Recent Rock Reads
Recent Rock Reads
Two Works Of Fiction + An Offbeat Memoir
It’s no secret that every successful rock musician starts out as a fan.
But the transition from fandom to stardom is often more complicated than most casual observers might imagine. Loving rock music so much that you’ll dedicate your life to embodying it (for as long as you can endure near-constant failure) requires a potent mix of hubris, blind faith, magical thinking, and dogged determination.
Of course, not every musician sets out to dominate the charts—some honestly just enjoy playing music—but I’m specifically thinking about the kind of fan-turned-musician who dares reach for the brass (platinum?) ring. Those lofty dreams might never make it out of the garage for most aspiring rock stars, but that doesn’t make them any less intoxicating.
I thought a lot about all of this while reading three books that partially explore these ideas. Although each takes its own approach—two are works of fiction, one an offbeat memoir—they all grapple with the central theme of what it takes to build some kind of life in music, and the countless obstacles, ethical dilemmas and life-or-death situations musicians face on the treacherous road to success. (A road that often becomes a treadmill for the lucky few who somehow manage to pull it off.)
If you’ve ever chased your own musical dreams, chances are you’ll recognize yourself somewhere in these three books; if not, you’ll be reminded why rock and roll protagonists keep us all turning the pages.
Have thoughts about these three books, or other recommendations?
Join conversation in the comments.
This Bird Has Flown
By Susanna Hoffs
I honestly had no idea what to expect when I heard that Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles was publishing her first novel—but I knew I had to read it. What I discovered was a breezy rock and roll romcom about redemption.
This Bird Has Flown follows the musical career of Jane Start, a broke thirty-something singer-songwriter who is clawing her way back into music a decade after her only hit. The story starts with a misguided “comeback performance” at a Las Vegas bachelor party followed by a wild night in the arms of a younger rock star. But it’s on a trans-Atlantic flight the next morning that the action really picks up as Start embarks on an intense mid-flight fling with a British professor named Tom Hardy.
Shuttling between her manager’s flat in London and a budding romance with Hardy at Oxford University, Start attempts to reignite her stalled career but finds herself too distracted to write new songs. At least until the reappearance of her tortured Bowie-meets-Prince former mentor, Jonesy, who slowly lures her back into his superstar orbit. Hardy and Jonesy are polar opposites but together create the tension that sends Start crashing toward the unavoidable resolution she’s been seeking for herself.
I really enjoyed This Bird Has Flown. Steamy sex scenes abound, but Hoffs also puts enough of her own personal experience and perspective into Start’s character to keep Bangles fans—like me—more than happy. If you’re looking for an early summer beach read, this is a great one.
The Ballad of Buttery Cake Ass
By Aug Stone
Where This Bird Has Flown revolves around the reemergence of a one hit wonder, The Ballad of Buttery Cake Ass is more concerned with the kind of obsessive rock and roll quest that can only be launched from a record store aisle—where obscurity breeds mythology for a certain strain of super-geeky super fan.
First things first: Buttery Cake Ass is the hard won and overwrought name of an ‘80s indie rock band who maybe released the epic album ‘Live In Hungaria.’ The narrator and his best friend catch a whiff of a hint of a rumor about the band in their teens and make it their life’s mission to track down the elusive vinyl while uncovering the band’s strange and heartbreaking origin story in the process.
Aug Stone’s writing combines the absurdist insider humor of This Is Spinal Tap with the satirical self-importance of Ian Svenonius’ Supernatural Strategies for Making a Rock 'n' Roll Group to create something that is sure to resonate with deep music-obsessives. But fans of quirky outsider fiction will also find plenty of anodyne anti-heroes to root for (and laugh at) in this funny tale of rock and roll ridiculousness.
Good Pop, Bad Pop
By Jarvis Cocker
Perhaps it’s because I read them in this specific order, but I found the rock and roll romance of This Bird Has Flown combined with the obsessive fandom in The Ballad of Buttery Cake Ass to be the perfect lead up to Jarvis Cocker’s offbeat memoir.
Good Pop, Bad Pop is built around the conceit of the former Pulp frontman cleaning out his cluttered storage space. He then uses the rediscovered detritus from across his formative years in Sheffield as storytelling prompts that give glimpses into his meticulous approach to creativity and his long, winding road to commercial success.
I didn’t have a deep knowledge of Cocker’s history going in, so I was fascinated to learn that the band name Pulp (in various iterations) dates back to his teens, when the band was mostly a fashion-forward masterplan; and that it was a life-threatening fall from a window—resulting in several broken bones and a long hospital stay—that ultimately set him on the path to Brit pop stardom after he moved to London….which is where the book ends.
Cocker’s strange memoir approach reminded me of Ray Davies’ fictionalized X-Ray: The Unauthorized Autobiography in that it felt like an attempt to maintain an air of mystery while sharing his life story. It definitely left me wanting more, especially the cliffhanger ending which made it seem like a second book might be on the way. I hope so because I’d read it in a heartbeat.
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!
Good recs! I have Good Pop/Bad Pop in my stack to read, so thanks for the push. I look forward to getting the other two, too!
I actually listened to Jarvis' book as an audiobook- one of the few that I've listened to - and I really liked it. He spins a good yarn!