Pussy Riot’s battle in Russia has revitalized the political backbone of the punk community, but it has also transcended punk.
I came to punk music in an era where the word “punk” had broadened, proliferated itself into culture in a million different ways. Unlike the era in which punk was born the scene had become less about political activism and more about the sound of the music and other, less significant, aspects of life. Punk was being used to describe any number of counter-culture aesthetics. Seeing the word used in a JC Penney was just as likely as on some photocopied poster for a show in a dive bar.
The band stood at the front of the church, bowed at the altar, crossed themselves and began to play a song imploring Mary, the mother of God, to drive Vladimir Putin out of Russia.
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I didn’t bemoan this shift. The band I sang in for nearly five years did not resist this sea change. The sound was what I was interested in, and the lyrics I wrote were rarely political. Sure, there were political movements happening that angered me, George W. Bush’s elections being chief among those. But I showed my anger about that in non-musical ways. I wore a white t-shirt for days after we invaded Iraq and carried a Sharpie with me so people could sign the shirt, making me a living petition against the war.
The punk scene and I didn’t always co-exist on an obvious level. In my years of actively participating in the making of punk music I was criticized or ridiculed by other members of the community for not looking like a punk. I wore cargo pants and button-down plaid shirts. I had tattoos, but my ink did not include skulls or classic symbols of the scene.
This is exactly where the broadening definition of punk meant the most to me. Punk, in my opinion, has always been about doing things your way. Being true to yourself as a person whether aesthetically, musically, or politically. I wore the clothes I liked, got ink that meant something to me, and played the music I enjoyed: loud, fast, and sloppy.
Bob Dylan, in my opinion, is one of the greatest punks of all. He has always made the music he wanted to make. He didn’t allow himself to be pigeonholed into writing political folk songs. He went electric when the world didn’t want him to, and Christian when it couldn’t have alienated a casual audience any further. He made a Christmas album. The guy does what he wants.
Johnny Cash’s career revival was another great moment in punk music that will never be defined as such. He made some of the most powerful and lasting music of his career in his collaborations with Rick Rubin.
But politics will always be ingrained in punk, even when it is hidden below the surface. There will always be resistance and revolution. Contemporary punk bands have found their own ways to exemplify this. In 2004 pop-punk trio, Green Day re-invigorated politics in the scene with their magnum opus, American Idiot, a reaction to Bush’s election and the Iraq War.
In 2006 The Thermals released their third album, The Body, The Blood, The Machine. It is a scathing concept album that reflects on religiosity and fascism, and I would argue, one of the best punk albums of the last twenty years.
And punk bands have remained political through their actions if not their music. They are consistently partaking in benefit concerts and albums. They speak out for causes from veganism to voter registration. The bands with the most political messages in their music have remained below the mainstream, but they are there, too. They hustle to stand up for what they believe in.
But politics was always bound to find its way back to the forefront of punk music. And the Bush era certainly made strides. But while politics in the United States are divisive as ever, it has always seemed obvious to me that the loudest political statement in punk music in decades would come from outside the U.S., just as it once did during the 1970s in the United Kingdom.
In a move worthy of an article in ‘The Onion,’ the three were charged with “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred.” The indictment ran nearly 3,000 pages.
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On February 21, 2012 a day that will forever live in punk lore, Pussy Riot, a feminist punk collective in Russia, staged a performance protest in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The band stood at the front of the church, bowed at the altar, crossed themselves and began to play a song imploring Mary, the mother of God, to drive Vladimir Putin out of Russia. The band danced spastically in their “uniforms”: colorful tights, dresses, and balaclavas (ski masks). Within a minute they were escorted from the church by security guards.
In the United States this act would have passed for nothing more than a comical flash mob protest that failed to attract more than a few members and hadn’t practiced long enough to synchronize its eager scissor kicks. In Russia, where the line between church and state is deteriorating, it has been called blasphemous and witnesses of the protest have said they were physically disturbed by the display. And in a move reminiscent of China’s censorship of its citizens, three members of Pussy Riot were arrested in March, after a video of the protest was released.
Russia has long tried to cement its place among the world’s greatest countries. Unfortunately, more often than not they have done so in the least progressive, backward ways possible. In a move worthy of an article in The Onion, the three were charged with “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred.” The indictment ran nearly 3,000 pages.
The trial didn’t even begin until the end of July, and on August 17 the trio were found guilty and sentenced to two years in prison for having “crudely undermined the social order.” Two years of imprisonment for one minute of highjacking a church for a political protest.
