Parts of this article are a little ignorant, in particular the way New Wave is framed as a "gentrifier" of punk.
For starters, some of the more ambitious punk bands became New Wave: Wire went from raw punk to brilliant new wave, and even Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols went on to form Public Image Limited.
> the New Wave scene was created mostly by middle- to upper-class white musicians ... after graduating from private art colleges
Guess the author has some weird beef with the Talking Heads, who went to RISD?
Also one of the first punk bands, the Ramones, were essentially a bunch of white kids from Ridgewood, Queens, which is pretty suburban itself, let's be honest.
There's some I agree with, but all in all, kind of a meh musical take from a non-cultural socialist mag.
Jacobin is not a source to take seriously. They're a very politically-slanted outfit that generally starts with a conclusion in mind from their particular political point of view and then works backwards from there. Like OANN, but on the left.
> For starters, some of the more ambitious punk bands became New Wave
That backs what the article is saying. As punk became more settled and palatable to more people (musicians learned to play their instruments?) first wave punk turned into new wave music.
> Guess the author has some weird beef with the Talking Heads, who went to RISD?
Note that's a college. In the 70s, before college became the new high school. That's fairly upper-middle class. Devo and R.E.M. also met in college.
> the Ramones, were essentially a bunch of white kids from Ridgewood, Queens, which is pretty suburban itself
The Ramones started as a high school garage band in Forrest Hills, Queens (also the home of Spider Man!). Every kid goes to high school, unlike college in the 70s. And I'd call it urban even though it has some greenery.
That said, some things cannot be tamed. Even when Bruce Springsteen covers them, Suicide is still raw post-punk from before there was post-punk. And I think that's where the author's analogy really breaks down - all of the many examples that don't at all parallel gentrification.
Gentrifiers are usually outsiders, not original residents going upscale. That's why I don't think that bands that went from punk to new wave support the author's theory.
I wasn't talking about college as a marker of class. I was referring to the quote "graduating from private art colleges that had prepared them to work in the culture industry". Private art colleges are way fewer in number than college in general, and off the top of my head, I only know of Talking Heads as a new wave band coming from a private art college (Rhode Island School of Design). It's so specific, I wonder why the author didn't name the Talking Heads specifically. (I checked, and Devo and REM didn't go to art colleges.)
> The Ramones started as a high school garage band in Forrest Hills, Queens
Ahh, I misremembered the particular nabe. But from the NYC perspective, that's still the suburbs. I lived all over NYC for almost twenty years. Good place to raise a family, and a bit boring. Not many subway lines, thanks to Robert Moses, so it's car-heavy, which is part of why it's suburban. Just because it's in NYC city limits doesn't make it urban. And it was probably similar when the Ramones were there.
For starters, some of the more ambitious punk bands became New Wave: Wire went from raw punk to brilliant new wave, and even Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols went on to form Public Image Limited.
> the New Wave scene was created mostly by middle- to upper-class white musicians ... after graduating from private art colleges
Guess the author has some weird beef with the Talking Heads, who went to RISD?
Also one of the first punk bands, the Ramones, were essentially a bunch of white kids from Ridgewood, Queens, which is pretty suburban itself, let's be honest.
There's some I agree with, but all in all, kind of a meh musical take from a non-cultural socialist mag.