 'local status' within their own communities and cultures. When he uses Punk as an example, his mentions of Jonny Rotten and the like aren't the most flattering, but it's hard to disagree with his overall thesis. More often than not choosing to be into something like Punk is less about truly being an individual, and more about finding a scene or community where what you say, think and do has value or esteem. Sometimes that means breaking rules and conventions, but more often than not, it means ascribing to more status markers than those you're able to bend or break in order to gain status and esteem. That's not to say the ideology of Punk as an act of questioning or rejection of certain norms, values, aesthetics, norms, isn't valid or important, and that this line of questioning should just as easily be focused on the hypocrisies of external wider cultures, as much as the internal culture of Punk. However, I do think it tells us something more about the wider sociology of Punk and Alternative music scenes or subcultures; you're membership of this smaller tribe makes you more of an 'individual' in relation to the 'global social order' but you're 'just another' Punk / Grunger / Metalhead / Goth / Skater within the context of your own community culture.
That's a very long, not to mention largely unnecessary and unrelated, preamble to this music video by Title Fight. This is a band I've been hesitant to post about, despite the fact they probably are one of my favourite bands of all time. I've never said that to anyone, and honestly, I feel kind of embarrassed even writing that down. And being the solipsistic type of fella I am, I thought I'd indulge in a bit of self-reflection as to why I should feel shame or any strong feelings when it comes to posting about a band from 10 years on a Tumblr with 2 followers, so here we are...🤷♂️
There is no status to be gained by admitting you like Title Fight, if anything it's probably a status killer. On a global, normie level their brand of Pop-ish, post-hardcore-ish, emo-ish, Punk is simply angsty guitar music for teens ('grow up'!) and on a local level, i.e. within Punk / Hardcore circles, they're popularity and notoriety make them mall punk / emo adjacent ('grow up'!), or at the very least, not a deep cut band for punk-hardcore heads, anyhow.
I guess what I'm describing are the mechanics behind the idea of 'guilty pleasures', i.e. cultural objects that by their association don't earn you any social or cultural clout, and in fact may even damage your credibility or status. What's useful about guilty pleasures is that they tell you when you really, authentically like something, and needless to say, we shouldn't really care about credibility when it comes to things that bring joy into your life. And this song, album and video brings a lot of joy into mine still. I've probably aged more into Hyperview than Shed (see I can be age appropriate at times!) but these song still does the business. I didn't actually realise how many of their music videos I'd missed, but this definitely captures the melancholy autumnal adolescent vibes of the first album well. I'm glad it's shot on a sort of 16mm / VHS film stock, making it feel more timeless and less 2010s. That said, looking at what the band are wearing reminds me of how much Polo Ralph Lauren there was in punk and, particularly, hardcore back then. Good times.
Anyhow, I don't earn cool points by liking this band or music video, but I guess neither do I earn them by being into Punk and Hardcore at my big age. At this point, globally, locally, or however you cut it, there's very little status to be gained by a guy in his late thirties listening to music that's ostensibly by and for angry adolescents. In fact as a I get older a lot of this latent status anxiety seems to ebb away, for the most part anyhow, which hopefully means less concern about clout, or fear of guilt and shame around choices and association. More joy, less guilt. Punk is pleasure.
