Wednesday, July 25, 2007

7 Seconds: Logo #10

One or two because I missed a day or three.

Straight-edge punk pioneer Kevin Seconds (née Marvelli) designed the 7 Seconds logo in 1980. The cattier dyslexics among us may mistake "sXe" for "sex," but the straight-edge credo - a slightly grumpier Eagle Scout worldview - is concerned with anything but. 1980 was a good year for emblems: Devo's energy dome, The Anti-Nowhere League's spiked fist and mace, and the White Spirit eagle. "The logo first appeared on gig fliers in our hometown of Reno," Seconds remembers - which, having abstained from copious amounts of drink and drugs, is fairly easy to do after 27 years. Here the circle also suggests a mosh pit - which, in an odd way, with its convivial picking up of punks who have fallen to the ground, is comforting in itself. 7 Seconds, having much in common with common-sense Christianity in its core philosophy, cleverly offers a simple yet multi-faceted icon with straight edges that can be seen as either crooked crosses or an overwhelming paranoia from persecution by authority - something inherent in punk from day 12 (it took The Man a little while to catch on).

2 comments:

savagist said...

wow... was someone dabbling in punk too long and still cant let it go?


"but the straight-edge credo - a slightly grumpier Eagle Scout worldview"

...or the worldview of westernized, art morons who cant see past their own nose while mental masturbaing about the all-important band logo.

"7 Seconds, having much in common with common-sense Christianity in its core philosophy..."

by this logic you could mirror anything with christianity: including your own obsession with symbols and generating money from them. kind of like what christianity has done. cause lets face it, none of these fucking punk bands did anything qualitatively to break the cycle of hopping back into the capital market when their idealistic youth ran out. their symbols even do just as well at lying as the crucifix.

you might want to learn your facts about drug use and different cultures too before making moronic, one-eyed, cliche statements that are tired and were never true. study up some anthropology on hunter-gatherers. start with the cambridge encyclopedia of hunter-gatherers if you ever get off your out of shape ass.

David Cotner said...

>"Wow...was someone dabbling in punk too long and still can't let it go?"

"I never was a punk / I never shot junk / I never even tried / the counter-culture passed me right by..."

>"...art morons who can't see past their own nose while mentally masturbating about the all-important band logo"

That's what this here blog is all about: the all-important band logo. You might as well criticize water for being too wet or fire for being too hot. Apart from that, great point!

>"By this logic you could mirror anything with Christianity: including your own obsession with symbols and generating money from them."

What money am I making from this site? Try none!

>"None of these fucking punk bands did anything qualitatively to break the cycle of hopping back into the capital market when their idealistic youth ran out."

"Me and some guys from school / had a band and we tried real hard / Jimmy quit, Jody got married / I should've known we'd never get far"

>"You might want to learn your facts about drug use and different cultures too before making moronic, one-eyed, cliche statements that are tired and were never true."

Whose facts? Yours? Come up with a better blog on logos if you're so evolved and well-versed.

>"Study up some anthropology on hunter-gatherers. Start with the Cambridge Encyclopedia of Hunter-Gatherers if you ever get off your out-of-shape ass."

Why should I and what does that have to do with anything? Besides, sitting down to read an encyclopedia doesn't really do wonders for my out-of-shape ass. But other than that, great post!