The Pussy Riot case is not simply about music; in fact, it is barely about music at all. Pussy Riot has released barely more than a handful of songs. While they draw inspiration from the Riot Grrrl movement of the Nineties, their purpose is more focused on performance and new media protest of the Russian government. They do not have a record label, nor have they released any albums.
The collective contains at least ten members and has shown a great understanding of using new media for garnering attention for their message. Even the arrest and subsequent trial and conviction have done much to call attention to Pussy Riot’s cause, which the the three imprisoned members have acknowledged as a mixed blessing.
Pussy Riot’s battle in Russia has revitalized the political backbone of the punk community, but it has also transcended punk. Like the original wave of punk, the case has shed light on political and humanitarian injustice. Will that translate to a new wave of punk bands garnering attention for their political causes, for lyrics and actions that reflect those social concerns? Perhaps it will, but punk has become part of an assimilated vernacular, with a shapeshifting definition to fit everything from the actual music to Hot Topic stores in malls, flying in the very face of everything punk ever stood for.
Maybe we had forgotten what punk meant to the world the way people forgot what folk music once meant. Where folk was once the protest music of the people punk took up the cause decades after the Civil Rights Movement ended and Baby Boomers took to career tracks. The evolution of a generation can’t help but grow out of these movements. Those who held the Sex Pistols closest to their hearts may still enjoy the music but they have likely grown out of the anger and defiance.
Perhaps what is happening in Russia will remind those of all generations of what they once rose to protest. All of us have breaking points. All of us have limits of what we are willing to tolerate. All of us have a point where we are driven to action, to belief, disbelief, enragement, and defiance. This is why deep down we are all Pussy Riot, and why we have been waiting, unwittingly, for their arrival.
Read more Arts & Entertainment and Ethics & Values.
Photo credit: Lorena Cupcake/Flickr
I am really sorry to note that hypocrisy knows no bound here. When Julian Assagne of Wikileaks, who brought the dirty secrets of the government into the public notice, has been virtually under house arrest in the embassy of Ecuadorian embassy in London, on some cooked up charges by feminists, not even a sentence has been written here, but the sentencing of the members of punk band with vulgar name “p##sy riot” for inappropriate behaviour in a charge is being depticted as the murder of freedom of expression.
on some cooked up charges by feminists Take out that part about who cooked up the charges and I don’t think you are too far out of line here. I’ve noticed that when talking about Assange people will scream from the highest mountain to make sure we all know that he has been accused of rape while at the same time conveniently ignoring the fact that Pussy Riot was up on charges of actual crimes (wasn’t it something to the effect of what I guess Russian law would call vandalism or destruction of property). If people do things that they… Read more »
Just compare the case of Julian Assagne and P##sy Riots and say who comes out looking more dirty Western governments or Russian government: What moral right Western world has to complain about Russian government, which has a history of sending political dissidennts to gulag, for imprisoning these vandals, while a whistleblower from the so-called “Land of brave and free” is being hounded on trumped up charges.
Do feminists support or hate Assange on the whole? I see that most other people seem to support him, was curious if that group liked/hated him. Although it’s possible to like his actions re wikileaks, but hate his private life actions.
Do feminists support or hate Assange on the whole? Eh, I don’t think that is here or there because at the end of the day trying to nail down a single feminist position on this not only casts them as a monolith but just gives them something else to say they are being blamed for. BUT that being said I cannot help but notice how at least some of the feminists that I have seen have, as I said above, want to make sure no one forgets about the rape accusations against Assange while at the same time have no… Read more »
Yeah I find it strange. I want assange to have the normal protections, but his case is a special one in which there probably is a high chance of him being extradited and so his sex crimes, whilst are very important to deal with, are also a sideline to the potential issues from his wikileaks activities. It may be conspiracy theory but I truly wouldn’t be surprised if he got to Sweden that he’d be on board a flight to the U.S and facing some serious legal issues, it’s real enough that he is afraid to leave an embassy and… Read more »
“so his sex crimes, whilst are very important to deal with, are also a sideline to the potential issues from his wikileaks activities”
It is my understanding no sex crime have been found to have occurred. No charges have been laid against him. All this is because they want him for questioning and insist the questioning must be done in Sweden.
Did the band “P##sy Riot” had any legal or moral right to perform in the Church. If the wanted to protest, they should have performed in the streets. Trespassing is a crime.
