BOOK REVIEW: PENNY KILEY – ATYPICAL GIRL: PUNK ROCK, LIVERPOOL AND TRYING TO BE NORMAL

The Liverpool punk and post-punk scene centring around legendary club Eric’s has been celebrated in a number of books. Performers whose names are indelibly linked with the venue have offered memorable recollections, starting with Julian Cope’s Head On and followed more recently by Will Sergeant’s Bunnyman and Paul Simpson’s Revolutionary Spirit. As a scene whose […]
For those with an interest in music from the punk era and its varied aftermath, Cargo Studios has legendary status. John Peel confided that he would often play a track, having not previously heard it, just because it said “recorded at Cargo” on the label. It started to gain its reputation when ‘Anthrax’ by the […]

BOOK REVIEW – CARGO RECORDING STUDIOS 1977 – 1985 BY CHRIS CONNELLY

BOOK REVIEW – THANK YOU FOR A LOVELY DAY: 11 THE GO-BETWEENS SONGCOMICS (EDITED BY GUNTHER BUSKIES AND JONAS ENGELMANN)

When Robert Forster and Grant McLennan announced a reunion in 1999 having split The Go-Betweens at the end of the 1980s, I greeted it like the equivalent of Lennon and McCartney getting back together. While they never achieved the commercial success that their songwriting deserved, amongst their devoted following they attained legendary status.  Seventeen years […]
As a former fanzine editor, I was naturally drawn to this book. Enthusiasm and the willingness to share that excitement without any expectation of financial reward are endearing qualities. Because of personal experience, my first thought when fanzines are mentioned is of publications about music. However, what makes Hogg and Ironside’s study especially enjoyable is […]

BOOK REVIEW – WE PEAKED AT PAPER: AN ORAL HISTORY OF BRITISH ZINES BY GAVIN HOGG AND HAMISH IRONSIDE

BOOK: ‘THE TRUTH OF REVOLUTION, BROTHER: AN EXPLORATION OF PUNK PHILOSOPHY’

WRITTEN BY LISA SOFIANOS, ROBIN RYDE & CHARLIE WATERHOUSE “If punk was an explosion, then is about what’s happened after the dust settled”, says the foreword of ‘The Truth of Revolution, Brother: An Exploration of Punk Philosophy’ (Situation Press, 2014), by Lisa Sofianos, Robin Ryde and Charlie Waterhouse. This beautifully designed book has a hidden […]
FROM PUBLIC ENEMY TO PUSSY RIOT: DISPATCHES FROM MUSICAL FRONTLINES Check the shelves and you’ll find all sorts of books that contain ‘Dispatches’ from some place of other.  Christ, even I’ve written one.  My particular Dispatches were ‘From The Wrong Side’ but of course I, in turn, picked up that meme from some now forgotten […]

BOOK: MATTHEW COLLIN ‘POP GRENADE’