Good Punk Rock Reads

There have been a lot of books published on punk rock taking different variations and angles on what it means to be punk, or when punk first started or the importance of punk.

While there's really no point in romanticizing or being poetic about the roots of this music, there are some decent books out there that do help to shed light on the history of punk rock without making everyone look like a bunch of heroes or getting philosophical about it.

The following is a list of suggested reads.

Please Kill Me, The Uncensored Oral History of Punk

By Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain

The reason this book is listed first is that it has to be the most honest piece of work out there since it tells the story of punk in New York from the people who were actually involved. It isn't some outsider philosophizing on the meaning of every little band and their songs.

It's just a direct, in your face sort of tell all from people who lived it.

The book begins in the late '60s with Andy Warhol, The Factory and the start of the Velvet Underground, and then takes you up into the early 90s. In between all of that, you have the stories of bands like MC5, Television, Heartbreakers, Ramones and then into the story of the English bands like the Sex Pistols and The Clash.

It's a good read. Even if you don't like reading, this book is cool, because it's all narratives and there's constantly different people talking and giving you their take on a particular moment in time. There wasn't one part of it that got boring.

We Got the Neutron Bomb, The Untold Story of L.A. Punk

By Marc Spitz and Brendan Mullen

If you liked Please Kill Me, you may like We Got the Neutron Bomb. The one caveat is that you have to be interested in Los Angeles punk, because that's what this is all about.

The time frame this book spans is the 70s and 80s and looks at how bands, zines and filmmakers in the punk scene got started.

It's told in the same format as Please Kill Me with just different narratives from people in the scene. But it's a different story, obviously.

Bands included in this book are the Germs, Black Flag and the Runaways, and it covers the bands that sort of deterred into the pop genre (e.g. the Go-Go's).

In the Fascist Bathroom, Punk in Pop Music 1977-1992

By Greil Marcus

So, are you a deep thinker that likes to ponder the meaning of everything? Well, Marcus' book kind of looks at the meaning behind punk and how it later influenced pop looking at people like Johnny Rotten and Elvis Costello.

This is interesting if this is the kind of angle you want to read about on the punk rock movement. If you're only interested, though, in hearing about bands and their antics, this isn't really the book for you.

It's definitely a think piece.

924 Gilman, The Story So Far....

Compiled by Brian Edge

This is essentially the story of 924 Gilman, the nonprofit music venue that became a great place in the East Bay for the whole D.I.Y. ethic/movement and just a great gathering place for local bands and kids to hang out.

You'll also hear about the different bands that played there (from Operation Ivy to Green Day). And everything is told in the first person from different people that helped in the creation of the Gilman Street Project.

The book is not the easiest thing to find. You can buy it from Maximum Rock 'n Roll or just go to a show at Gilman and buy it there (it comes out $3 cheaper too).

Punk, The Definitive Record of a Revolution

By Stephen Colegrave and Chris Sullivan

This book does a really good job of focusing on the start of things in 1975 with the Velvets and goes up to 1979 with the Sid Vicious/Nancy Spungen story and when things started fizzling and defragmenting into other styles.

Bands include the Sex Pistols, The Clash, the Dead Boys, Television, Iggy Pop, Ramones and the New York Dolls - among many others.

And, if you're not into reading, this book is made up of about 50 percent pictures, which are always fun to look at.

Punk, The Whole Story

From Mojo magazine

This is the story of punk rock from the editors of Mojo magazine, which covered the movement. Basically, this starts out with all of the English bands, like the Sex Pistols and moves forward with more current bands like Green Day.

This is definitely a contrast from books like Please Kill Me and We Got the Neutron Bomb, because it explores the English movement and shows you just how different that scene was from others - despite the fact that they all claimed to be "punk" (whatever that means anymore).

Bands include the Pistols, Clash, The Stranglers and The Damned. The last chapter focuses on bands of today, but it's only two pages worth of information, so it's not that comprehensive.

The editors also put in pages of really good albums that anyone interested in hearing the actual music, but is not sure where to start, can refer to.