Glen Matlock has called Trump-supporting punks “weird” and praised Kneecap for keeping up the grand ol’ tradition of anti-establishment provocation.
The Sex Pistols bassist was being interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday, when conversation turned to the political backdrop to the original wave of punk. “There was a lot going on, as is today, plus ça change with the rise of the far-right, and I think, we were trying to navigate our way through that, somehow, and have a laugh, stir things up a little bit.”
The host, Amol Rajan, then asked Matlock whether punks are “misunderstood”, to which the bassist replied: “There’s a lot of stuff these days I don’t understand about punk myself.
"It became a very broad church, a long way from the Sex Pistols to the Talking Heads and from The Slits to the Dolly Mixture or something like that, musically. But also a lot of punks got the wrong end of the stick, and maybe some progenitors of it did as well.”
“It is kind of weird these days. I’m constantly surprised by how many punks I see on my Facebook thing that are pro-Trump. It’s a bit weird”.
It’s hard not to read Matlock’s comments as a rebuke to his ex-bandmate John Lydon, who has been quite open about his admiration for the current US president, even dubbing him “the Sex Pistols of politics.”
Later on in the Radio 4 interview, when asked whether “rebellious guitar music” exists today, Matlock said: “I think the problem is that the media and the record companies have had so much practice over the years and shutting things out that are kind of pushing it a little bit, and I think it’s become quite vacuous what we do get to hear on the radio.”
“Not all the time, but a few people do come through, even like the Kneecap people, whatever you feel about them, at least they are pushing it.”
Meanwhile another musician who is firmly on the anti-Trump side is Jack White who has posted a lengthy satirical swipe at the president’s Tuesday press conference in which he listed his ‘accomplishments’ in his first year back in office. It’s actually quite funny...
"Me do accomplishments!" White captioned his close-up photo of Trump holding a stack of papers with that very word emblazoned on it.
"Trump smart. Good boy deserve Nobel Peace Prize! Dementia? What is? NO! Trump smart, pass brain test, name giraffe. Me President of Venezuela and Canada. Me want Greenland too for fun. Mom said Trump could have been great baseball player but also big building with bars on windows. Building for very sick people. Trump not sick. Trump smart. MAGA. Very smart people made Trump President. Very smart people keep Trump President. Take nap now. Use fake, I mean real Peace Prizes for pillows. Trump accomplishment. Nighty night."
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