When considering an immanent critique of Crack Rock, it becomes clear that Marxist notion of false consciousness and Freudian notion of
neurosis is applicable and supplementary to the immanent critique. The
aim of this immanent critique is to show that capitalism produces
counter-cultures like Crack Rock, and if the counter-culture fails in its
own goals, this reflects badly on capitalism.
Crack Rock as genre
Crack Rock is slang term for amphetamines (as in a ‘rock’ of crack-
cocaine), yet the double-meaning of Rock places it in a music genre. It is considered a counter-culture, originating as the antithesis of mindless
consumerism as portrayed in the media and contemporary culture.
Unfortunately, Crack Rock as counter-culture is valueless, because its
only value is to be against mindless consumption, whilst not
transcending to higher values themselves. Crack Rock is a sub-culture of Punk rock that incorporates hardcore elements, like samples, growling vocals and shock imagery. It has developed into an international array of bands that are classified under the Crack Rock label.
Its pioneer and most definitive character (definitely not idol) is ‘Stza’
Scott ‘Sturgeon’. Stza is in all sense of common description a deviant
from the New York C-squat. In 2008 Stza was arrested for throwing
donuts at cops, and has been arrested on several accounts for drug
possession and stealing. He was/is the member of No Commercial
Value, Crack Rock Steady 7, Choking Victim, Leftover Crack,
Intro5pect and Star Fucking Hipsters – all bands that are considered
influential in the Crack Rock scene (White, 2008).
No Commercial Value is commonly considered as the first Crack Rock
band – being of radical leftist nature by opposing religion, capitalism and authority. The title track Crack Rock Steady from Choking Victim starts with the sample of someone smoking a crack-pipe. The song is about lawlessness, murdering policemen, corruption of the government and religious intolerance. Yet, the song itself is an inviting ska-melody with calm vocals. The crassness is disguised through easy-listenable music, making it an unaware, yet deliberate immanent critique.
Characteristics of Crack Rock as Punk sub-culture
Punk is the embodiment of non-conformity that continues to inspire
youth today. In Punk, attitude is more important than the music – it is a
lifestyle, a fashion, an ideology, a form of art and a reaction. Punk, since its origin has been against the notions of commodification. Yet, in the end also became a commodity – a way to sell the idea of Doing-It-
Yourself (DIY). Punk became a self-fulfilling prophecy (at least
considering the eventual media phenomena of Punk), into inevitable
commoditisation. Punk as a corporate industry eventually had the means
to move from the urban to the commercial.
The DIY-mentality in Punk shares characteristics with capitalism's ethos
– the DIY concept puts emphasis on the “role that material reality plays
in the ideas created within culture” (Tucker, 40). They have a materialist
conception of the world, thus one can use Marx when critiquing them.
The idea that you can make your own label, sell your own music, and
organise your own shows is common to Punk ethics and is the reason for Punk’s uniqueness. The ideal of DIY is that power is in the artists’
hands, that the working-class artists can own the methods of production.
The problem is not money per se, but the unequal distribution of wealth
in the industry.
A common characteristic between all Crack Rock bands are socially conscious lyrics. These lyrics beg important questions, such as what will happen on the day there is more people in prisons than in society? As well as highlighting that we should critically question what the media and authority is portraying. This negative curiosity is created from the tensions originating from the contradictions in capitalism. Yet, without better emancipatory values to turn to, Crack Rock became a baseless reaction towards consumer society.
The ideological basis of Crack Rock
There is very little sense in labeling Crack Rock as a grass-root
movement. Punk can be seen as a reaction. They do place genuine
concern on the issue of not consuming mindlessly, and take effort to
express their concern through music. Yet, they take political issues to
heart without taking them to mind – even politically aware Punks rarely
make activism a priority. As ideology, Crack Rock embraces the
radical component of Marx’s prediction of revolution, without giving
mind to its methods.
Can there be authentic anti-consumerist movements in a capitalist
society? The question is a hindrance, yet essential. It seems like a
daunting task: how can one, caught within the current system, do
something to change the system as a whole? Crack Rock is dependent on the system for album sales and thus to make a living, debasing their
critique against capitalism. Stza is known for using welfare checks to
support Choking Victim – highlighting hypocrisy and reliance on the
system. There cannot be an authentic anti-consumerist movement in
capitalist society, through the means which Crack Rock proposes.
