Recent Rock Reads
Biography, Memoir and Fiction + Literary Punk Songs
An ocean of punk rock ink has been spilled since the ‘70s.
Although the origins of the term “punk” are debatable, it was reportedly first embraced by Creem magazine to describe late ‘60s/early ‘70s garage bands like MC5 and The Stooges. Punk was also later the name of the influential New York fanzine launched at the dawn of the CBGB era.
Other genre-defining punk fanzines include Who Put The Bomp, Sniffin’ Glue, Slash, Flipside, Maximum RocknRoll, Jigsaw and Razorcake. Poetry also played a big role in early punk with legends like Patti Smith and Billy Childish, and there has been a continuum of autobiographical writing from Jim Carroll to Henry Rollins and James Spooner. Historical deep-dives, tell-all memoirs and fictional bands abound.
So, on many levels, punk culture has always been intertwined with the written word. And its still true today, 50 years after the ever-mutating genre first kicked its way into mainstream consciousness. Which is great news for a music lover and avid reader like me. (I even made an entry into the world of punk publishing with the essay collection Forbidden Beat: Perspectives on Punk Drumming.)
Punk has all the necessary elements for great storytelling.
Iconoclastic, intelligent, and sometimes self-destructive characters; interesting, outrageous and dangerous situations and settings; and the constant tension created by living a do-it-yourself, anti-establishment lifestyle.
In this installment of Rock Reads we have three punk-themed books that bring that all to life, encompassing biography, memoir and fiction.
Hit Girls : Women Of Punk In The USA 1975-1983
By Jen B. Larson
Some of the best rock autobiographies I’ve read in recent years have been by women from the early punk scene including Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys. by Viv Albertine (The Slits), All I Ever Wanted: A Rock 'n' Roll Memoir by Kathy Valentine (The Go-Go’s), and Face It: A Memoir by Debbie Harry (Blondie).
So, I knew I had to check out Jen B. Larson’s new book. It was a welcome surprise that Hit Girls is more focused on lesser-known artists than those who had a moment in the mainstream spotlight. Or, as Larson puts it in her Author’s Note: “While women who pioneered punk are becoming more visible, this book visits the obscure.”
With a focus on local and regional acts, Hit Girls is thoughtfully organized into six geographical sections, each with a handful of short artist features and interviews. It’s possible to read this collection in order, but I had a lot of fun just bouncing around based on whatever band name caught my attention.
Although obscurity is a big focus, Larson does a good of job using more familiar artists—The Shivvers, The Bags, Nikki & The Corvettes, The Avengers, and Plasmatics, among others—to create additional context and entry points. I definitely discovered plenty of new-to-me bands and music as well, which was probably the best part about devouring this book a bite at a time. A very insightful read for punk nerds.
Anarchy At The Circle K: On The Road With Dead Kennedys, TSOL, Flipper, Subhumans and… Heroin
By Patrick O’Neil
Patrick O’Neil is not your average punk rock memoirist. A product of the late ‘70s/early ‘80s San Francisco punk scene, his all-consuming heroin addiction led him to a life of armed robbery and eventually a jail cell—but not before he hit the road as a roadie/road manager for several legendary hardcore bands.
Anarchy At The Circle K is in many ways a companion piece to O’Neil’s excellent 2015 memoir, Gun, Needle, Spoon, filling in the music-related gaps from his nihilistic adventures as a young man. The writing is sharp and filled with interesting, often surprising, and funny details that really bring this dark narrative to life.
If your a fan of punk rock and enjoy junkie memoirs like Permanent Midnight by Jerry Stahl and Junkie Love by Joe Clifford, this might be the perfect book for you—but I recommend you read them in the order they were published. Together they tell a fascinating tale of redemption, but it’s one hell of a wild ride getting there.
No One Left To Come Looking For You
By Sam Lipsyte
Every once in a while a novel comes along that seems specifically written for you. Sam Lipsyte’s new music-centric page-turner was that kind of book for me.
Pulpy crime fiction? Check. Punk rock? Check. Dark comedy? Check.
No One Left To Come Looking For You has it all.
The hapless bassist at the heart of the early ‘90s New York action is Jonathan Liptak (aka Jonathan Shit) of the struggling art-damaged punk band The Shits. Liptak assumes the role of amateur sleuth when the band’s heroin-addicted lead singer goes missing with his bass before a show. Heartbreaking hardboiled hilarity ensues.
Anybody who has been in a dead end band, or indie music fans who have romanticized that lifestyle, will recognize the twenty-something Gen X tropes at play throughout this fast-paced tale. The specific band member quirks are spot on, the heavies are appropriately cartoonish, and the plot’s resolution was unexpectedly satisfying. I laughed, I cringed and I immediately grabbed another Lipsyte book.
Punk Songs Inspired By Literature
When you love rock music and reading as much as I do, you become attuned to books and music that marry the two. I’ve given you three punk reading suggestions above, so here are a handful of punk tracks that take some inspiration from literature.
Add your suggestions in the comments below.
The Wild Boys by William S. Burroughs
I, Robot by Issac Asimov
Pet Sematary by Stephen King
Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger
A Prayer For Owen Meaney by John Irving
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
FREE Serialized Crime Fiction
That’ll Be The Day: A Power Pop Heist by S.W. Lauden
Chapters 1 Through 12 Available Now!
CHAPTER 1 • CHAPTER 2 • CHAPTER 3 • CHAPTER 4 • CHAPTER 5 • CHAPTER 6 • CHAPTER 7 • CHAPTER 8 • CHAPTER 9 • CHAPTER 10 • CHAPTER 11 • CHAPTER 12
Prior to co-editing the essay collections Go All The Way: Literary Appreciations of Power Pop and the sequel Go Further, I published a handful of crime fiction novels, novellas and short stories.
Two of those novellas—That’ll Be The Day: A Power Pop Heist and Good Girls Don’t: A Second Power Pop Heist—were inspired by the essay collections mentioned above.
The action revolves around the Sharp brothers, two failed power pop musicians from Oklahoma who have turned to a life of crime. Their specialty is rare rock and roll artifacts stolen from eccentric collectors. It’s dark and violent, but campy.
Let’s get started with the first chapter. Hope you dig it!
I had the Lipsyte out from the library, but didn't get to it before it had to be returned. Requesting again.