Playlist- https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1jeIT2vcF7Gep9WGBT7bJX Continuing our series on Judaism and punk rock, Ha’Am interviewed the half-Jewish, punk icon, Keith Morris. Morris’s influence on American hardcore punk rock cannot be understated. The genre began as a rebellion against the commodification of punk rock,…
Toys Were Us: The Decline of Youth
—- “Youth is dead” is a doozy of a claim, but it’s a valid claim. Maybe youth itself isn’t what’s dying, but youthhood. When I talk to my parents, my Jewish Papa, or my hometown Rabbi, they reminisce about the…
“Love Punk Rock, Hate Nazis”: How Punk Rock Mobilized Against Fascism and An Interview with Brian Brannon of JFA
Playlist to accompany ofc- https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3sqFbCB2Y5L0sQ4tr6Tsky NAZI PUNKS FUCK OFF! A hundred thousand punk rockers, adorned with anti-Nazi paraphernalia, band merchandise and crude denim jackets, walk seven miles through bustling Central London. Their march crosses key National Front strongholds. A masked…
A Love Letter to Jonathan Richman: The Punk Rock, Nice Jewish Boy
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7JoikWz5i62uwvidMTjRuM– playlist In a dizzying era of hedonism and bloated art-rock, Jonathan Richman’s music was “A Plea for Tenderness.” Finding joy in little pleasures is a cornerstone of Richman’s lyricism. “New England” celebrates Maine’s magnificence just as the sweet, nostalgic…
Rocking it from the Casbah to CBGB’s: How Jews Pioneered Punk Rock
Playlist to accompany- https://open.spotify.com/playlist/169oIfuoRJ1HVBo0AxE8lN With its blaring power chords, anti-establishment overtones and do-it-yourself fashion, the early punk scene is the last place you’d expect to find angsty Jews. Yet from Sylvian Mizrahi and Johnny Thunders of the New York Dolls…
At Home at UCLA
On a humid Westwood night, my roommates, Mai and Chelsea, and I were walking back to our dorm. Our stomachs ached with laughter and our bellies were full from a night out. “Which way should we take home?” Mai asked.…