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It's Been Real: The Real Kids

Dave Laing (Australia), Ugly Things, 1999

IN THE SPRING '78 issue of Bernie Kugel's cool fanzine Big Star there is an article by Miriam Linna called "The New Sounds of the USA." Miriam wrote the article in that super-enthusiastic, impossible-to-not-be-infected, stream-of-consciousness way of hers about a handful of bands she believed to be "standing the punk heat" and leading a return to the spirit and energy of real rock'n'roll. Alongside raves on DMZ and The Fleshtones, she laid down a mind-blowing few hundred words on another Boston band who she described as looking like "the winning side of a gang fight": a band who had long hair, wore sneakers and played rock'n'roll "with an attitude that borders on a lack of attitude." A band whose very name seemed a promise of bullshit-free teenage kicks and heartfelt suburban adolescent angst. A band called The Real Kids.

Total word count of piece: 20304

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