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ericfheiman's review against another edition
5.0
A fine collection of Marcus' writings that revolve around punk and postpunk music for the likes of Rolling Stone, Artforum, and other publications. It's a reminder of how intelligent and thoughtful criticism of music and pop culture has suffered a bit in the internet era. I'm sure great stuff is still out there (Tell me!—Where?), but Marcus is unique in how he mixes highbrow assertions with what could be construed as lowbrow subject matter, and then goes deep, sometimes in the course of just 2 or 3 pages. Marcus has a poetic, often hyperkinetic style that suits the subject matter, making daring connections between the musical and the socio-political that never come off overly academic or cerebral. One feels his excitement and tags along on his wild rides of free association. My only criticism is that Marcus plays favorites—John Lydon/Rotten, Elvis Costello, the Mekons, Gang of Four or the Clash crop up in almost every piece in some way—and his critical lens tends to stay within the confines of the postmodern / Dick Hebdige school of pop culture studies. Kudos also for introducing me to postpunk bands such as Essential Logic and Kleenex / Liliput.
naleagdeco's review against another edition
5.0
Even though the very title telegraphs the synthesis of Punk and Politics, I was taken aback at this collection of writings by Greil Marcus.
I didn't learn all that much about the music: like Robert Christgau, Greil Marcus' essays evoke moods which endear me to the albums he's discussing, makes me want to listen to them not because I know anything about how I'd enjoy them but because I want to feel anything close to the same sort of profundity Marcus writes about.
The bigger sledgehammer, though, is the political conscience that fills these pages. Even though Punk is a political music, it's currently an empty one, all surface, no feeling. By writing about Bruce Springsteen I can feel the terror of a world governed by Reagan and Thatcher, and I and draw the parallels to the Bush/Blair/Harper world I haven't yet fully escaped as a Canadian.
Reading this book as a punk, politically aware, and a computer scientist, I have to ask myself: Could I ever embed this much concern about the world into works on subjects as seemingly distant as my aesthetic love and my tech love?
I didn't learn all that much about the music: like Robert Christgau, Greil Marcus' essays evoke moods which endear me to the albums he's discussing, makes me want to listen to them not because I know anything about how I'd enjoy them but because I want to feel anything close to the same sort of profundity Marcus writes about.
The bigger sledgehammer, though, is the political conscience that fills these pages. Even though Punk is a political music, it's currently an empty one, all surface, no feeling. By writing about Bruce Springsteen I can feel the terror of a world governed by Reagan and Thatcher, and I and draw the parallels to the Bush/Blair/Harper world I haven't yet fully escaped as a Canadian.
Reading this book as a punk, politically aware, and a computer scientist, I have to ask myself: Could I ever embed this much concern about the world into works on subjects as seemingly distant as my aesthetic love and my tech love?
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