Sean and I are old enough to have seen punk go through many iterations. Sean was a part of the earliest SoCal punk scene, and I was part of its next-generation evolution, clinging to the teenage DIY all-ages shows while witnessing pop-punk take off in the mainstream. A common thread is that as soon as punk has “a look,” a new punk emerges that maintains an outcast status until it, too, is co-opted by enough people to stop being very punk at all. We try to stay realistic about what punk is now, while not getting jaded and bitter about it like some of the old heads do. It seems like Portland’s Cut Piece explores these same themes of punk’s descent into capitalism and how a lot of the genre has strayed from its purpose of being counter-culture, challenging the political elites, and refusing to be bought out by corporate interests. Today we’re stoked to be sharing their new video for “Accept Defeat (Don’t Sabotage Me),” their anthem to “transgender, queer, and gay resilience and keeping up the fight against oppression.” With the fist-in-your-face vocal delivery and the petulant guitar tones, this track is seething with the kind of discontentment that makes punk, punk! It’s on their 4-song S/T 7″ that’s out now via Dirt Cult Records and Sabotage Records (EU) — pick it up here. Right now, watch CUT PIECE “Accept Defeat (Don’t Sabotage Me)”!
As Punk disassociates from politics and becomes a shopping culture, Cut Piece is here to remind us that when the urgency that hardcore takes for granted is combined with a catchy hook and the way we live our lives, that punk is our best form of modern cathartic expression.
Dirt Cult Records
directed by Griffen Snow and produced by Shaina Pierce
https://dirtcultrecords.bigcartel.com/product/cut-piece-cut-piece-7
