Well, I Think I may have flogged this dead horse until it's turned to fucking glue! But, I've been reading a lot recently, and may as well fill the readers brains with the tripe I've been staring at!This fine rag is of course called American Hardcore: A Tribal History. By Steven Blush. This book is, as one may or may not know, a pretty complete history of the American H/C Punk scene from the late 70's up through the late 80's. Which, by that time H/C was pretty much D.O.A., to use a punk band name. Of course, one might argue that Punk was dead as of the late 70's! Ahhh! But that would be a different flavor of Punk. You know, how people say Disco died circa 80-81? Only to have so many permutations of it crop up in the latter 80's, 90's, 00's, that one could swear that if one walked into a club, one might think they had stepped into a time machine to Disco Hell!!! Don't believe me? Look at the fashions the Gen Yer's are so enamored with today. Shit most of the riffs I've heard sound just like the Giorgio Mororder synth arpeggiations that were being pumped out in the day!!! Like my funky Type face? Ya.. don't really know what happened right now? Let's just try and get through this in one piece tonight!!! Goddammit! Let's see you try and publish something this late at night, when you haven't been able to sleep well, and try and remain focused, and be somewhat lucid all at the same time! Fuck the type! Onward!!! This really is a who's who of the H/C scene written from it beginnings on the East Coast after an influx of the British Punkers known to hang in those parts, CBGB's and the like. It then takes a look at the burgeoning West Coast scene. Then like any good H/C'er that was not only a heavy part of the scene, but also a bit addled by copious amounts of drug use, he starts to skip around in between both coast's and in and out of sub-genera's. These range from the Elvis-esque, Horror Show trappings of the Misfits, to the Straight-Edgers, like Slap Shot,SS Decontrol, and Minor Threat. The amount of names this guy pulls up from the past were enough to make my head hurt! The author also spends a few chapters on some of the heavy hitters from the scene, Dead Kennedy's, Black Flag, Bad Brains, and D.I.Y., just to name a few. He stuffs this book with as many people that actually lived the action, as one could possibly imagine. Interviews, musings, and statements from the likes of Jello Biafra, Tesco Vee, Glenn Danzig, Hell...I think he even talks with Adam Yauch (yes, from the Beastie Boy's). They did, after all supposedly start out a punk band; Although if you've ever heard any of it, I would beg to differ! I don't know about anyone else, but this book was a walk down memory lane for me! Hell, It even made me go and search out some of those long forgotten gem's I've missed all these years! I know.... You were probably wanking it to Michael Jackoff, or probably trying to score some trim listening to Rick Astley. No! I got it, you were trying to be 'Like a Virgin' and 'Passing a Duchie on the Left Hand Side'. Or some other form of mass-suckitude!
Get it! Read it! I dare ya!
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