Punk has faded out, the fans just wont accept new acts

The Sex Pistols recently reunited for yet another cash-grabbing comeback tour, but you don't need to go to England to see that punk is dead; I witnessed it this summer at the Van's Warped Tour, the self described "punk rock summer camp." The Warped Tour used to be a showcase for old school political punk bands like Bad Religion and Anti-Flag, but all I saw this year were derivative hair metal bands fronted by fashionable idiots and miles and miles of corporate sponsorship covering everything from the stage to my six dollar bottle of water. Probably the only redeeming thing about the Warped Tour (and ultimately the reason why punk is dead) was one of my favorite bands, Against Me! Against Me! (yes, the exclamation point is in the name) is one of the most controversial and most reviled modern punk bands. Against Me! began in the late 90s in Gainesville as a vehicle for singer Tom Gabel's acoustic guitar and anarchist rants, but the band soon switched to electric guitars and redefined its sound, expanding its songs beyond the three chord punk staple. Gabel moved his lyrics past angst into something smarter and more abstract, culminating in the band's best album (and first major label release), 2007's New Wave. You'd expect people to appreciate an artist maturing and becoming qualitatively better, but the majority of Against Me!'s fan base absolutely hate everything the band has done since 2002, invoking the all-too-familiar cry of "sell-out" just because Against Me! doesn't play exclusively old songs or record on a shitty four track anymore. At an autograph signing at the Warped Tour, I even met one Against Me! "fan" that goes to shows solely to heckle the band for playing new material (though to their credit, Against Me! just ignored this guy, since they're probably too used to it by now to even care). The idea of Against Me! as sell-outs is exactly why punk (and most of rock music, dating back to Dylan going electric) is dead. Although punk began as a movement based on originality and nonconformity, somewhere it lost its way; to quote Crass, "Movements are systems/And systems kill." At some point, punk shifted from being antiauthoritarian to a structure in itself: three chords, ripped jeans, black jacket, etc., etc. Punk died as soon as it turned from its roots and started glorifying the kind of mass produced rock I saw at the Warped Tour instead of authentic artistic expression. To this end, punk may have been dead on arrival. After all, the Ramones were the first (and still most beloved) punk band, but they only made one good album and just repeated the formula thirteen more times until they were pathetic, glue-sniffing burnouts. The Clash, meanwhile, were the greatest punk band ever (and one of the all-time best bands period), but were called sell-outs and rejected by punk culture when they changed their sound in the 80s. The core of punk is simply not caring what anyone thinks about you, and I guess that it will always be alive when bands like Against Me! keep doing their thing. But if punk is too set in its ways to recognize artistry, then it has sold itself out; if it refuses to keep growing, then it's as good as dead.