The music and the lack of graphics tools more expensive than an exacto knife not only typified punk rock, but also defined the aesthetic to the point that the major label punk album covers sought to achieve the same look of urban cheapness. Look at the first Clash cover, Never Mind The Bollocks, ad infinitum. And probably the best thing about punk rock was that people in the audience could have that impact on the bands.
You're right that glossiness is not an automatic mainstreaming factor. But I would say it decreases the point-of-purchase impression of a breakaway culture that punk rock actually achieved in nearly every facet of itself.
in my heart i agree, and i cut my milkteeth on joe strummer's guitar, but sad as it might make us, skip, punk isn't the stuff of the now. trading casettes with xeroxed covers was then. now people can compose, perform, record and manufacture a record by themselves on a $1,000 laptop. anyone who wants to can put up as glam a website as they can muster for practically nothing. the diy ethic still exists, only the aesthetic has changed. whether or not it's for the better is a matter of taste (and perhaps of age). kg np: john zorn - voices in the wilderness _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail