Yes, it used to be that the hardcore posers were the ones with the elitist complex. But now, for some godawful reason, it's the sk8rs who have been in the scene for a whole 2 years longer than the emo kids. Woah! I bow to your superiority!
You see, saying that you hate a popular band doesn't make you "punk" when you like several dozen bands that play the exact same type of music. A band becoming popular doesn't make them "sellouts." A band only sells out when they change something like their line-up, type of music, or image to break into the mainstream, or goes back on convictions. Let's compare and contrast, shall we? Sk8rs always say Blink sold out after Dude Ranch, despite the fact that they were playing the same pop-punk, and never said that they were anti-major label beforehand. On the other hand, Finch, a huge favourite of sk8rs, kicked out their drummer because he wouldn't play the nu-metal style they want for their new album. Having your style of music become popular at the right time VS betraying a friend to ride a wave of trendy music? It doesn't take a genius to figure out who's the sellout there.
Besides, does it even matter who's on a major label? A band being unsuccessful (there's a big difference between being an indie band and just being an unsuccessful band) doesn't make them good. Your precious local pop-punk band sounds exactly like a million other bands, and just because they only have the money to play in their dad's garage doesn't make their music any different from those other bands, famous or not.
I'm not saying that bands with no money are bad - in fact, some are amazing - I'm saying that just because a band is unheard of doesn't make them musical gods, especially when they sound like everything else out there right now. Being unsuccessful doesn't make you indie or give you convictions, either - all these garage pop-punk bands would take the first major label offer thrown at them if they had the chance. Most are ex-jocks who are in it for the girls and the popularity anyway - like all other sk8rs.
These kids are also notoriously conservative because they are the suburbian sons of bankers and businessmen. Isn't punk about "beating the system?" How can you consider yourself a rebel when you hate minorities, want to scrap welfare and all immigration, are obsessively religious, and never listen to anyone but the government? I'm not mindlessly stereotyping conservatives here, either - I have seen all these things said or implied by sk8rs before.
Everytime someone questions how they can consider themselves punk and conservative, they insist that "the Ramones were Republicans," as if that somehow validates their beliefs without any further arguments being neccessary. Well, why don't you take it from someone who actually listens to the Ramones. Johnny Ramone was a registered Republican, however, he was only the guitarist. His opinions are not reflected in the band's songs whatsoever. In fact, the song "Bonzo Goes To Bitburg" is anti-Reagan. And while I'm not sure how Dee Dee and CJ, the two bassists, or the numerous drummers (Tommy, Marky, Ritchie) felt about politics, especially since Dee Dee's dead and we can't speak for him, the vocalist Joey Ramone was an outspoken liberal. His and Johnny's opinions were so drastically different that it was a factor in the split of the band. So to say "the Ramones were Republicans," when only 1 of 7 members they had during their career were known to be, and one was not anywhere close to it, shows that you know nothing about the Ramones whatsoever, and probably copied it from some sk8r who copied it from some other sk8r who copied it from god-knows-where.
I've had it with these trendy kids who do nothing but try to score with the preps. I can't wait for the day they move onto whatever is the next big thing. I know everyone's ranting about them, but it's become so widespread that I had to say something.