whatever ya think of the article or egg punk in general, I just think it's sick that people are talking critically about punk again.. it's interesting to see where everyone's heads are at with this kinda thing, and I think the whole egg/chain spectrum notion, even though born as a joke, has at least gotten people thinking and wanting to expand on ideas around punk which can only be a good thing...
I see what Martin's saying in the article, and I really like the guy and the Dumpers (was lucky enough to get to support them on their last show in st louis!) but ofc i disagree with the notion that bands have to try harder, especially in the realm of DIY and punk... there's just as many instances of bands trying TOO hard and having to release a heavily worked on LP retrospectively after the 5 year DIY band timespan passes haha -- how many great live songs have ya seen ruined by overworking them in the practice room over the years?? or great bands who took way too long to record and then got in a fight and left the recordings on a hard drive somewhere...
with martin's example of RMFC, the early records may be very influenced by egg punk world, sure, but the new LP is also heavily influenced by serious contemporary post-punk. i agree that the LP is put together better, but it also lost a lot of the spark and excitement of the early stuff. both phases of RMFC are interesting in totally different ways imo, and being prescriptive about "working harder" would erase so much thrilling music from being created (RMFC may not have existed if it was being drafted for eternity for example)... a good healthy punk ecosystem needs bits and pieces of everything, and i'm personally pumped to hear some new flash-in-the-pan exciteable kids make music, and i'm pumped to hear this hard-worked, highly constructed project martin's working on whenever it surfaces, sounds sick!
sorry for this essay length response, but it's a pretty interesting topic i reckon... and as someone in my late-30s (i assume similar age to martin), i can see myself falling into the same trap of trying to tell the next gen how to do things. i think there's lessons to pass on about staying within the realms of DIY practice and not falling for music industry tricks, to be autonomous and build a community rather than trying to become the ~ next great artiste of the punk world ~ , but that's besides the point... if the young kids (egg punk or no) are worth their salt, they'll read this and do what we all did at 19, and what all the punks thru history did too: which is to tell the older heads to fuck off and build their own thing their own way, with sounds that they love and appreciate.
(but i do hope bands of the future ditch the one-note high-pitched synth, turn the bass channel up, and write songs about more than just crayons or whatever!)
