Spray Paint the Walls – The Story Of Black Flag

Once while in high school I was discussing the legacy and mysterious aura of Black Flag with a couple of friends and I paused to say "Dude, there’s only so much that we know about Black Flag." At the time this statement was fairly accurate. Henry Rollins had published his tour diaries from when he was in the band in Get In The Van but otherwise there was seemingly no information available about Black Flag that was readily available. Greg Ginn and Chuck Dukowski were out of the limelight Read more

Burning Fight: The Nineties Hardcore Revolution in Ethics, Politics, Spirit, and Sound

A lot of people involved in hardcore were pretty relieved to see the 1990’s coming to its end. The Dark Years of hardcore were something that could be buried and forgotten. As a kid who got involved in the hardcore scene in the mid 1990’s when I was in my early teenage years, I considered myself lucky to come in as a lot of bands were forming (Ten Yard Fight, Floorpunch, Fastbreak) who were interested in getting back to the musical roots of hardcore. To me the more that something was influenced by metal or noise the more that Read more

Banned For Life by D.R. Haney – book review

Banned For Life is an autobiographical novel (a.k.a. a thinly disguised memoir where the names are changed) which tells the story of a Punk rocker who eventually turns to film making after years of failed attempts at starting a successful band. Taking place in North Carolina, New York City, and Los Angeles, this book is in a way an attempted reconciliation of how the 1980’s became the 1990’s. The core of this novel is centered around a generation that was expected to self destruct from its own nihilism and how they tried to figure out Read more

Barred For Life – Pre release book review

After the Ramones and perhaps Minor Threat, Black Flag are undoubtedly the most documented out of any American Punk band and for good reason. Black Flag were in no uncertain terms both iconic and brilliant. In the legacy of Punk rock they were simultaneously inspiring, mystifying, and undeniably terrifying if nothing else for the allegiance that they commanded from their fan base. Read more

The Encyclopedia of Punk by Brian Cogan book review

The Encyclopedia of Punk  by Brian Cogan

From the Adolescents to Zero Boys this book so far has to be one of the most thorough guides to punk music and culture out there. It starts out with prefaces from the author and Decline/Suburbia director Penelope Spheeris and then from that point there are articles on everything from the Sex Pistols, to Negative Approach, Read more

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