Punk-101: "Garage Punk (One Mic, Four Walls, No Rules)"

[Intro A single room mic catches the sound of a band counting in. Someone laughs. A guitar squeaks. Drums click. Then—a wall of noise, raw, distorted, falling apart. shouted over the chaos, barely audible],[Spoken word:] "This is not a lecture. This is not a lesson. This is a garage. This is four people in a room with no idea what they're doing. This is punk." [Verse 1] The Fall in 1977, Mark E. Smith Didn't give a fuck about a record deal or pitch The band fell apart and reformed and fell apart again And every show was chaos, every show was win The Replacements in Minneapolis, Westerberg drunk Playing covers they forgot, falling off the trunk Of creativity, of melody, of anything that mattered Garage punk was the sound of everything shattered [Pre-Chorus] And you don't need a producer, you don't need a plan You don't need to tune your guitar, you don't need a band You need a room and a mic and the nerve to press record Garage punk is the sound of saying "fuck the chord" [Chorus] This is garage punk, this is the mess The sound of four people trying their best And failing and laughing and trying again Garage punk is the sound of the amp at ten This is garage punk, this is the fizz The note that's wrong, the note that is The only note that matters is the one you play right now Garage punk is the vow [Verse 2] The Gories in Detroit, 1986 Mick Collins and friends, no bass player fix Just two guitars and a drummer and a garage punk sound That proved you don't need nothing when you're fucking around The Oblivians in Memphis, three guys, one mic Recording live to boombox, doing everything right By doing everything wrong, by not giving a shit Garage punk was the opposite of "this is it" [Pre-Chorus] And you don't need a studio, you don't need a desk You don't need to overdub, you don't need to impress You need a TASCAM four-track and a microphone that works Garage punk is the sound of going berserk [Chorus] This is garage punk, this is the mess The sound of four people trying their best And failing and laughing and trying again Garage punk is the sound of the amp at ten This is garage punk, this is the fizz The note that's wrong, the note that is The only note that matters is the one you play right now Garage punk is the vow [Bridge: Music pulls back to just drums and vocals. Drums are sloppy, falling apart. Vocals are shouted, laughing, gasping. breathless, ecstatic],[Spoken word:] "In 1994, a band called The Makes recorded an album in one afternoon for fifty dollars. It sounded like a car crash. It sounded like four people who had never met playing songs they'd never heard. It was perfect. That's garage punk. That's the whole thing. You don't get better. You get louder. You don't practice. You play. You don't perfect. You release." [Band begins to build again, chaotic, glorious.] [Verse 3] Jay Reatard in Memphis, 2000 whatever Recording in his living room, getting better At getting worse, at not caring, at letting go Garage punk was the flower, garage punk was the grow Ty Segall in Laguna Beach, John Dwyer in San Fran Thee Oh Sees, The Coachwhips, every garage punk band Who knew that punk was not a genre but a room With a mic and an amp and a willingness to boom [Pre-Chorus] So find a room, find a mic, find a friend who doesn't care Find a drum kit missing heads, a guitar beyond repair Plug it in, turn it up, hit record, and let it rip Garage punk is the ship [Chorus] This is garage punk, this is the mess The sound of four people trying their best And failing and laughing and trying again Garage punk is the sound of the amp at ten This is garage punk, this is the fizz The note that's wrong, the note that is The only note that matters is the one you play right now Garage punk is the vow [Outro: Band continues, but the tape runs out. The recording distorts, slows down, warbles. The sound of a cassette being eaten by a player. Then—a click. Silence. Then, a laugh, faint, from the room.],[Spoken word:] "That's it. That's all we had. Class dismissed. Go make a mess."