POGO : A look at the French punk scene (Roland Cros)

 

After the Punk Rock Jesus comic book, here is my second post about a paper-and-ink-only object, and it's a photobook this time.

 

Indeed I've decided to write a few words about Pogo (A look at the French punk scene), published in 2019, because I feel it's the kind of book which is probably completely unknown outside of the French speaking world and that for two reasons:

- first and the most obvious: it's in French and published in France, OK.

- second: it focus on a part of the 80s French punk scene which, to my knowledge, has been mostly ignored by the wide world of non-French speaking punk (and for understandable reasons). 

 

 As Romain from Terminal Nuisance explained briefly in the introduction of his 2019 French DIY Punk Scene: The Definitive Guide for DiY Conspiracy, the 80s French punk scene was divided in several sub-scenes which were not always mixing. The one covered by Pogo was the most "successful" and "popular" in terms of media coverage and records sales, the one called "punk alternatif" or "rock alternatif" sometimes, the one lead by the band Bérurier Noir. A band whose social and vindictive songs, veritable slogans and hymns to rebellion, continue to accompany numerous demonstrations throughout the country, animating the march of thousands several generations of agités. Far beyond the punk movement, les Bérus became an immovable component of the revolt folklore in France, until now and probably for a long time. 

In fact Les Béruriers Noirs were probably the only band which shook down a little bit the youth and music industry of France in the 80s (the proper earthquake would come a bit later with the explosion of French hip hop / rap and bands like N.T.M (Nique Ta Mère, literally Fuck Your Mother, but that's another story).

 

 This scene had a quite original approach to punk rock (quite unique to my knowledge I would say) in a sense that it was not trying to stick to standards established by the British or American scenes but, while getting heavily inspired by all of them of course, to use it as a doorway to "more open" musical ways of expression (reasons why drunk French punk purists may tell you that all this scene had nothing to do with punk in the first place; an old and boring debate...).

Anyway, so this "punk alternatif" scene was at the same time, open, arty, minimalist, radical, messy, burlesque, festive, spontaneous, violent, fun, silly... and a lot of other things as well of course...

I'm talking about bands like Bérurier Noir, Lucrate Milk, Ludwig Von 88, Washington Dead Cats, Nuclear Device, Parabellum, les Wampas, les Garçons Bouchers, OTH, les Shériffs, les Cadavres etc... Some very diverse kinds of bands, not all of which are good and interesting, to say the least...

 

But this lack of a common artistic line was also an opportunity to welcome a wider audience from a youth that didn't need to adhere to the rigid codes of an elitist and closed punk scene, which partly explains its success. Independence, commitment and revolt were more important than aesthetics.

But enough with the history lesson, let's come back to the book and its author.

Roland Cros could be described a self-taught artist who started as a photograph and spent years, in the beginning of the 80s, in the worlds of bullfighting, Rudby and body building before jumping into the Bérurier Noir punk scene. 

As he explains at the beginning of Pogo, his "photographic strategy" has always been the same (for all the subjects he's covered): only one camera setting (Leika, 35mm, 24x36 format, no flash, 400 ASA film, no cropping on the print run) and most importantly to spend as much time as needed in the "field" to become "invisible" and be able to "catch the real thing"... and Roland spent 5 years with the Bérurier Noir and their friends...

To his credit, the mind-blowing pictures displayed in this book are an undeniable proof of the success of his method.

 

 Because Roland, in addition to capturing the startling explosion of energy that each concert of the "Bérus" was, also succeeded in portraying the powerful symbiosis that the band has always managed to create with its audience. You can catch a glimpse of it watching Viva Bertaga, the video footage of their last concert in 1989 (before they came back together for a short period twenty years later).

 As we all know it, punk rock was built on the destruction of the band/audience border and it was important, in the idea of a thorough "scene coverage", to give a decent space to the audience in a book dedicated to a specific scene.

 

On top of all the deeply beautiful black and white pictures of Roland, a few "important personalities" of the scene deliver their little write up about the old days.

The two most interesting ones in my opinion (to be honest most of the others are not essential) being the one from Roland, who explains really well his approach and the circumstances of his discovery of the scene, and the one from Marsu, the famous manager of Bérurier Noir (and Lucrate Milk), who knows the story from start to finish.