Characteristics of immanent critique
Immanent critique is a method of analysis central to critical theory,
originating from Hegel’s dialectic. This is the idea that every concept
necessarily creates its antithesis. Immanent critique is a “means of
detecting the societal contradictions which offer the most determinate
possibilities for emancipatory social change” (Antonio, 330). One
considers ideas’ role in shaping society, with focus on future
emancipatory change. An immanent critique is a critique against the
principles a value proposes. It highlights the inner contradictions
between what something stands for and what is being done in actual
terms. Immanent critique tries to find contradictions and indirectly
provide alternatives, without constructing an entirely new theory.
Because there are infinite thesis-antithesis possibilities, human society
has the choice between alternatives of this infinite web of possibilities,
and should be critical of the choices that have been made (Antonio, 330).
Crack Rock as unaware, deliberate immanent critique
Stza believes that there is no solution to the problems of excessive
consumption. He doesn't pretend to offer a solution; he claims he wants
to make people aware of the injustices of the current system. He believes that human nature is inherently greedy, and if you think you have a solution, you have an ego problem. He believes that to have false hope is to be hypocritical. He doesn't believe the problem is at an executive level of politics – seeing as they are all puppets. He rejects the society he lives in, yet cares about freedom. Stza labels himself as an autonomist – autonomists being people who want to be free to do what they want. He believes people are smart enough to make fewer mistakes than governments (Sturgeon, 2005). In essence, he highlights American
society as hypocritical, whilst being hypocritical himself
Crack Rock is not educating people with an emancipatory alternative to
capitalism. By talking about freedom, but not acting upon it Crack Rock
enters a deliberate, unaware immanent critique. Their idea of absolute
freedom is not true freedom, because if everyone was free to do
whatever they want, we will end up in a fear of life dilemma. This makes Crack Rock itself hypocritical in its very own aims.
Crack Rock's critique of capitalism's mindless consumerism
Crack Rock stands against egotist values – an example of an egotist
value being a severe consumer ethos. Crack Rockers are obsessed with
criticising those voracious consumers who consume without regard to
the consequences. Crack Rockers portray a (neurosis-type) obsession to
be critical. They do this in a negative way – equating ‘other’ with ‘the
enemy’, absolutely. They see the capitalists as greedy, mindless sheep
that oppose their lifestyle. As resonating in Stza’s latest band, Star
Fucking Hipsters:
Cause they’re praying to the bank and they’re banking on your death. Deception and doom, we’re all taught to consume.The ghetto breeds revolt with a strong sense of doom.
The parody of capitalism as seen in Crack Rock
Crack Rock is a baseless parody of capitalism, much like children’s play
(which is baseless fun through mocking). They use elements of shock
and taboos to scare people. They just mindlessly criticise and don't
bother to provide emancipatory alternatives. Even Marx in Das Kapital
critiques only in one volume, and then builds from there. Where Crack
Rock only critiques and never delivers emancipatory alternatives.
In order to be considered a serious critique, Crack Rock needs a coherent political ideology with authenticity as main value. It needs to embody the emancipatory alternative to capitalism and not succumb to a decadent celebration.
Leftover Crack as pioneers of Crack Rock
Crack Rock’s most popular band Leftover Crack’s name is an
oxymoron. It refers to there never being 'leftover-crack' if you're a
rampant amphetamine user. Considering also that the first demo was a
collection of leftover-songs from the Choking Victim songs, they made
the perpetual connection between sub-grade aggressive music and drugs.
The record label Hellcat refused to release their debut album. The band
then changed the title, the track names and the album imagery. In the end calling it Mediocre Generica, as in it is mediocre and toned down in
comparison to the original. Finally, Dead Kennedys front-man's label
Alternative Tentacle records released their album on 9/11/01. They
released it on 9/11 to make a statement, seeing as they weren't even done with the record (Alternative Tentacles, 2004). The statement they are making is that one can release sub-grade music, in the light of making a lasting connotation between a Leftover Crack album and the terrorist attacks in New York on 9/11.