‘Talking Pussy Riot Jail Sentence’ is Michel Montecrossa’s New-Topical-Song in honor of the Pussy Riot ladies, their freedom love, their art and humanity which is not only good for Russia but for the people of the whole world. Video Link ‘Talking Pussy Riot Jail Sentence’: http://vimeo.com/47962235 Michel Montecrossa says about ‘Talking Pussy Riot Jail Sentence’: “I wrote this song to honor the Pussy Riot ladies for their freedom love, their art and humanity. They give hope to us – the people of the world – that a time is near when the people will take care of the need of… Read more »
“Even the arrest and subsequent trial and conviction have done much to call attention to Pussy Riot’s cause,”
What exactly is their cause? I didn’t see it mentioned in the article, nor any articles I’ve seen of them.
Thanks for a great piece Ryan. I have been following Pussy Riot for quite a while (even wrote a blog piece about them when they were just getting famous) and have been so inspired by them. I find myself close friends with a number of Russians here in the states and their views on what is going on is very eye opening.
Nice job Pussy Riot, you and your friends from FEMEN proved Putin’s point that Westerners want to destroy everything a Russian holds dear. Clarissa made a nice post about the topic :
http://clarissasblog.com/2012/08/19/what-really-happened-with-pussy-riot/
P.S FEMEN destroyed a cross in Kiev honoring MILIONS of victims of communist regime, so do feminists actually support Putin (former KGB) ?
Did they break anything? I heard it was breaking n entering n destruction of property?
Hey Archy, according to all accounts I’ve read there was no b&e or destruction of property. The church was open and the band was allowed entrance without question. When they took the stage they bowed at the altar, danced and played the song. Within a minute security approached the girls and told them they had to leave and they did. It wasn’t until days later that arresting them was even considered, and it’s rumored to have been at the request of one of the leaders of the Orthodox church. If you watch the video Pussy Riot released it can be… Read more »
Ah ok. If they didn’t do any of the rumored stuff then I think it’s f’d up that they got jailed, community service at the most or a fine should be enough.
Exactly, and apparently community service is more common in a situation like this, especially for women with children at home. This is an extremely rare situation in Russia, raising the suspicion that Pussy Riot’s protests have gotten to Putin and the heads of the Orthodox church.
Archy darlin’
This is happening in Russia. Russia, Community service or a fine?
I had hoped they had something like that, I guess it isn’t a great place to live huh. Hell people can just get a fine and/or community service for stealing here. 2 years is stuff you get for assault or more.
I have to represent for Wendy O. Williams as well. She was pretty goddam amazing, and it is a shame that her and the Plasmatics are basically forgotten today. Talk about performance art. People went into conniptions when Clint Eastwood’s daughter was going to burn an expensive handbag as a performance piece. Wendy chain sawed a Stratocaster and blew up a hot rod every night. And she unapologetically did porn. THAT was a dangerous punk rocker.
Hey JP, thanks for reading the article, I’m glad you got something out of it. I agree, there are a lot of ways this could end up and many of them have the potential to exploit the media attention this has received. I have seen plenty of bands I loved go the very direction you described. For me I always just wanted to make music because I loved making music. I attended political protests because I cared about causes. Some bands start this way and then get offers they feel they can’t turn down, and I understand that, too, though… Read more »
Ryan, I enjoyed your article! You covered a lot of history, bro. As someone who was in the mosh pit with hand drawn t-shirts and un-ironically ripped jeans way back when, it was a bit of a trip down memory lane. Unfortunately, I am afraid that this is not going to end well. Pussy Riot put on a brilliant piece of agitprop performance art, like one of the greatest ever. Now they are in a Russian hoosegow, where I am sure they will be be trying to sharpen their musical chops as much as is possible. When they are released,… Read more »
No, we are not all Pussy Riot, not even close. Gender changes everything and it determines how you can relate to the treatment others receive.
Male protesters, both more peaceful and less, are being arrested all the time with harsher sentences being brought up against them and absolutely no press or societal concern coming their way:
http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-antigovernment-protesters-jail-time-pussy-riot/24677862.html
If I were a protester in Russia, my future would not look as bright as Pussy Riot’s.
Hey matera, can you take a moment and not make an argument that goes like this, “Yes but men have it worse”?
Stay on topic.
It has everything to do with the topic.
The only reason anyone has even heard of this story is because the band in question is made up of women. Had it been “Cock Frenzy” they would have been locked up without a word, or possibly executed, knowing Putin.
2 years for what is probably considered treason? They better thank their lucky stars each night for that pussy pass.
I think it’s more the religious element that’s drawn so much attention, not the gender issue. Which I’m sure was deliberate. Of course just rioting in the street isnt going to get the same attention.