Publication:
HeartttaCk

Author:
Felix Von Havoc

HeartAttack #22
Top Ten:

Gordon Solie Motherfuckers-Live in Clevo
Chaos UK-Heard it, seen it, done it.
Krigshot-all
Uncurbed-all
Totalitar-all
G-anx/Filthy Christians-split 7"

Felix and HaC folks,

It looks as though I have the dubious honour of being the straw that broke Felix Havoc's back. I find it kind of ironic and even laughable that Felix Von Tough Guy is letting up, at least partially, because of my "wack hippie shit." I say good riddance and enjoy brewing in negativity.

The said "hippie shit" being referred to was my advocacy of nudism in Issue #20. Felix mentions that nudity was "fine for '68' not '98". I find this statement laughable coming from someone who is stuck in early 80's hardcore mode.

Why do you "totally oppose nudity in the punk scene?" That statement seems rather haphazard and there is no reasoning behind it. I honestly can't figure out why you would be so threatened by seeing a cock or cunt. Could the idea of being a nudist just be too revolutionary? Where are you coming up with all this? How is "the scene" suffering from the fact that I like to play badminton naked? For the record, I never once mentioned nudity being punk or said people should get naked at shows (and so what if they do?) I said that nudism is rejected by a lot of "progressive" thinkers and this case only provides more evidence to that fact. Why should nudity only be kept at home? Do you seriously have a fear of people not consenting to nudity? I'm not advocating that people take off other people's clothes, but rather their own.

Felix, you have completely missed my point because it sounds as though you are still equating nudism with sex by your "consenting adults" comment. Nudity is not about sex. It can involve sex, but the two are not even close to being the same.

At the risk of making a false accusation, I get the impression that Felix is not the most queer/sex positive person out there. He refers to the Smiths as a "girlie pop band." Whatever that is. A lot of the Smiths songs were quite pansyish and had a lot of obviously queer content. Why do you find this so threatening or unappealing? Is this femmophobia? Am I grasping at straws? Add to this the fact that Havoc likes all this early 80's stuff like Minor Threat, a blatantly sex negative band, and I begin to wonder how "revolutionary" he is. Why are you so threatened by the idea of nudity and wimpy boys? I have another example of why a lot of early hardcore was crap. Take the early Dischord days that you seem to be so fond of. Remember S.O.A. and their oh so progressive song "Girl Problems?" Remember, this is the '99', not '81. Don't you think we should be challenging our notions on sex, gender and sexuality?

I was telling my boyfriend about Havoc's comments to my column and he half jokingly said he thought Havoc is looking for someone to love him. Maybe we should all take the time to love him just a little and then he could cheer up a bit. C'mon Felix doesn't that sound nice, snuggling up on a beach beside your dogs enjoying the sun? I bet you are a lot more into cuddling than you let on. Patchouli forever!

Daryl Von Hippie.
safe23@hotmail.com. Box 22172 Regina, SK. S4S 3H7. Canada.

Readers of Heart Attack, after reading Daryl's letter in response to my comments about nudism I have experienced a profound transformation. My negative, sexually confused, macho, out of touch with my own body days are over. From now on you can call me Felix Von Cuddles! I've taken all my leathers, boots, studs and chains down to the Salavation Army. I never looked good in plaid bondage pants anyway. I've decided that short hair is so conservative and now I'm letting mine grow in free and natural, only its going to take time so I've made an appointment for a hair transplant. It took some doing but I managed to trade my 1971 GMC 4x4 Pickup and my 1967 Triumph Daytona in for one of those cute new VW beetles. Anyone who wants any of these negative, macho hardcore records can come over and take them off my hands. I'm grooving now on these mellow Grateful Dead and Phish CD's while I let it all hang out. Straight Edge? So restrictive and un-natural. I'm learning to dig the herbs, the product of the natural earth brother. FREE THE HERBS! All of this ganja is really opening my mind to the negative world I've been living in. We organized a naked badminton game but I don't think East Lake and Bloomington Ave. are ready for a full nudist revival yet. They called us "crazy white boys" and beat us up, then we got arrested. So much negativity in the world! By the way I am quitting Code 13 to become a singer songwriter. I am really getting more in touch with my feelings and the restrictive constraints of traditional rock music weigh heavily upon me. Now I am really going to emote with my acoustic guitar. My songs have been compared to Elliot Smith, but that guy is so negative. I'd like to think of myself as being more like Donovan, you know a sunshine superman! Look for Felix Von Cuddles on tour at a coffee shop near you. All that revolutionary political stuff is so negative and macho. If we just smoke a lot of chiba and spread good vibes while wearing no clothes the system will like totally realise what a bummer it is and free the weed then dissolve.

