About a year ago at a party i was treated to the experience of watching a film called Ken Park. I was in for the long ride. Its a film by director Larry Clark based upon his and his friends' experiences of growing up. All i can say is that after watching that film he had a strange youth full of underage drugs, drinking, sex, murder, BDSM, incest, suicide, religious extremism....... and most importantly the art of "Erotic Asphyxiation." An all round family film then, one for the post Xmas meal some might say, i wouldn't. This film is only just watchable and extremely weird, and I'm sure will one day make it onto the radio show for conversation.Recently at a friends house i decided to give Larry Clark another try, this time it was the turn of the film "Wassup Rockers"
Wassup Rockers is a far more tame affair which was a welcome respite from the last film. This film is loosely based on the experiences of a group of teenage Hispanic boys from South Central L.A. These kids, in stead of conforming with the usual gangster and hip hop culture they were surrounded with instead decided to pull on the drainpipe trousers, t-shirts, bandannas and skate to an awesome soundtrack of punk. They do some awesome skating and eventually end up in Beverly Hills where there adventure begins. The kids manage just about piss off / charm a whole range of Beverly Hills socialite caricatures, two of which manage to accidental kill themselves. My favourite being a gay fashion photographer who falls down his stairs whilst spying on one of the kids in the bathroom. This films is immense, and the kids are brilliant (all playing themselves). The DIY feel on the film, the almost inconceivably plot and the brilliant soundtrack make this film, well, Punk.
This film has most definitely re awoken my passion for skating and punk music, the kids in the film reminding me of what i used to be like, or what i used to want to be like more realistically. My inner skate self has been recharged to the extent that tomorrow I'm determines to get myself down to my local skate shop and get myself some new gear.
The second superstar in this film after the skating is punk music. I have long teased my punk flatmate about her music taste, but I've suddenly decided it ain't actually too bad, in fact its immense, at least in the right situation. (preferably not whilst I'm trying to have a nice evening in with the cocoa) I've decided to make myself a punk play list with all my favourite stuff, most of which i used to skate to.....
- Wolves in Wolves' Clothing - NOFX
- And Out Come the Wolves - Rancid
- Americana - The Offspring
- Sing Sing Death house - The Distillers
- Hey Ho Lets Go - The Ramones
- Enema of the State - Blink-182
- Haunted Cities - The Transplants
- London Calling - The Clash
- The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground
- Dookie - Greenday
- Stranger Than Fiction - Bad Religion
- Losing Streak - Less than Jake
- Wasted Again - Black Flag
Dasal
2 comments:
Never realised The Velvet Underground could be considered punk. Good shout though, the self titled is my favourite.
If it's not raining tomorrow I'm gonna go skating...
I had no idea what genre to call it, but i reckoned the velvet underground share a similar ethos to punk... that and i used to listen to it and skate.
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