Staff Picks: 10 Essential Punk Books

We’ve been gradually expanding the books section of our online shop, and we’ve now got over 250 books in stock, including many of our favorite punk books of all time. If you’re in the market for a new punk read, we’ve got a special holiday weekend coupon: use this link to get $10 off any 3 books (discount will show up at check out). I’ve also put together a list of 10 books that I think no punk’s bookshelf should be without. Here they are, in no particular order…

American Hardcore: A Tribal History
Author: Steven Blush

They call this one the “hardcore bible” for a reason; if you’re looking for an overview of the development of 1980s American hardcore, Steven Blush’s American Hardcore book has remained a great place to start since its initial 2001 publication. The book takes place between 1980 and 1986, and obviously hardcore continued past that and has never died (but you will), but that timeframe offers up a great snapshot of the bands who defined this music for decades to come, including Black Flag, Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Circle Jerks, Cro-Mags, Adolescents, Die Kreuzen, Flipper, Gang Green, Negative Approach, DOA, MDC, DRI, and more.

Pick up a copy here.

NYHC: New York Hardcore 1980-1990
Author: Tony Rettman

Moving right along from nationwide hardcore to something a little more regional, Tony Rettman’s NYHC: New York Hardcore 1980-1990 is some of the most in-depth text on New York Hardcore that you’ll find. With a foreword by Freddy Madball, Tony documents the scene that took off after the Ramones, Blondie, and the Talking Heads had outgrown CBGB, and a new generation of New York kids needed a grittier version of punk they could call their own. Featuring interviews with members of Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags, Bad Brains, Gorilla Biscuits, Youth of Today, Sick Of It All, Bold, Breakdown, H2O, Heart Attack, Judge, Leeway, Murphy’s Law, Nausea, Outburst, Side By Side, Warzone, and so many others, it’s hard to think of a notable NYHC band who isn’t represented in this book, and the stories are being told by the people who lived it, Tony included — he first interviewed a handful of these bands as a teenager back in the day.

Pick up a copy here.

We Got Power: Hardcore Punk Scenes From 1980’s Southern California
Authors: Jordan Schwartz, David Markey

Nearly as important to punk and hardcore as the bands themselves were the scrappily made fanzines that documented this history in real time, when the big rock mags wouldn’t. One of those fanzines was We Got Power, launched by Southern California teenagers David Markey and Jordan Schwartz in 1981. 30 years later, Markey and Schwartz turned their old zine into a hardcover book, featuring complete color reprints of original issues from 1981-1983, nearly 400 photographs from the era, and essays by Henry Rollins, Keith Morris, Chuck Dukowski, Dez Cadena, Louiche Mayorga, Eugene Tatu, Cameron Jamie, Pat Fear, Steve Humann, Tony Adolescent, Jack Brewer, Jula Bell, Mike Watt, Sean Wheeler, Joe Carducci, Daniel “Shredder” Weizmann, and Janet Housden. To quote Big Wheel Magazine‘s review, “This book will take you there with no agenda, no bullshit and without a pretentiousness.”

Pick up a copy here.

In My Eyes: Photographs 1982-1997
Author: Jim Saah

Another region of ’80s hardcore that belongs on your book shelf is of course DC. In My Eyes tells the story of the iconic DC scene through the photos of DC native Jim Saah, who has been shooting since the ’80s and whose work has been featured on the cover of Fugazi’s Repeater, in Michael Azzerad’s Our Band Could Be Your Life, and more. The book features photos that Jim took between 1982 and 1997, including shots of Fugazi, Minor Threat, Void, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Dead Kennedys, Jawbox, Government Issue, The Faith, Iron Cross, The Cramps, Pixies, Lou Reed, Guided by Voices, Fishbone, Wilco, and more, as well as interviews with Ian MacKaye, J. Robbins, Jon Langford (Mekons), Shepard Fairey, and photographers Cynthia Connolly and Patrick Graham.

Pick up a copy here.

SELLOUT: The Major Label Feeding Frenzy That Swept Punk, Emo, and Hardcore 1994-2007
Author: Dan Ozzi

Not all the books on this list take place 40 years ago. Dan Ozzi’s (who also co-authored Laura Jane Grace’s memoir) recently-released SELLOUT takes on an era that was more recognized in the mainstream at the time, but that’s had way less ink used on it: the era of punk’s major label feeding frenzy. The book chronicles the major label debuts of 11 bands, beginning with Green Day’s 1994 LP Dookie and ending with Against Me!’s 2007 LP New Wave, and touching on Jawbreaker, Jimmy Eat World, blink-182, At the Drive In, The Donnas, Thursday, The Distillers, My Chemical Romance, and Rise Against in between. As its title implies, this was the era when punk bands were called “sellouts” for signing to a major, but SELLOUT isn’t chastising these bands for their decisions; it’s taking a mostly objective look at what was going down in this era, why bands and labels were making the decisions that they were, and it tells so many great stories in the process. For more on this book, read my interview with Dan.