No but seriosly folks. Daryl has read a lot into a few sarcastic sentences. Punk rock is a nice big movement with room for lots of opinions. I think nudism is silly, Daryl thinks 80's hardcore is silly. Jumping to crazy conclusions that I am homophobic or "sex negative" 'cos I donít like naked people at shows is really stretching it. I refuse to buy into the "sensative 90's guy" bullshit society pushes on us. Am I threatened by the Smiths? NO, I just think their music sucks! Just like you think Minor Threat and SOA suck, deal with it. Am I threatened by wimpy boys? NO, but I do think the integrity of hardcore is threatened by shit sell-out indie rock bands who use the hardcore scene as a springboard into the corporate rock world. Anyway, this is supposed to be the women's issues issue and here I am talking about all this manly stuff.

OK a few issues ago I started writing about the influential bands that were all or mostly women. I live downstairs from four 17-19 year old girls who are starting a punk band. They of course have access to my records so I'll tell you what they listen to around the clock and is inspiring them to enter the male dominated punk world. Blasting from the speakers upstairs I hear a lot of X-Ray Spex, Dirt, Sacrilege, and Bikini Kill. I guess those are some of the best and most inspiring women fronted bands ever. X-Ray Spex has been inspiring women in the punk scene since day one. Here in the Twin Cities we have a lot of women involved in some excellent bands. Scorned and Calloused both play raging crusty hardcore with female singers. The Smeggs and Menstrual Tramps are totally rocking punk rock bands, all or mostly women. Before the Strike moved to Chicago they had a woman on bass. The Salteens were all or mostly female punk. Erishkigal is a wicked brutal metal influenced modern HC band with a female singer. Disembodied has a female bass player. Local film maker Patti Rhodes is soon to release a documentary about the Twin Cities scene and played guitar in Faction Fatigue and the Decoy Voices. So you aren't impressed? I know there's room for improvement but the visible presence of these women has and will give others the inspiration to act themselves.

I was really shocked at the ugly, vile, homophobic remarks of Pit Boss 2000 and One Life Crew printed in the last issue. To tell the truth I never really took those bands seriously. I just figured they were trying to provoke people in order to market themselves as "un-PC bad boys." But the remarks about violent fag bashing really set me off. There is no room in hardcore for these sentiments. Punk and hardcore were founded by miscreant, rebels and outsider, not conformist jocks. The early punk scene provided an opportunity of self expression to women, gays, minorities, and varying political and artistic fringe groups who had previously been excluded from the music industry. This diversity has always contributed to the strength and durability of the medium. As I've said before it was a mistake to let the jocks into the hardcore scene. I think it all started with right wing jock core bands like Slapshot. People still give that shit props. Remember that "punks dead, you're next" shit. And beating up the "purple haired freaks." We tolerated that shit and now we reap the rewards. A right wing jock movement inside hardcore. I'm not saying punk/hardcore has to be left wing, I'm just as critical of the radical left as the radical right. But the rightist agenda is so close to the agenda of mainstream society punk sought to escape, and normally backed by violence. All this shit about "beating down faggots with baseball bats" sounds exactly like the nazi skinhead rhetoric of the late 80's. It took a long time for that nazi stuff to die down and the scene was severely damaged for several years as a result. Now the same intolerant attitudes are back with immigrants and gays as the targets. I'm not going to label these groups as Nazi's or Fascists, I studied fascism enough to know its trademarks (see my article in PE years ago). However, these are intolerant right wing bigots from the KKK tradition. As such they are just a radicalized expression of mainstream American culture, with no place in counter or sub cultural group based on tolerance and diversity. Who is to blame for this onslaught of right wing hardcore? WE ARE. We sat back and let it happen. We decided to allow hardcore to be marketed to dumb jocks in suburban malls and we sold out our scene to the mainstream!

I will admit that I enjoy a lot of tough guy hardcore like Blood for Blood and Comin' Correct but its time to see some lines drawn on racism and homophobia in that scene. I say no tolerance for the right wing jock core. Lets quote one of my all time favorite bands NOTA from 1983:

REDNECK MENTALITY

I don't believe what I see
Now your shit is in our scene
I think assholes know what I mean
No matter how you look its all the same
Get the fuck out this ain't no game

Publication Date:
January 1, 1988

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