Punk Rock Hats

Punk got older and the fans went with it. A Globe and Mail columnist counted the room at one show: of 300 people who paid $20, maybe 40 were still in their 20s or 30s. Punk Rock Bowling draws heavily tattooed moms and dads, a Welsh comedy band called Punks Not Dad formed in Cardiff in 2008, and a California band called Dad Brains pitched its 2018 EP as punk rock for dads and the people who love them. The documentary The Other F Word, covered by NPR, followed punk dads from Black Flag, the Vandals and Devo. The jokes are about what that costs and what it keeps. The PopMatters essay "Lament of the Middle-Aged Punk" admits that its author feels much the same toward the world as he did 25 years ago, and a Globe and Mail op-ed concludes that at this age, just existing is punk. PUNK'S NOT DEAD already sells on dad caps at Redbubble, while DIY OR DIE and THREE CHORDS AND A BAD ATTITUDE are untested on hats and earn their place as slogans. The rest are for the punk with a cul-de-sac, a reasonable stereo volume and a 10pm curfew. Every design is custom embroidered on an unstructured dad hat. Wear one to the show, or give one to the old punk who naps now.