vibrators

On the flip side of the great band/no image thing is The Automatix, a band I saw last night opening for the Vibrators. It's the usual case of young punks with time and money to spend on the right clothes, the right tattoos, the right hair dye and foot and a half mohawks but the songs and playing are definitely sub par, especially when opening for the Vibrators. The Vibrators have been doing it for 30 years and they still sound great, and they've aged much more gracefully than a lot of the old punks still kicking around (although drummer Nick looks like he's a weekend warrior heading to the cottage, blasting Van Halan; or Jon Mayer if he's feeling hip). The main problem with them is their songs aren't fantastic, they don't have the power to transcend the ages and become classics. The Saints at least have I'm Stranded to cement them on punk comps for years to come. This was pretty evident with the turnout, a pretty sparsely attended event. Seems like the only old punk bands people will go out to see are the ones who have become t-shirt fodder for the up and coming little suburban punks of the world. That's one thing The Vibrators definitely have going for them...