I’m an avid lover of pop punk, don’t get me wrong. However, this genre is mainly dominated by white cis men who barely allow any diversity, and because of this, they’re not held accountable-I wonder why?-for their actions. When Neck Deep’s Dani Abasi got dreads, he received tons of hate even though he’s half-black, but when Moose Blood’s Glenn Harvey sends unsolicited pictures of his penis and videos of him masturbating to a girl, many people don’t even hear this mentioned.
This issue stems all the way back from December 12th, 2015, when she received the texts’, only surfacing recently. Here’s one of the messages, the girls’ friend replying.
After this was released, more women came forward about their experiences with Moose Blood. Then, Hollie responded to everything via Twitter:
https://twitter.com/buffetb0ys/status/842471983140990976?refsrc=email&s=11
Moose Blood has never outright responded to these claims, and Glenn went as far to go on a Twitter hiatus altogether, ignoring any and all replies about this issue. Comparing this to the Front Porch Step incident isn’t much of a stretch, but it’s received much more attention and people are definitely well educated from the severity; when it comes to sexual assault, taking one incident and contrasting it to another is meaningless, as all sexual assault cases are bad.
Pop punk, and the rock genre in general, needs to be more inclusive and aware of the types of things going on in their own community. Bands, like Modern Baseball, have started their own safety hotlines for sexual assault at concerts, yet when it comes to outside those concerts or in the comfort of their homes, there is no safety hotline. And sometimes, the same bands who set up safe spaces are responsible for those acts themselves.
And there’s been enough backlash to the case that Moose Blood should at least notice it, choosing instead to ignore it, pretending like it never even happened. Glenn might’ve given a half-assed apology, but it was anything other than sincere; it’s a good example of how men in bands believe they can get away with whatever they want, all because they’re in a band, and brings to light the problem with pop punk.
“Men in bands believe they can get away with whatever they want, all because they’re in a band, and brings to light the problem with pop punk.”
We need to stop defending them. We need to stop supporting them. We need to stop letting these things slide. Music is a wonderful thing when the people who make it aren’t terrible and don’t condone sexual harassment. Defending the band is completely disregarding the victims of assault, which goes to show that change is needed. If you stand with Glenn, you stand with everything he’s done.
On a lighter note, some pop punk bands who aren’t toxic and advocate for women are Modern Baseball, PUP, The Front Bottoms, Waterparks, Knuckle Puck, and Real Friends!
Supporting Moose Blood means supporting sexual harassment. Their band has an influence on thousands of people, and if those thousands learn that what they’re doing isn’t technically wrong if they say “sorry”, many more (not just women) will be hurt in the process. Educate yourself and learn how the music and bands you listen to affect yours and others’ lives.
UPDATE: Moose Blood have kicked Glenn Harvey out of the band, but this does not excuse the fact that they didn’t kick him out in 2015. Not to mention, they failed to respond to other allegations against them. While this apology was very much needed, it’s important to realize that they only might’ve only taken action to save face. Congrats to Moose Blood for owning up, but shame on them for not addressing it until they were called out.
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