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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
A few of the chapters were a little meh, which is to be expected in a book written by many different people, but overall it was an excellent look back at the first wave of L.A. punk, from many of the main players.
adventurous
informative
sad
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Drug use
informative
medium-paced
LA punk was alright until Black Flag and the kids from Orange County started showing up and ruined everything.
That's my take away.
That's my take away.
If you're a fan of The Germs, X, The Dickies, The Weirdos, The Screamers, The Bags, The Flesh Eaters, Black Flag then this is probably a book for you. It details the L.A. Punk scene from 1977 up to about 1982 but it's not just one voice, one author. John Doe brings in a lot of the people who were in the scene and they each essentially write a chapter about their experience at the time.
It was good, interesting, fun and tragic. Why only three stars? Since we only got about one chapter from each person there really wasn't time to dig deeper and flesh out any of the history. The book was about a mile wide but only a few inches deep. That might be exactly what John Doe was going for but it left me wanting more. A good book but not a great book.
It was good, interesting, fun and tragic. Why only three stars? Since we only got about one chapter from each person there really wasn't time to dig deeper and flesh out any of the history. The book was about a mile wide but only a few inches deep. That might be exactly what John Doe was going for but it left me wanting more. A good book but not a great book.
(Disclaimer: this review is for the audiobook) This is a great fucking book. And if you don't listen to the audiobook you're doing yourself a disservice. All the chapters are read by the people who were there and experienced it all. What a great piece of history told in their own voices. John Doe has the perfect tone of voice for this. He should become a voice actor or something. There's a great Jack Grisham chapter. And I wouldn't want to spoil all that sex for you...so go listen. Do not wait.
A good read written by the cast and characters that made up the quickly extinguished L.A. punk scene from 79-82... everyone's take is unique and it gives you a descent appraisal of the place and the time
I'll preface this by saying that I'm not a punk music fan. I grew up in a house with a brother who was, so many of the band names were familiar to me. The audio version of this book was amazing because you get the chance to hear the stories told by the people who lived them. There are music snippets appropriately place through out. The L.A. punk experience is one that is completely intimidating to me as a person, but experiencing it through the words of those who were brave enough to do so was pretty amazing.
I'm excited that the first month of the year isn't even over and I already have a 5 star book under my belt.
I'm excited that the first month of the year isn't even over and I already have a 5 star book under my belt.
I loved this book so much! Do yourself a favor. Listen to this on audio because every essay is read by the person who wrote it. This was such a fun journey through the first generation of L.A. punk rock told by the people who lived it. The stories are honest, loving, nostalgic, wistful, and inspiring. There were a few chapters that were underwhelming (Henry Rollins, Jack Grisham) but the majority of this was fucking tremendous. My favorites: Jane Wiedlin, Teresa Covarrubias, El Vez, Mike Watt. I constantly found myself pulling up Spotify to listen to the music. What a soundtrack this book has! Although this scene died out fairly quickly, replaced by the naked aggression of the hardcore scene, the music will live on forever. And for that we should all be thankful.
dark
funny
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
