Mod to Suedehead

[SoCalBoy]

I feel like the very act of assigning a subculture label to oneself is a poserish act. It's hard to land on a concrete definition of what a skinhead is without leaving too much wiggle room.
I got sucked into this nonsense for years trying to mask my insecurities with a label and sense of belonging but it's all pretty shallow and I'd say the guy in the song is projecting hard.

Just took a listen, I’m getting mixed messages. Is he calling out people that identify as punk rockers for wearing skinhead style gear? So basically the gear without all the baggage associated with the name skinhead? Or is it some sort of satire where he’s speaking from the POV of a skinhead saying “you’re not a skinhead if you don’t do ABCD”

 

[alkydrinker]

My impression is the band is from the rough-and-tumble working class Oi skinhead scene and they are making fun of art school types building a “fake” skinhead identity around buying the right clothes that contain deep references to historical skinhead trends.

 

[Ivyskin89]

My impression is the band is from the rough-and-tumble working class Oi skinhead scene and they are making fun of art school types building a “fake” skinhead identity around buying the right clothes that contain deep references to historical skinhead trends.

Define skinhead

 

[alkydrinker]

^I’m just giving my best guess at the surface-level perspective of the song...not going to completely deconstruct it.

This other song is curious (perhaps taking the opposite view of BOGO Skin) saying “one of my friends is wearing Crocs and the other is in overalls,” and sounds like the singer is mad that he was negatively judged by a group of skinheads in Idaho for not wearing stereotypical skinhead garb:

But then the last two seem to be more attacks on skinhead poseurs:

 

[Botolph]

I think attempting to dissect a joke song and psychoanalyze the singer through some funny lyrics is wasting one’s efforts on somebody one knows very little to nothing about.

 

[alkydrinker]

^ yes, you are completely right. But really, I just wanted to “get the joke” with that first song about ppl wearing period skinhead garb.
Tho it could have been just one specific person who inspired the song.

 

[covskin]

Skinhead is all period garb at this stage. What would a modern skinhead look like anyway.

 

[SoCalBoy]

Skinhead is all period garb at this stage. What would a modern skinhead look like anyway.

I shudder to think what a skin in today’s modern gear would look like. It’s all about the attitude, but even that is hard to find. I think you said it best, when’s the last time we’ve met a skin who could get in to trouble just by how he looked? A real rugged type a fella. Sorta reminds me of me in my teens. I tried to be at least. Being a decent person and living well, dressing well, a few scuffles here and there. Being unapologetic about who I was. That summed it up for me.

 

[Inkss]

Skinhead is all period garb at this stage. What would a modern skinhead look like anyway.

I dunno. But their trousers would definitely be too tight.

 

[covskin]

Thinking of the influences maybe high viz workwear trousers, current military surplus flight jacket but I'm struggling to think of the modern equivalent of the out of context Fred Perry, buttondown shirt or crombie.

 

[alkydrinker]

From what I’ve seen in real life (at punk/oi shows on the east coast of the US), the generally accepted skinhead aesthetic of current times is “nothing too nice” - like well-worn boots, jeans, band tshirt, flight jacket or maybe a Harrington. The furthest extent of skinhead fashion might be braces, red or white boot laces, a long wool crombie type coat in winter, a Fred Perry piece....but usually not too many of those items at once.

It’s just kinda basic 80s/90s skin in a low-key/low-effort way.

With that being the case, I could see someone who leans hard into the earlier more “nice clothes” era of british skin culture raising eyebrows. Or there might be some razz for someone who is just “too polished” with all the perfect quintessential skinhead pieces without being a bonafide elder of the tribe.

But overall, as stated by others, skinhead subculture is so obscure and uncommon nowadays, it’d be kinda hard to find trouble for wearing the wrong thingThe guys who would be responsible to enforce any “gatekeeping” are mostly too old to care.

The last 2 Oi shows I went to were in the Baltimore area. One was some multiband extravaganza type thing in an artists warehouse with the Dead End Boys and Stout, and a good number of older skins came out of the woodwork. Prior to that saw The Business at the tiny Sidebar and it was a little sad how small the not-sold-out crowd was. Also caught Cock Sparrer twice in the past 5-7 years, who attracted large, enthusiastic crowds, but more garden variety punk rock ppl.

 

[covskin]

From what I’ve seen in real life (at punk/oi shows on the east coast of the US), the generally accepted skinhead aesthetic of current times is “nothing too nice” - like well-worn boots, jeans, band tshirt, flight jacket or maybe a Harrington. The furthest extent of skinhead fashion might be braces, red or white boot laces, a long wool crombie type coat in winter, a Fred Perry piece....but usually not too many of those items at once.

That sounds a good way to go about it. Skinhead always crossed over with the mainstream of its time, it never stuck out quite as much as it might seem to someone looking back now.

 

[Ivyskin89]

From what I’ve seen in real life (at punk/oi shows on the east coast of the US), the generally accepted skinhead aesthetic of current times is “nothing too nice” - like well-worn boots, jeans, band tshirt, flight jacket or maybe a Harrington. The furthest extent of skinhead fashion might be braces, red or white boot laces, a long wool crombie type coat in winter, a Fred Perry piece....but usually not too many of those items at once.

It’s just kinda basic 80s/90s skin in a low-key/low-effort way.

With that being the case, I could see someone who leans hard into the earlier more “nice clothes” era of british skin culture raising eyebrows. Or there might be some razz for someone who is just “too polished” with all the perfect quintessential skinhead pieces without being a bonafide elder of the tribe.

But overall, as stated by others, skinhead subculture is so obscure and uncommon nowadays, it’d be kinda hard to find trouble for wearing the wrong thingThe guys who would be responsible to enforce any “gatekeeping” are mostly too old to care.

The last 2 Oi shows I went to were in the Baltimore area. One was some multiband extravaganza type thing in an artists warehouse with the Dead End Boys and Stout, and a good number of older skins came out of the woodwork. Prior to that saw The Business at the tiny Sidebar and it was a little sad how small the not-sold-out crowd was. Also caught Cock Sparrer twice in the past 5-7 years, who attracted large, enthusiastic crowds, but more garden variety punk rock ppl.

When did you see the dead end boys?

 

[alkydrinker]

When did you see the dead end boys?

Nov 24, 2018 ...I only know this because the show is on YouTube.
youtube.com/watch?v=OMUl7fYU-X8

 

[Botolph]

When did you see the dead end boys?

where’d you see them, Nik,at DeeDee’s?