Speaking as a child of the 80s....

I came of age musically speaking during what is widely called the Post-Punk era.  The bands I liked everyone from U2, R.E.M., The Alarm, and Violent Femmes was informed by, inspired by or a reaction to punk.  By the mid-80s, many of the original punk bands who had survived had moved into a definite post-punk phase. X trended into the burgeoning Alt-Country/Cow Punk/Americana/whatever movement. Arguably it wasn’t as far of a leap as some might think.  But, I digress....

 

Time is funny.  In the early/mid 80s, Punk seemed like it happened a million years before. In reality, it had all gone down less than 10 years before.  I guess when you are 16-17 years old, 10 years really is a long time. What was it like? We wondered.

 

Penelope Spheeris (Wayne’s World, Little Rascals!, Beverly Hillbillies!!!) made two films which have shaped how I see the punk era. One is a documentary, one is not. 

 It's all about the L.A. punk scene – X, Germs, Black Flag etc. – it’s a brash, harsh and at times heartbreaking film. Realizing that many of the musicians featured here did not survive. At once, the film made me want to slam dance, cry, laugh, destroy something, form a band, stay in school, cut my hair, rip my jeans.  I will never truly know what it was like to be a part of that scene, but Decline of Western Civilization is an excellent reference point.

Suburbia:  It’s got Flea (from the Red Hot Chili Peppers), TSOL, The Vandals and D.I.  It’s about The Rejected (T.R.) a group of small m misfits roaming around the L.A. punk scene just a few short years after Decline... It’s got all the elements of a true cult classic (which it is). Memorable lines (Later Days has been a part of my vocabulary ever since I first saw it), dodgy acting (a character calls Flea’s Character “Flea” at one point) , cheesy villains (don’t trust anyone over 25????).  Not to be mistaken with Richard Linklater’s 1996 film, Suburbia is a must see.