Not that they were the first to transcend genres, but Leftover Crack does
have an authentic take on combining Punk elements with samples,
growling vocals and shock imagery. They have come to define the genre
with only two albums, containing perhaps the most controversial lyrics
in Punk to date.
Fuck World Trade
The album-cover of Fuck World Trade (Leftover Crack’s second album)
shows Dick Cheney, George Bush and Tony Blair as direct causes of the
9/11 terrorist attack. Their opinion is that even if 9/11 was done by
terrorists, this would also be okay, but they think it was the American
government – which makes it a valueless mocking.
Drugs
Most Crack Rock bands, especially Leftover Crack are pro-drugs and
anti drug-legislation. Yet, they do not necessarily portray drugs in a
positive light, as proven by the song Heroin or Suicide? by Crack Rock
Steady Seven. Crack Rock tends to over indulge in hard drugs (like
heroin and crack), this deeply influencing their ideologies. It seems there is a divide between the contemplative drugs and the self-destructive drugs that are adored by a lot of Crack Rockers. It's a bashful, all-or-nothing attitude thrown in the face of consumerism. It's about the archetype of being unproductive. It eventually reduces to a hedonistic consumption of drugs without any higher values. This is predominantly what is wrong with Crack Rock, it only portrays decadent consumption of drugs, yet it is against mindless and excessive consumption.
They are addicted to the system as well, in order to sustain their drug
usage. The lyrics in Heroin or Suicide? portray the waste of potential and pain Crack Rockers experience:
I’m talented with atrophy, yeah I do it wellYou know I’d like to take a break from suffering in hell Squatting is the excuse I frequently abuseEither way I hold the chainI’m gonna need a noose cause pain! (Crack Rock Steady Seven, 2004)
I think Crack Rockers use drugs as a way of negating all conventions of
society.
Nihilism
Considering aesthetics, contemporary consumer culture is very bland,
and Crack Rock bands show resentment against lower forms of
consumer culture. A Crack Rocker searches for authenticity, driven by
the feeling of disenchantment in a world of rules and regulations. The
flux of postmodern sensibility is a prominent parody in Punk, and they
react by portraying extremes. In the song Fucked Reality Stza sings
"There are no idols, no heroes in a world of death. It's all a joke and so
are you" (Choking Victim).
Authority
Crack Rockers are obsessed with the forms of control in society. They
see the police as just another gang, whom are attacking their way of life.
We figured out a long time ago that it’s much easier to control people when we’re all watching the same TV shows, listening to the same radio stations, going to the same movies, looking at the same billboards, eating the same food, and speaking the same language (Leftover Crack, 2004).
Authenticity
The monotony of censored products shine in the display
The same old song of compromise went platinum today
[…] what once held notions of change and choice
is now being controlled fully (Leftover Crack, 2004).
Crack Rock is obsessively critical of the contemporary music industry,
and equates constraints in the music industry to constraints in society.
Advanced recording techniques enable bad musicians to make good
albums. Yet, not being able to reproduce these techniques live, they fail
to be authentic. Technology seems to be the downfall of Crack Rock’s
authenticity – it produced a culture of bad musicians. A radical thing is
that producers often add bad-sounding elements intentionally to make it
sound more authentic. It is a paradox that Crack Rock became a non-
authentic authenticity.
Commodity fetishism
Crack Rock indulges in critiques against commodity fetishism – where
people experience social relations as value relations between things;
where commodities obtain absurd value, not due to their use-value, but
an arbitrary added value. Due to commodity fetishism products social
character is expressed in its exchange and not in production (Ripstein,
1987:736). Crack Rockers criticises the mistake that the capitalists’
make in taking appearance for reality.
God supplies the money and God supplies the deadAnd when you’re dead and ready, exploited be thy name‘Cause after you have money things are never quite the same (ChokingVictim, 1999).
Marxist notion of false consciousness as seen in Crack Rock
Even though few Crack Rockers know about Marxist theories, they
embody the revolution, yet this leads to a false consciousness. They're
sitting around listening to aggressive music and indulging in drugs, yet
have a pseudo interest in politics and revolution, and blindly believe that
they are making a difference. In this way, capitalist society is misleading to the working class Crack Rocker. They think they have the power, yet, only making money for an industrialist. They alienate those who are also against capitalism.