Pick up a copy here.

Punk Women: 40 Years of Musicians Who Built Punk Rock
Author: David A. Ensminger

To quote 7Seconds, punk is not just boys fun, and it never was. Women have been shaping punk since the very beginning, and this book is dedicated to showcasing the contributions of members of The Cramps, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Germs, The Slits, Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, Spitboy, and so many others, with a foreword by Katy Otto of Trophy Wife. To quote the book description, “There is a common thread of women being excluded and gatekept from the hardcore music scene but this anthology challenges that notion and shows that women have still been able to overcome, kick ass, and shred alongside the best of them.”

Pick up a copy here.

Punks In Peoria: Making A Scene In The American Heartland
Authors: Jonathan Wright, Dawson Barrett

Everyone knows about the punk scenes in NYC, DC, and Southern California, but just as crucial are the scenes that cropped up in smaller cities, like for example, Peoria, Illinois. The book looks at local legends like Caustic Defiance, Dollface, and Planes Mistaken for Stars, as well as other bands who toured through Peoria like Fugazi, 7Seconds, The Jesus Lizard, and more, with interviews, photos and more. To quote Fugazi’s Guy Picciotto, “Every town has a story to tell itself about itself and Punks in Peoria explores this in magnificent detail for the hardcore scene in Peoria, Illinois. While more storied scenes from bigger cities may get the most ink, this book shows how the ideals and power of the music penetrated every corner of the land but was only ever sustained by the grit and ingenuity of the people involved on the ground level. We need a book like this for everywhere.”

Pick up a copy here.

Corporate Rock Sucks: The Rise And Fall Of SST Records
Author: Jim Ruland

When you talk about the development of punk, hardcore, and DIY, you talk about the bands, the regional scenes, the zines, the venues, and of course, the record labels. One of the most influential record labels of all time was SST, started by Black Flag guitarist Greg Ginn, which put out now-classic records not just by Ginn’s own band but also by the Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Hüsker Dü, Saint Vitus, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, Bad Brains, and so many others. It helped lay the groundwork for independent record labels in general, and after its rapid rise throughout the 1980s, it eventually hit a tumultuous downfall by the end of that decade. Jim Ruland (who also co-authored the Bad Religion autobiography Do What You Want) looks at the rise and fall of the label in great, investigative detail in his new book Corporate Rock Sucks: The Rise And Fall Of SST Records.

Pick up a copy here.

Straight Edge: A Clear-Headed Hardcore Punk History
Author: Tony Rettman

Another one from NYHC author Tony Rettman, this time about a lifestyle that’s frequently accompanied hardcore for over 40 years: straight edge. With a foreword by Gorilla Biscuits vocalist Anthony “CIV” Civorelli, Tony looks at the story of straight edge from its roots as a Minor Threat song to the many bands that carried on that message for the next four decades, including SS Decontrol, Youth of Today, DYS, Slapshot, Uniform Choice, 7 Seconds, Chain of Strength, Gorilla Biscuits, Judge, Bold, Shelter, H2O, Earth Crisis, Mindset, Mouthpiece, Floorpunch, Ten Yard Fight, Fucked Up, Have Heart, Praise, and more, with the musicians themselves often doing the talking. For a taste, read an excerpt where Ian MacKaye talks about the song “Straight Edge” here.

Pick up a copy here.

From The Velvets To The Voidoids: The Birth Of American Punk Rock
Author: Clinton Heylin

Last but far from least, the bands none of us would be here without: the ones who started punk in the first place. Veteran rock writer Clinton Heylin enlists a cast including Patti Smith, Pere Ubu, Television, Blondie, the Ramones, the MC5, the Stooges, Talking Heads, and the Dead Boys, featuring interviews with several punk legends, and tracing the genre’s history from 1960s garage rock through 1980s new wave. The Birth Of American Punk Rock book was first published in 1993, but this newer edition adds an afterword that looks at the post-1970s history of these bands.

Pick up a copy here.

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Browse our books section for hundreds of other music-related titles, and use this link to get $10 off any 3 books (discount will show up at check out).