These things seem to happen in waves.
One month I’m devouring the latest rock reads, and the next I’m taking an unintended trip in the way back machine. May was one of those months where the books I read were either published over a decade ago or mostly dealt with older subject matter.
Which is honestly no problem since good books and stories—much like good music—live outside of time.
If you’re a music-lover looking for Summer reading suggestions, I highly recommend all three rock reads below.
Thoughts about these books, or other rock read recommendations?
Join conversation in the comments.
Americana: The Kinks, The Riff, The Road, The Story
By Ray Davies
Ray Davies’ fictionalized autobiography X-Ray from 1994 was easily one of the strangest rock reads I’ve ever encountered—and I absolutely loved it. After such a bold and original literary move, I was reluctant to read his more traditional 2013 memoir Americana. That all changed last month, and I’m very glad it did.
The Kinks’ troubled history with touring the U.S. in the late ‘60s is well-documented. The petulant proto-punks were banned from playing here for four crucial years during the British Invasion era, a major set back that might have ended a lesser band’s career. But The Kinks soldiered on to climb the U.S. rock charts in the ‘70s and ‘80s.
That is the framework on which this memoir is built and it’s a truly fascinating tale, but that’s not all Davies takes aim at. Some of the most insightful observations have nothing to do with The Kinks’ music career, but instead revolve around the author getting shot during a 2004 mugging in New Orleans. I also loved reading about Davies’ strange relationship with Alex Chilton.
This one is a must-read for any Kinks fan (although most of you probably devoured it years ago), but I’d also recommend it for any rock-loving American who would appreciate an English take on our music culture over the last 60 years.
You Don’t Love Me Yet
By Jonathan Lethem
I’m generally a fan of Jonathan Lethem’s writing—Gun with Occasional Music, Motherless Brooklyn and his 33 1/3 book about Talking Heads’ Fear of Music are all great—so I’m not sure how I missed this fictional rock read from 2008.
You Don’t Love Me Yet is a sort of delayed adolescence/coming-of-age novel revolving around Lucinda Hoekke, a telephone complaint line operator by day and rock bassist by night. The action is set against the backdrop of LA’s hedonistic gallery world in the early 2000s and does a great job mapping its hipster haunts and art-damaged zeitgeist.
Lethem focuses on an unnamed indie act that unexpectedly finds itself on the brink of a big break, partially thanks to some borrowed lyrics. It’s less a story about rock and roll redemption and more about struggling outsider musicians who aren’t cut out for mainstream success (although a couple of them are happy to answer the door when opportunity unexpectedly knocks).
In that way, You Don’t Love Me Yet feels more of a piece with Sam Lipsyte’s No One Left to Come Looking for You than Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Daisy Jones & The Six. This one is filled with scrappy charm that artfully masks an underlying cultural critique. It’s a fun read with an interesting perspective on the age-old art vs. commerce debate.
Do You Believe in the Power of Rock & Roll?: Forty Years of Music Writing from the Front Line
By John Robb
John Robb is a celebrated musician, music journalist and author who has been deeply engrained in British music culture for over 40 years. He is also credited with coining the term Britpop for Sounds magazine to describe the music of then up-and-coming bands like The La’s and The Stone Roses, and the first journalist to interview Nirvana in 1988. Robb founded the music and culture website Louder Than War in 2010.
I discovered Robb’s incredible writing career after devouring his definitive 2012 book, Punk Rock: An Oral History. I was also lucky to have him contribute an essay about the history of English punk drumming to the essay collection I edited, Forbidden Beat.
Do You Believe in the Power of Rock & Roll? is a selection of Robb’s articles and interviews spanning multiple styles of music. The collection is arranged in chronological order, starting with the story of his early years founding a Xeroxed fanzine in the 'late ‘70s before continuing decade-by-decade to the 2020s—but I had a lot of fun just jumping around.
Some of my favorite selections include a mid-’80s interview with The Jesus and Mary Chain, the two Nirvana interviews, a 1990 article about the Fall, Robb’s early 2000s discussions with punk legends Poly Styrene and Mick Jones, and his in-depth interview with Peter Hook about Ian Curtis and Joy Division from 2020.
If you’re a fan of great writing about the history of punk/indie/alternative rock, this is a perfect entry into Robb’s impressive body of work.
Previous ROCK READS:
Recent Rock Reads (May)
Recent Rock Reads (April)
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!