Of Cryptyds, Deaf Dogs, and the Punk Rock Demographic Divide

The Cryptyds: so-so cellphone photos by Allan MacInnis, April 25th, 2024

Dear Fellow Punks Over 50,

Friendly advice: You have to start going to shows by punks under 30. Or, well, you really should consider it. You've been missing out!  

Cryptyds

It grows increasingly apparent that there are some terrific young bands in this town, terrific scenes happening -- at Red Gate, at Green Auto, and no doubt other locales that I don't know about. Somehow there seems to be very little overlap between these shows, however, and the ones at LanaLou's or the Princeton, for example... which is a bit strange. Punk rock is meant to be youth culture, after all, not clinging-to-your-youth culture; only going to shows by bands that were, in the most cases, around in the window between 1977 and 1988 (when you were making your first forays into the scene) cuts you off from what the kids are doing NOW -- from experiencing their first forays -- which, trust me, will actually give you hope and (vaguely parental) joy and a cause for optimism (we should drag Bert Man to one of these gigs!): 

More Cryptyds

Because comfortable as you may be in your peer group, agewise, there are some very energetic, very proficient, very creative and committed young bands out there, almost entirely unbeknownst to us old fuckers, who are being given an enthusiastic reception by people in their own demographic, whom I suspect have way better taste at a young age than I did (they are also, generally better-looking than we are; who wants to watch someone who looks like me trying to mosh?).

More Cryptyds

It's got to be a healthy thing to mix it up a little, even if it goes somewhat against the tide. You can't just mill around in your own increasingly decrepit age group; it's depressing. It may also be natural that people of a certain age will gravitate towards people of the same age, but there's no rule where that behaviour has to apply to concert-going; I bet the kids last night have seen a few of "our" bands, y'know? So we should see some of theirs: Instead of celebrating your past, you can go celebrate their future. You do have to brave the slight self consciousness you might feel, being the oldest person in the room, but trust me, once you do it a few times, you'll get over that, and besides - it's worth it. You'll be very grateful. (And so will I, because if a few of you were there in the room, too, I wouldn't feel quite so out of place!). 

More Cryptyds, plus enthusiastic mosher

I write this just having got in from a night at Green Auto.  Adam and I were the oldest two people in the room, I am sure, probably by a margin of about 20 years. The next youngest person seemed to be about 35. I would imagine 80% of the crowd moshing happily and peacefully in the pit were in their 20s, as were the bands onstage. 

Contrary to appearances, Adam enjoyed the music, too

And it was great, as usual. Since I've been exploring some of these spaces, repeatedly seeing bands whom it would have been biologically possible for me to be the grandparent of, if I'd had offspring in my late teens, who in turn themselves had offspring in their late teens, I have seen pretty much zero bad music being made. BY KIDS! I'm pretty sure some of the members of Leroy's Garage (now, alas, broken up) might have still been high school students when I saw them at the Black Lab a couple years ago. You owe it to yourselves to go to a show by a band like Gadfly or Kidz Help Fone or Die Job or (as I discover tonight) Deaf Dogs or Cryptyds (see also here) and SEE WHAT THE 20 SOMETHINGS are doing on the stage and in the pit. Appreciate that in terms of their tastes and cultural reference points, these kids have dug way deeper than we ever could, when we were their age -- that because of the internet, they have grown up with resources and guidance and opportunities denied to us, when we were stuck in the suburbs, armed with only a shitty local record store, a weak CFRO signal, and a copy of Discorder and maybe, if we were lucky, Creem. 

Deaf Dogs (or is it Deaf-Dogs?)

Ain't like that no more: the internet is making a difference where it counts. There are, I bet, 17 year olds in some of these bands with copies of Sonics albums, I feel sure of it. I didn't even know who the Sonics were until I heard the Pointed Sticks cover them! These kids must have superb bullshit detectors and/ or parents with killer record collections, and they must be digging really deep in their explorations, because you can hear it in their music. The Cryptyds -- who are young enough and new enough that their CD is a CDr with a handwritten label, and who, note, do not spell their name with an "i" (don't spell it wrong or you'll be dealing with articles about bigfoot) - played energetic, garagey punk that brought to mind, depending on the song, the Count Five, the Stooges, the Original Sins, the Black Lips, the Undertones, (early) Devo and (early) Damned, all of whom they have probably listened to (like I say, I don't think they've been avoiding crossing the age-barrier like we do). Their bandcamp is here, their album is on Spotify, the title track off it is on Youtube, and their Instagram is here; they have a gig coming soon that you can check out, if you like (gig poster below; it's on August 31st and also features Deaf Dogs, who also rocked last night, and touched on some of the same reference points, even incorporating a bit of the Beatles and -- I thought -- lifting a bit of "Holiday in Cambodia" for a song that I think was about not wanting to be American. Or was that by the Cryptyds? Now I forget. I mean, I'm almost 60, sonny. I'm lucky I have all my teeth. 

Well, most of them. 

...And back to Cryptyds

Anyhow, think about it: you can go see people young enough to be your grandkids, or you can go see people old enough to be your brothers and sisters. Who needs your support more? Your brothers and sisters won't miss you for one night. Get out of your comfort zone and go fly your greying freak flag for the 20 year olds to see. Let the kids wonder if you're someone's parent (or grandparent). Don't be embarrassed to realize that these kids are way cooler now than you (or,  uh, "we") ever were, then, and that they may be in fact hipper and cooler than you are now. Just don't worry about that stuff -- open your ears and take it in. You might be as pleasantly surprised as I've been! Let them show you how its done, and don't even try to keep up with them in the pit. 

Just a friendly suggestion! 

Allan

PS. Sorry to have missed you, Doom Cocoon! I'll catch up eventually.