Pontiac Punks Play People Music
What would you think if you read about a group of young Pontiac musicians who were better than the Doors, the Stooges, the MC5, Ted Nugent and Patti Smith rolled into one? In light of recent cram-it-down-your-throat promotion on everybody from Angel to ZZ Top , a justifiable reaction would be a common description of what male cows do after they eat.
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Pontiac Punks Play People Music
by Air-Wreck Genheimer
What would you think if you read about a group of young Pontiac musicians who were better than the Doors, the Stooges, the MC5, Ted Nugent and Patti Smith rolled into one? In light of recent cram-it-down-your-throat promotion on everybody from Angel to ZZ Top , a justifiable reaction would be a common description of what male cows do after they eat. But local rock �n� roll has definitely received a much needed kick in the kidneys with the recent discovery of the 24-year old vocalist who calls himself Frantic, (Mr. and Mrs. Kuchon know him better as Skip) as well as A1 Webber, guitar; Craigston J. Webshire III, drums; Rod McMahon, bass; and Steve Rocky, lead guitar; who collectively are known as the Punks.
Sure, you say, just another bunch of Vitalis-coated effeminate intellectuals imitating Henry Winkler imitating �The Fonz.� But not so. These guys are the real thing. In fact, on a recent trip to New York in an effort to gain some recognition for their exotic musical sledge hammer delights, the band stopped in to see the people at Punk Magazine (among others) for a meeting of the minds. In Frantic�s words: �We went down there for the Punks to meet the Punks. They wanted us to act �punky� and I really didn�t know how to do that, too much anyway, so we just acted like we are normally and they took some pictures and were real nice. Everything was punk this and punk that, you know. The punk scene is really happening out there, whatever the hell that is, and so it was sort of working against us, we thought. So we started letting everybody know that we�ve been the Punks for about three years or more and we had this idea a long time ago. We�re not just jumping on the band wagon. We also feel, at least I do, that the name is really not that important but it�s what you can back it up with. If you can back it up with your music, that�s what is really important and I feel we can do that to the hilt.�
Back it up they certainly do, and in musical spades to boot! The Punks played in such a gut grabbing manner that your ear bones feel like they�re getting socked in the jaw and cunnilinguisized at the same time. �I don�t know what you�d call our music,� reflected Frantic. �It�s not exactly rock �n� roll; it�s just sort of high energy, sensual freeform type music. It�s not just playing Chuck Berry riffs. We throw some wild things in.� Their newest song�s title, �No Mercy for the Damned,� should give you a clue to what sort of wild things.
�We all grew up around the Detroit area back in the Sixties when the SRC, the MC5, the Stooges, Sky, Grand Funk and the Amboy Dukes had just started. We used to go and listen to them at the Silverbell in Holly and the Factory Ballroom, a few places like that in the area. Those were more or less our influences.�
I mentioned the lack of super groups in his list of musical reference points and Frantic replied, �Yeah, sure. The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin influenced everybody—but, basically we�re just a very down to earth band, a people�s band . . . whatever you want to call it. We don�t really get into superstardom stuff.�
A people�s band? Come on. �I know it becomes a big cliche,� countered the singer, �but I really believe that �cause we did grow up on those kinds of bands. I mean if things were happening where we could play for people on—I don't know—a one to one basis, that�s what we want to do. Like the Five [the MC5] were a people�s band and that�s what I lovd about �em. And that�s what we wish we could get back to but people sort of reject that type of thing. They seem to be looking for superstars.�
True enough, everybody loves a star and the idol-making business is big money for everyone. You can buy a new idol to grovel before any day of the week, and there�s nothing wrong with that �cause today is the day for you to buy the Punks. But you aren�t gonna find them on the cover of Time and Newsweek, or in department store record racks or even (unfortunately at this point) on stage at the local disco den. As Frantic sums up: �We are playing original music and everybody is afraid to touch us because of the lack of promotion and everything. It�s not like it was back in the Sixties, but we�re willing to wait it out because we can�t do it any other way, or rather we won�t do it any other way.� Spoken like a true Punk.
