A&M Hardcore

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Posted: 2/1/08

Although on occasion one may see liberty spikes, T-shirts with offensive band names or some high schoolers skating on campus, Aggieland is in no danger of having a countercultural scene. The status quo of conformity is safe for now. It's a shame because Texas A&M could use some contact with the bohemian lifestyle. There is purity to a countercultural identity for it is a personal choice rather than a socialized one. Finding truth in individuality instead of authority presents a priceless lesson about free will. The following is a handful of hipster cultures that have left a lasting mark on the counterculture. Membership in each group can range from the suburbanite who likes to play rebel, to the hardcore embracing it as a way of life.

Punk

Bio: The wave of the counterculture that strikes the most fear in the hearts of suburbanite parents. Hardcore punk Chris Flakus defined the movement as "the ultra-individualistic path of destroying all preconceptions of the profitdriven world until you're left with bare truth." This bare truth for punks usually ends up to be nothing other than themselves, leading to a nihilistic worldview. Although punk can be an excuse for sophomoric behavior or wanton acts of destruction, there is an ethos to it - that being of acting is an empirical reality: what you can do, what you can take, but nothing outside the grasp of personal reality. Hardcore adherents to the cause are fading away, but its influence shapes the counterculture scene and the power-violence music genre.

Appearance: Piercings, tattoos, studs, too-tight pants, vest or jacket with band patches, the occasional Mohawk

Listens: Old - Dead Kennedys; New - Leftover Crack; Mainstream - Rancid

Drinks: The cheapest stuff, which is usually 211 Steel Reserve

Black Metal

Bio: Metal had an impact on the music community but didn't engender a social movement with a guiding philosophy.

It has, however, fostered a cult-like community among metal fans that caters to the darker and more brutal characteristics that make up its sound. The metal show can be a scene for elaborate Halloween-like costumes of demons, vampires or just scary-looking people. Perhaps because of the fantasy element of black metal, there is a strong presence of what can be traditionally referred to as nerds. The diehard true believers who wish to carry this infatuation with the evil of metal beyond mere dress-up, get wrapped up in the satanic or other pagan aspects of the scene.

Appearance: Braided facial hair, leather, spikes, ghoulish makeup, concert T-shirt, Bahamut tattoo

Listens: Old - Iron Maiden; New - Dimmu Burgir; Mainstream - Slipknot

Drinks: Domestic, or domestic light, by the can

Hippie

Bio: Hippies are the original hipster fad that exploded to almost mainstream status among the youth of the 1960s. The stereotype of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll they left behind is notable enough to be the police's standard for probable cause. Sadly, they hardly exist anywhere as a thriving scene. Hippie Jonathan Hinajosa said, "There's no original hippie movement going on. It's just so old and normal, it's too common." Though there are few hardcore left, the massive effect of this breakthrough culture is felt in every subsequent trend so much that it is drab.

Appearance: Long nappy hair, non-Western clothing, sandals, reeks of pot smoke

Listens: Old - Steely Dan; New - String Cheese Incident; Mainstream - Dave Matthews Band

Drinks: Locally produced wine or beer

Rudeboy

Bio: Rudeboys and -girls, or "rudies," are a relic of the counterculture. Rudeboys first appeared as a violent youth gang in Jamaica during the 1960s that wished to emulate the style of gangsters in American cinema. The rudeboys that are seen in America and England are the result of several ska revivals among the punk scenes of the U.S. and U.K, the first one was in England during the late 1970s. These revivals rose from the cultural interaction between whites and Jamaican immigrants that brought their contemporary indigenous music styles, notably ska and rocksteady. This black-white cultural exchange fostered a racial unity that became the underpinning of the rudeboy movement. These days, a rudeboy in full uniform is a rare sight found mostly at ska-influenced punk shows.

Appearance: A full suit, shades, pork-pie hat, suspenders, workpants and boots

Listens: Old - The Specials; New - The Pietasters; Mainstream - No Doubt

Drinks: Red Stripe Lager

Scenester

Bio: Diverse social cliques among the counterculture appear like a thing of the past. The postmodern world we live in, which has access to the counterculture of every corner of the globe and time in history, has made being cool kindof bland. Every club show, the typical hotspot for a countercultural scene, is populated with the dull mob of scene kids. There is no guiding philosophy to this recent wave of bohemians except the pretense of being "cool." No clear defintion of a hardcore member and no fashion mandates except for dressing in a semi-uniform emo aesthetic with the occasional throwback item from a preceding subculture. This blandness among the scenesters could be interpreted as a general bohemian revival rekindling the spirit of the orginal American hipster: the Beatnik.

Appearance: Secondhand clothing, thick framed glasses, androgynous haircut, anything ironic

Listens: Old - anything influencing indie music today; New - if anyone has heard of it, it's not cool anymore

Drinks: Local, traditional blue-collar beer with a dose of irony