Crack Rock as neurosis
It is fair labeling Crack Rock as a functional mental neurosis involving
socially acceptable distress. This includes a level of obsession with being nihilistic about society, and preferring to see the worst in everything.
This may result from an unconscious conflict with society, which
manifest in depression and violence. This conflict arises from the notion
that “civilisation, therefore, obtains mastery over the individual’s
dangerous desire for aggression by […] setting up an agency within him
to watch over it” (Freud, 1930:84). This repression takes the form of
violence as the individual indulges in his aggression, as represented by
Thanatos (Freud’s death drive towards self-destruction) which opposes
Eros (which is the tendency towards survival). They are against their
own repression, by initial lack of freedom. Their reaction towards their
own repression, even if successful, will lead to a more severe form of
oppression. For example, Stza came under police investigation, after
posting himself in a police-uniform eating donuts and walking around in
public (White, 2008). This displays the trouble they run against when
trying to aggressively oppose the system in the name of freedom.
Straight-edge as an emancipatory comparison to Crack Rock
Straight-edge as reaction to Crack Rock seems to be the reasonable
emancipatory alternative. Representing an ideology of no excess, while
keeping the positive aspects of Punk (Straight-edge is sometimes called
Positive Punk). It's an attempt to be authentic people in a hedonist
milieu. The Straight Edge's body is a temple for them, almost like
hermetic asceticism. Even though there are pioneers, there are no idols
in Straight-edge. In essence, Straight-edge is more intelligible music,
losing the bashful, childish nonsense of Crack Rock. They take a radical
stance to the commoditisation –where even if they are a commodity, they at least will do the commoditisation.
Conclusion
Crack Rock is in essence a spectacle of art and noise, and even though
most Crack Rock artists are drug-fueled party monsters, a disgrace to
society’s norms, they still make good music. In essence, Crack Rock
isn't successful in rising above commodity relations, rather a decadent
celebration. Crack Rock as the antithesis to societal-conventions, has
itself produced an antithesis. The saving grace is that there seems to be
progress through these contradictory measures. Even though, Crack
Rock is a baseless fight against the current dominant system, this doesn't
deny the worth of the fight itself. One hopes for an emancipatory option
that arises out of the trial and error bashing of Crack Rock and other
forms of deviancy.
Even though Crack Rock is a vibrant and large scene, it is overlooked in
the academic sphere, because the lack of literature on the movement.
One can deduce that their mindless drug consumption is detrimental to
the documentation of their principles, they alienate serious academics.
This is contradictory to their own aims, because they are like bashful
children seeking attention. They furthermore alienate those who want to
give them serious attention.
References
Alternative Tentacle Records. 2004. Leftover Crack. Online edition.
http://www.alternativetentacles.com (24 April 2012)
Antonio, R.J. 1981. Immanent Critique as the Core of Critical Theory: Its Origins and Developments in Hegel, Marx and Contemporary Thought in the British Journal of Sociology Vol. 32 No. 3, 330-345
Choking Victim. 1999. Fucked Reality in No Gods, No Managers. Hellcat Records.
Crack Rock Steady Seven. 2004. Heroin or Suicide? in Baby Jesus sliced up in the manger. Hellbent Records.
Freud, S. 1930. Civilisation and its Discontents. London: Penguin.
Leftover Crack, 2004. Life is pain in Fuck World Trade. Alternative Tentacles Records.
Ripstein, A. 1987. Commodity Fetishism in the Canadian Journal of Philosophy Vol.17 No.4, 733-748
Star Fucking Hipsters. 2011. 9/11 to Infinity in From the Dumpster to the Grave. Alternative Tentacles Records.
Sturgeon, S. 2005. Leftover Crack – Interview. Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwaQYPc__VQ> (25 April 2012).
Tucker, B. 2008. Punk and the Political: The Role of Practices in Subcultural Lives. America: Ohio University
White, A. 2008. Scott Sturgeon (Stza) arrested in NYC. Punknews.
http://www.punknews.org/article/30352 (25 April 2012).2).
