Travel In Desert 荒漠旅行, 2003 – The First Wuhan Punk Compilation
This is maybe the last testimony of the music early Wuhan punk bands. As mentioned earlier in this article on Wuhan punk, Wuhan was one of the first cities, with Beijing, to witness the apparition of a punk subculture in China, around the mid-1990s. In 2003, five bands joined their efforts to produce an album dedicated to Wuhan punk music: Sidoule (死逗乐), Polang (破浪), Disover, Big Buns and SMZB (生命之饼). Except SMZB, all these bands are now disbanded, and the majority of their songs are now lost. This is maybe the last testimony of a prolific era for Wuhan punk.
| 1. 死逗乐 – Say Yes Or Say No 2. 死逗乐 – 摩托青年 3. 死逗乐 – 心灵敌人 4. 破浪 – 疯了 5. 破浪 – 误解 6. Disover – 乌托 | 7. Disover – 路 8. Disover – Money 9. Big Buns – 啤酒杯与玫瑰 10. SMZB – Go Straight 11. SMZB – God Save The Punk 12. SMZB – In Your Eyes |
Sidoule (死逗乐), formed in 1998, is probably one of the most influential Wuhan punk band after SMZB. It was composed of the guitarist and lead singer Zhang Hai, the first drummer of SMZB Zhu Ning, and the bass player Mai Dian. Mai Dian will become a major figure of the Chinese Anarchist movement by opening “Our House”, an autonomous youth center in Wuhan.
Others bands as 破浪, Disover or Big Buns were less influential, but the musicians were important members of the Wuhan punk community. Ye Cong, a figure of the Wuhan music underground, was the singer of Disover, and two members of Sidoule, Mai Dian and Zhu Ning, were also playing in 破浪.
Do we really need to introduce SMZB (生命之饼)? One of the oldest punk band in Wuhan (and China), SMZB paved the way for a new generation of punk-rockers. At the time, SMZB line-up was: Wu Wei, lead singer and guitarist, Hu Juan, drums, Zhang Hua, guitar and Wang Xiaoxin, bass. Their songs were fast and dirty, like “In Your Eyes” or “God Save the Punk”, already criticizing hypocrisy and poser punks: “Somebody likes punk rock music/They knows nothing but pose/They bully the weak and fear the strong/What they are doing is like what they did”.
In 2010, Wu Wei from SMZB produced a new album of Wuhan Punk bands, entitled “Pepsi Punk” (百事朋克), through the label “Wuhan Prison” (which is also the best bar in the world). New bands participated to this compilation, like the ska-punk band CMYK, Our Way Out, Missing and of course SMZB. In 2011, Wuhan Prison released another compilation, “The Temperament of the Punk Youth” (文艺气质的朋克青年), featuring ten Wuhan folk musicians.
If you want to know more about Wuhan punk, go watch the excellent documentary by Wang Shuibo (王水泊), “Never Release My Fist” (“绝不松开我的拳头”), released in 2015 on SMZB and the Wuhan punk movement. A lot a very emotional testimonies, and some interesting archives. A documentary where you learn how to open a pizzeria with drug money.
OpenEdition vous propose de citer ce billet de la manière suivante :
Nathanel Amar (2 mai 2019). Travel In Desert 荒漠旅行, 2003 – The First Wuhan Punk Compilation. Scream For Life. Consulté le 12 octobre 2024 à l’adresse https://doi.org/10.58079/twyf