On top of "thrilling" anecdotes, they both have merit in placing this whole "movement" in a very specific French social political context, the end of the illusions created by the arrival of the left in power in 1981, a policing policy of security and repression, the rise of the national front etc... 

Context which is important to keep in mind to understand the specifics of the 80s punk movement in France.

 

In a nutshell it's a beautiful book (printed on a thick, matt paper, unlike all these books on glossy paper which give a "magazine" appearance), whose pictures talk enough for themselves (they're full page pictures without any text), delivering a moving and powerful testimony on a scene which, I feel, remains quite ignored outside of the French-speaking world borders...

And I can't recommend enough all the punk geeks from around the world to get themselves a copy!

You can check it out here, on the Bérurier Noir label distribution website (Folklore de la Zone Mondiale) or here, on the publisher's website.

After his years in the "punk alternatif" scene, Roland Cros quit photography to focus on other kinds of art expressions.

He draws, sculpts and carves wood.

You can check some of his work HERE.

If you're interested about French punk history, the most thorough (and beautiful) book on this subject is Nyark Nyark, which I strongly recommend (it's in French though...).

It focus on the rock alternatif scene but not only.

 

 

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Punk Rock Jesus

 

You may be surprised but I am going to try something a bit different today and leave music for a sec to get into graphic novels. It's still punk rock related of course as it's the main topic of this page but I feel like starting to write about other punk related formats (like books, movies or whatever). A bit a diversity you know.

Anyway I'm the one in charge here so I can do whatever the FUCK I want!

 

 Punk Rock Jesus is not exactly a recently released graphic novel as it was first published in 2012. I read it a couple of times back then and enjoyed it but was not so enthusiast (frankly I don't understand why now), I just found it entertaining you know, nothing more. For some reasons I found myself in a comic book shop a few weeks ago and while I was cruising through piles of lame super hero stuff I noticed this new edition and decided to purchase it (also to prove to the super unpleasant geeky lady at the counter that I was actually going to buy something and not rob her). 

Anyway I was completely seduced this time... so here we go!

 

 Sean Murphy is a comic book / graphic novel artist which vivid, but old school, graphic style I find very appealing (I am extremely picky when it comes to illustration and tend to have "old school" graphic tastes). His drawings show a great sense for details, some masterful composition skills but also an impressive ability to construct fluid and complex movements in grandiose action scenes whose staging and violence owe much to action cinema. 

In a nutshell he is one of the best artist to "recently" come out from the comic book world in my opinion.

 

 Sean worked with some of the most famous writers in the business: Scott Snyder on the very enjoyable Abyss-inspired The Wake (which tends to lose itself a bit in the second part), Mark Millar on Chrononauts (an enjoyable but not really original story about a time travel agency) and Rick Remender on the mind-blowing Tokyo Ghost (maybe some of Sean's best work mixed with a great, but a bit too complicated, sci-fi story in some kind of dystopian / post-apocalyptic future).

 

But Sean also works alone and writes his own material. After his various successes he was finally entrusted with a work of very large audience with two Batman stories, the recent Batman: White Knight and Batman: Curse of The White Knight, which illustrations are once again breathtaking but the scenario, much too ambitious, goes unfortunately all over the place and makes the reading quite difficult. 

But let's come back to Punk Rock Jesus: so first of all this is not a story about punk rock at all, punk rock is here only to underline the rebellious character of the divine child, not as a wide and complex cultural and musical movement.

 

But rather have a look at the story pitch: 

In a dystopian 2019 a TV reality-show organizes the birth of a clone of Jesus Christ (from a virgin teenage mother and some DNA collected on the Holy Shroud). The clone then lives on an island specially designed for the show and his whole life is filmed as he grows ups. Of course it turns everybody crazy, especially the American Christians who see in his birth the second coming and try everything to "free the son of god". But things don't go exactly the way the show producer planned them and Chris (great name for a Jesus' clone), now a teenager, joins a punk rock band and starts a "war" against all the religions of the Book...

Pretty cool idea uh?

Yes it's the kind of crazy sci-fi idea Mr. Philip K.Dick could have had in a lucid moment.

