I've been quite bad lately about finishing books. In the last few weeks, I'd started reading a number of diffferent things that I'd picked up, only to swiftly lose interest in each in relatively short order. Not to name names, but the worst example of this came via Sean Naylor's promisingly titled Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda. I'd heard Naylor interviewed on WNYC on the Leonard Lopate show, and the book sounded like it would be a really interesting read. Naylor himself started off as a rock critic who later took a gig working for the Army Times covering the mujahideen's war against the Soviets. In any case, Not a Good Day to Die started off well, but seemed to get bogged down in very dry military lingo with all speed, prompting me to get sleepy after only a couple of pages. I may pick it up again, but no time soon.
One book that has maintained my evidently evasive interest is Brit rock journo, Simon Reynolds' exhaustive tome. Rip it Up and Start Again: Post-Punk 1978-1984. Though I'm a complete sucker for these types of books, documenting one of my favorite eras of music, I'd held off on this one for some reason (possibly due to Reynolds' inexplicable fondness for -- in my opinion -- overrated also-rans-turned-saccharine-pop-replicants, Scritti Politti). I finally relented and picked up Reynold's chunky book (via Amazon.Uk...it's not out in the States as yet) and am hugely enjoying it. I'd love to give a sweeping review of it here, but truthfully, I'm only a third of the way into its 576 pages. That said, Reynolds' admirably scrutinous depiction and floridly British writing style really make the largely unsung subject matter come alive, and I'm finding the thing hard to put down. So hats off to Simon for that.
I will quibble -- somewhat predictably -- with one point, however. Out of 576 pages, no less than ninety-someodd are devoted to Scritti Politti, whereas my belovedly impossible to accurately categorize Killing Joke are only spared a paltry nine. This will not do, Simon!
In a similar vein albeit a different medium, I also recently picked up the DVD of Don Letts' latest documentary, the somewhat embarassingly titled Punk: Attitude. Now, let's be honest, shall we? The world needs another documentary about the origins of Punk Rock like the American South needs another hurricane, but to Letts' credit, this one at least tries to be as all-inclusive as possible, gamely throwing a bone to the No Wave and Hardcore scenes (most rock docs depicting punk leave a huge gap between the implosion of the Sex Pistols and the rise of Nirvana, as if nothing at all happened in the 1980's.) That said, Letts' choice of spokespeople for the Hardcore era (basically, Agnostic Front's Roger Miret and Shelter's Ray Cappo) leaves a bit to be desired. For a better documentation of same, I strenuously recommend Steven Blush's oral history, American Hardcore. I actually accosted Blush on the street a month or so back and sung his book's praises to him. Blush related that he's currently at work on a film on the same subject, so look out for that.
Back to Letts's piece, though, Punk: Attitude initially airred earlier this year on the IFC channel. The newly released DVD, however, comes appended with a second disc chock full of extras, notably a mini-documentary about the Los Angeles punk scene by the fabulously named Dick Rude. For those unfamiliar with the estimable Mr. Rude, he played Otto's eminently quotable pal, Duke in Repo Man. Kudos to Letts, once again, for trying to be as wide-reaching in his encapsulation of the constantly shifting, amorphous definition of Punk. If you're at all interested in the subject, I recommend seeking it out (despite its rather idiotic, stereotype-reinforcing cover art).
I'd also suggest checking out Don Letts' first film, the somewhat clinically titled Punk Rock Move (1978). Book-wise, many folks are quick to extol the merits of Jon Savage's sprawling England's Dreaming, but I've always found it a bit too textbooky. I much prefer Please Kill Me by Legs McNeil & Gillian McCain, a compelling and often hilarious oral history. Seek that one out, if you haven't already.
I'm still waiting for an authoritative book exlusively devoted to the New York music scene between No Wave and today, documenting the trajectories of bands like Swans, Rat at Rat R, Prong, Helmet, Surgery, Barkmarket, the Honeymoon Killers, Borbetomagus, the Unsane, the Voluptious Horror of Karen Black, and, of course Cop Shoot Cop. Not holding my breath on that one, though.
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