Normally when throwing back, I attempt to go back to before the 2000’s, but with all that is going on in the world right now, The King Blues‘ “What If Punk Never Happened” feels not just appropriate, but necessary.
Now more than ever, we need music that galvanizes us out of apathy and into action, and this track from the group’s 2008 album Save the World, Get the Girl is a thoughtful homage to one of the most rebellious genres of music to ever grace a stereo: punk rock.
Told from the POV of a listless Brit taken to an alternate world to witness a potential timeline devoid of punk, the lyrical story highlights the importance of youth protest through the U.K.’s history, and it’s not hard to see the correlation between what happened then in Britain with what is happening now in the America.
As well as paying tribute, the track is a rousing call-to-arms in itself – one which we could all use while the news shows us kids being put in cages, and a President who shows off his desire to be a dictator. Now is a time to be fighting back, and punk has always been one of the best soundtracks for a battle.
The Indy Review 