But what's interesting here is that Sean Murphy comes from a religious family and was, as he explains himself really well at the end of the book, a devout Christian until recently. So this is not your usual left-wing anti-religion pamphlet, it's a bit more subtle and a lot of other topics are also addressed.

Let's go quickly through some of them one by one.

PUNK ROCK

As I was saying before, this is not a book about Punk Rock. Chris is introduced to punk rock by rummaging through Thomas' old records (Thomas is Chris' bodyguard), in which he finds his own counter-education and, in particular, information about all the pain and catastrophes triggered by religious beliefs.

He quickly sees in this outdated form of music (as described by the media in the book) the perfect answer to his anger against what the entertainment industry and religion have made of him (a money machine and an idolized god).

He then joins The Flak Jackets (an imaginary punk band) as soon he has the chance and uses all his time and energy to the fight against everything that made him what he is and represents now.

 

 

The energy and teenage rebellious side of the punk movement are all there all right and it's probably what matters the most, even if the "punk rock" side of the story only appears at the end (almost) of the book.

It's clear that Sean is not really familiar with Punk Rock, he proposes a soundtrack to the book which includes Marilyn Manson, The Bloody Hollies, Kavinsky, Groovie Ghoulies, Stiff Little Fingers and White Zombie... hum yes not so punk innit?

(good mark for SLF though!)

But it does not really matter anyway, the scenario is kind of punk, maybe the drawings are quite of punk sometimes as well and, most of all, Jesus is bloody punk!

RELIGION

As I wrote before, Sean Murphy has got a religious background and, even if the book is not accommodating to religion, it definitely played a role in the way the story was written.

I guess that his personal rejection of religion can be seen in the evolution of the Jesus's clone character, in his opening to more scientists arguments, to a, let's say, more rational point of view... but the character of Thomas is interesting as well because, as a devout Christian, he clings to his faith in a desperate way so that he can continue to live with his violent past, religion is salvation for him. 

But let's have a closer look!

On top of Chris' role in the story (after all he is supposed to be a " copy" of one of the most famous human being of all time), religion is seen from several different perspectives:

First through the role of extremists, fanatics, who are violently opposed to the use of the clone of the prophet for entertainment purposes and then, to the then "false" prophet himself in his "crusade" against religions. They are drawn as simple minded, diehards, violent and dangerous characters whose judgment is solely based on blind faith. It's the NAC (the New American Christians) lead by Daisy Nelson who, all along the story will put Chris, his family and his friends in danger with her regular attacks against the show. But fanatics are not only Christians here as it's a Muslim terrorist group which will lead the final and deadliest attack against the Flak Jackets.

Second through Thomas, Chris' bodyguard, who used to fight in the IRA and got a lot of blood on his hands, blood of innocent children in particular, and bears to live with it only thanks to a promise he made once, after his arrest, to an apparition of the virgin Mary: he will not kill anymore. Promise he tries to keep by all means even if his job puts him in difficult situations. He will finally have to break it to save his friend Chris, who he really believes to be Jesus.

For Thomas religion is a life jacket, a light in the night, the only way to salvation, a very different path from the one advocated by the NAC.

Third through weird mystic apparitions (the virgin Mary, an angel...) which are not shown as fully real, but real enough to the ones who saw them to have deep consequences on their behaviours. Like with Thomas' character it's a way for Sean to acknowledge the importance mysticism can have for some, including him probably.

 

 

THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY

The main (and only) goal of Jesus Christ's second birth is to turn his life into a giant reality show, which means money of course. The idea of a life-long TV show is actually not far from The Truman Show scenario, except that this time everybody knows what's happening.

OPHIS is the entertainment company behind it all and Slate (the boss) embodies the unscrupulous businessman, without morals or respect for anything, whose only goal is to enrich his shareholders thanks to the divine goose that lays the golden eggs.

 

 The entertainment age in which we are living is actually extremely close to the one described by Sean, which I find particularly accurate and amusing, but also extremely frightening. 

Everything is a show! Images and sound first! Let the camera roll!

It's easy to see here another pinnacle of The Society of The Spectacle, described by Guy Debord, which has become so real during the last few years :

"All that once was directly lived has become mere representation."

