(Warning: Un-redacted profanity lies within this piece: please protect your virgin eyes!)
(Wo)Man, Pussy Riot is what punk rock is all about! They're the most legitimate punk rock band I have seen since the early 1980s (and they're not even really a band, which is so fucking punk rock!). There's been some great punk/metal hybrid stuff I love more than almost anything, like Zeke (and they seem to me to be the successors to the Ramones in the subject matter they write about so often, except for the racing stuff, which is often what I used to write about) but that's not so political. No, there really hasn't been much like this since the first-term Reagan-era American hardcore punk rock in the early 1980s. Bands like The Proletariat and True Sounds of Liberty: man, that's the shit! And to me, Pussy Riot not only has the same thematic protest anti-authoritarianism/antiestablishmentariansim content, but they also have the sound that made hardcore punk rock so exciting. Plus, they have some other things, too, that make them go even further, like feminism, actual risk to their personal safety like hasn't been seen since the early Black Flag days of punk rock here in Los Angeles, and on top of it all, this wonderful instantly recognizable look that is by now a worldwide brand on the same par as like, say, a Levi's or a Burger King. If they were a band who were seeking success and did this as a stunt to get famous and then get rich, following the model in the Martin Scorsese movie The King of Comedy (i.e.: do a crime, get arrested, get famous on the news, get released from prison, get rich off the exposure), they'd earn untold riches. But what makes them punk rock is that they're not interested in that at all: they're mad, they have a message, and all they care about is getting that message of protest and yearning for a change for the better and more freedom out there so that people will see it and think. And they don't mind going to prison if that's what it takes. (I mean, of course they mind, but they're willing to risk it and even have to do it because their message is just that important to them. You know, like punk rock. When people say something is "punk rock", like the colloquial expression "punk rock", they mean it's daring and in-your-face and abrasive and all that stuff. And that's Pussy Riot to a T: even their name says that before you even know who or what they are; and the genius of that name is that it says all of this in just two words. It's like "Riot Grrrl" on steroids {in that it's shocking and offensive and really grabs you by the neck and won't let go, and you just can't ever forget it once you've heard it.}. It's pure genius. {My parents would be so disappointed to hear me say that; but isn't that what punk rock's all about anyway?} And they're pure genius too, in my opinion.)
Now, this legal saga that's become almost like a Greek tragedy is fascinating on it's own, but for me it's not nearly as interesting as what the collective does artistically. Of course I support the women and I'm outraged at the severity of their sentence, but that's the potential cost of this type of protest, especially in a country like Russia, or frankly almost anywhere outside the United States and some of Western Europe. But for me, I love their activities. The music is great and furious and fresh; the performances are rip-roaring untamed passion and savagery. Their look is fantastic: like something you'd see dreamed up by some top designer at a museum (like maybe at the Met someday). And their whole shtick is just fabulous and fun and ferocious. They are the new guard of hardcore punk rockers, and they're not even a band. And really, this makes them even more punk rock, because they're breaking not only the usual venue for such performances by essentially doing organized shock flash mobs of insurrection, they're just breaking the fifth wall by just reaching into all of our lives worldwide by shaking up the big societal places in their regime, making all of this stuff on video for everyone to see on YouTube, and getting themselves arrested and on the news for the whole world to see. It's just pure genius for getting their message out. And the way the system where they live is trying to kill a fly with an ICBM is just making their message ring as true as it possibly could.
So like I said, I think they're genius. But really, I like their music the best. It reminds me of my adolescence, when I was angry too about the unfairness in the system and I listened to punk rock all the time. I think they should record an album, sell it now that they're famous, and use the money it makes to help finance feminist causes around the world, like in places like India where rapes are causing rebellion. India needs groups like them, and so does the Middle East. (It should be practically free to make their album: just play into a smartphone and ask people to pay for that on the internet through Amazon.com or iTunes: I will buy it. Lo-Fi rules on a punk record! You just need energy and distortion and rebellion, and they've got that in spades!)
I was dying to see this documentary on HBO but I went to New York for a couple of weeks right before it premiered so I just had to record it and wait until I got back to see it. But for me, it's their performances that are so great. I really hope they get out of prison, and I hope they carry on with their work. I am a big fan of Pussy Riot! The world needs more Pussy Riots!
Here's a couple of their songs, so you'll see (hear) what I mean (This is just great stuff!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDRLkofqAv0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Momp_86eb1E
R-r-r-r-riot! R-r-r-r-riot! (Don't forget to roll your Rs!)
(Oh, and sorry about the un-redacted profanity. I generally try to at least use The Daily Show model of quasi-family-freindliness by throwing a dingbat-type character into the word somewhere, but when you're writing about real, bona fide punk rock stuff, and you're censoring your curse words, something just seems out of place and inauthentic. It's like a hair metal band without groupies and coke, or a dedicated meth-head with perfect teeth: something's just amiss somewhere that makes it seem phony, if you know what I mean.)
