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lonelycities's review against another edition
5.0
Jessica Hopper is a pioneer and keen observer of the landscape of the music industry. I first became a fan of hers while attending college in her native Chicago, but this collection only cemented my appreciation. She is a woman in a male dominated field who is absolutely fearless in her writing, which is eloquent and thought provoking. I felt a kinship with Hopper, she's a punk rock riot girl and, while I wouldn't call myself one, I totally identify with that music scene and I understand where she's coming from.
In fact, the first essay after the intro, "Emo: Where the Girls Aren't" spoke to me, because I totally understood it. Emo music was such a huge part of my cultural identity as a teenager and I remember acknowledging that there were so few women in the subculture. More-so, most of the songs are by men, about having been wronged by women in some regard. While I'm no longer a teenager, I will always have a soft spot for Emo, though I was always left wanting more because I didn't have many female fronted bands, let alone all female bands to rely on.
Jessica Hopper feels like who I wanted to be at thirteen and, after reading her book, I think she's still who I want to be now! She's totally authentic and badass and she has cemented my fandom.
Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC!
In fact, the first essay after the intro, "Emo: Where the Girls Aren't" spoke to me, because I totally understood it. Emo music was such a huge part of my cultural identity as a teenager and I remember acknowledging that there were so few women in the subculture. More-so, most of the songs are by men, about having been wronged by women in some regard. While I'm no longer a teenager, I will always have a soft spot for Emo, though I was always left wanting more because I didn't have many female fronted bands, let alone all female bands to rely on.
Jessica Hopper feels like who I wanted to be at thirteen and, after reading her book, I think she's still who I want to be now! She's totally authentic and badass and she has cemented my fandom.
Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC!
eliza_bangert's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book, but the number of typos and grammatical errors was very distracting. She needs a better editor.
quietdomino's review against another edition
3.0
As Hopper points out, the title is not strictly true, but close enough to make me sad that I can't time travel back to my college self to cite these essays for all the rockboys who told me, "It's not that I'm against female guitarists, it's just that i don't like how women's voices sound..."
balletbookworm's review against another edition
4.0
A really great book to read in clinic between subjects/waiting for the centrifuge to finish spinning. I hadn’t read the first version of this collection, and I don’t usually read tons of music criticism, so all the pieces were new to me. I really liked the range - lots of punk, some rap/hip-hop, some rock - with occasional longer form pieces about #metoo, women in country music, women in punk, several oral histories, etc. (and for a lot of the punk bands I didn’t know the music, but I was able to go with it)
carrieokay's review against another edition
4.0
Love Jessica Hopper, love this book. Some of the essays were a little bit too higher-level for my personal taste but when she's unapologetic, funny and shows us a glimpse of herself, it's so so good. Also highly recommend checking out her other collection Night Moves.
erik_gamlem's review against another edition
3.0
Certainly a worthwhile read for anyone interested in the curious world of pop music these days. There is no one better than Hopper at this game these days. Worth a look.
amb3rlina's review against another edition
2.0
I thought I was a big fan of rock music until I read this and discovered I was a philistine. Blurg.