The punk business plan of Cock Sparrer

By BARRY THOMPSON | May 15, 2012

Punk's paradoxical yet inevitable encroachment on the mainstream was never part of Sparrer's agenda, but its downswing back into niche appeal hasn't fazed Smith. "None of those people ever came to our gigs anyway," he says of the Green Day–inspired bandwagon hoppers. Or, perhaps none of this was planned. As is always the case with genuine punkdom, the pieces simply fell where they fell. "I've met people who say, 'Yeah, I used to like punk,' " Smith says. "I think, 'What do you mean you used to like punk?' I understand people progressing and finding other bands, but I don't understand how something as passionate as punk can be a phase." ^

COCK SPARRER + SLAPSHOT + THE UNSEEN + TEMPLARS | Club Lido, 1290 North Shore Road, Revere | May 19 @ 6pm | $30 [Sold Out] | 781.289.3080 or wonderland-ballroom.com

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