I’m certain that everyone who cares to know has already heard about Styrene’s recent death. Still, I was away from my computer at the time, and it wouldn’t be right of me to continue on with this blog as if nothing happened. The very idea of punk rock wouldn’t be the same without Styrene. Her absolutely unique take on music, womanhood, and life is a slap in the face to everything shallow and useless that punk came to accumulate. X-Ray Spex delivered a sound that was rough, and unapologetic, but at the same time, of an intellectual caliber that required listeners to think, about what the band was saying, about what it meant to them.
I always pictured Styrene as a weird, friendless girl in middle school, praying to make it through the day without letting her acne and braces draw attention from all the other kids who seemed to somehow get it. Then, when punk came along, she decided right there she would make sure it was always okay to be a weird kid for her and everybody else, and the result is so beautiful it takes my breath away.
Poly, I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for my life. You’re an inspiration to us all, and I’ll never forget you.
articles here and here, also I stole the above picture from an interview from a couple of years ago that’s worth reading: here