 

  

 ARMED POLITICAL ACTION

 All along the book the main story is interrupted with regular flashbacks from Thomas' childhood, teenage years and adult years in Northern Ireland. The very first pages are actually dedicated to the murder of his parents and his rescue by his uncle, who will take care of him but will also turn him into one of the most dangerous IRA fighter.

A few pages later we understand that Thomas now rejects completely his past political involvement and even worked with the British army against his former comrades, trying to fight an unbearable feeling of guiltiness after the death of children (among others) during one of the IRA operation he was taking part in.

Armed struggle dilemma is an old and complicated subject, frequently raised in various books and films (for example you should check out The Wind that Shakes the Barley or Night Moves or Army Of Shadows which describe three totally different contexts), which main question would be:

 How far are you willing to go for your cause?

 

 

I am not a naive, I understand very well that violence is one of the most basic mean of human interaction and therefore is, and will always be, everywhere, even if in our modern developed world actual violence has mostly be turned into "a possibility of violence". Politics (national and international), economy etc... are based on rapports de force (power relations = possibility of violence) and I think there isn't much that can be done about it.

Anyway we know that mainstream history has different ways of considering armed political struggle depending on which side the winner (or the more powerful) is and the notion of terrorism is therefore extremely subjective. The IRA was considered to be a terrorist group by the British, not by many Irish, same idea with the Palestinians, the resistance against the Nazis or the soviet union etc...

So in some cases killing people for a cause is ok and in other cases it is not?

Exactly because it all depends on the cause in the end.

Did the RAF's, Brigate Rosse's, Narodnaya Volya's or Action Directe's, causes make sense enough to justify murders? When did the IRA's cause stop making sense enough to stop justifying it ? The cause changed, evolved, the IRA as well, in several organizations actually which main goals seemed to drift further and further from reality.

 

But some may have the same cause/goal but different opinions about the means to be used, the main example would be Martin Luther King, Malcom X and the Black Panthers in the US in the 60s... (many books and movies about it as well).

So yes it's a very complicated matter and yes I am writing about a comic book here so it would be ridiculous to expect a deep and thorough study of the subject.

So not much is said about Thomas' actual cause here, just that after a downpour of violence and murders he finally decided to redeem his sins.

I can understand that but I also feel that, by fear of getting swallowed into a cyclone of complex political issues, an important part of the political involvement of Thomas is overlooked and the IRA is only presented as a violent group, period, which makes the story lose a bit of its depth.

CLIMATE CHANGE

 Punk Rock Jesus was created during a long period of time, probably more than ten years, before being finally published in 2012, so the dystopian 2019/2020 years looked like a fairly far deadline at the time and and Sean decided to underline the importance that the consequences of climate change would have then.

So it's not a real topic of the book, but it's there, everywhere, in the background (which is a smart way to softly include the matter in a "similar but worse" society description).

 

 First it's the main motivation behind the scientific involvement of the "mother" of the cloning technology which will make the second birth of the prophet possible: "make money to develop an algae which will eventually save humanity".

Which brings us to another classic dilemma that will torment Dr. Sarah Epstein all along:

Can a small bad action be justified by a resulting bigger good action ?  

What are we ready to sacrifice for the greater good ?

(questions that connect the characters of Thomas and of the doctor)  

And second the flooding of some parts of NYC (direct and very real consequence of global warming) where now lives the punk/misfits community which will become Chris' second family.

To conclude I would say that Punk Rock Jesus is a beautifully illustrated comic book, which smartly mastered multi-levels story doesn't however deprive itself of a few enjoyable "punk" overflows. 

It's the kind of book which makes you want to read more, to look for dystopian sci-fi stories, to understand what's behind the IRA struggle... in one word which makes you curious, and curiosity is vital to intelligence...

This book flies well above the average comic book in my opinion.  

I can nevertheless regret some shortcuts and lack of depth at times, which fortunately do not diminish the pleasure of reading. 

I have read most of Sean's comics and I can also regret a bit the way his characters look quite similar from one story to another, but I'm being picky.

No the main question is:

Why didn't anyone add some colour to it ???????

 

 

 

 

 

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