Brave Punk World

The International Rock Underground from Alerta Roja to Z-Off

James Greene Jr.

Punk rock may have started in the United Kingdom and United States but it certainly didn’t stay in either country. The genre flew around the globe like a contagion, touching off simultaneous movements in nearly every market imaginable: Japan, Yugoslavia, the Philippines, South Africa, New Zealand, Chile, Mexico, Poland, Burma, Singapore, and Turkey, among countless others. Performing punk rock in many of these places wasn’t just rebellious, it was legitimately dangerous, thanks to regimes far more oppressive and brutal than what existed in the West.

Brave Punk World immerses readers in these foreign scenes, describing the lifestyles and art of passionate, hard-charging groups who remain secret to the punk majority but who are just as crucial as the Ramones or the Sex Pistols. James Greene, Jr. explores Brazilian bands like Ulster who angrily protested and openly mocked their region's cruel dictatorship, Germans such as Slime who see many of their songs still banned to this day, the Algerian-by-way-of-France performers Carte de Séjour who had an alleged hand in inspiring the landmark Clash hit "Rock The Casbah," and a galaxy of other punk groups from more exotic locales.

Punk diehards and travel enthusiasts with a taste for chaos will enjoy the country-by-country cultural explorations and wild stories offered within these pages.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 426 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜

978-1-4422-6984-2 • Hardback • October 2017 • $53.00 • (£41.00)

978-1-4422-6985-9 • eBook • October 2017 • $50.00 • (£38.00)

Subjects: Music / Genres & Styles / Punk, Music / History & Criticism, Social Science / Popular Culture

Brave Punk World

The International Rock Underground from Alerta Roja to Z-Off

Hardback

eBook

Summary

Punk rock may have started in the United Kingdom and United States but it certainly didn’t stay in either country. The genre flew around the globe like a contagion, touching off simultaneous movements in nearly every market imaginable: Japan, Yugoslavia, the Philippines, South Africa, New Zealand, Chile, Mexico, Poland, Burma, Singapore, and Turkey, among countless others. Performing punk rock in many of these places wasn’t just rebellious, it was legitimately dangerous, thanks to regimes far more oppressive and brutal than what existed in the West.

Brave Punk World immerses readers in these foreign scenes, describing the lifestyles and art of passionate, hard-charging groups who remain secret to the punk majority but who are just as crucial as the Ramones or the Sex Pistols. James Greene, Jr. explores Brazilian bands like Ulster who angrily protested and openly mocked their region's cruel dictatorship, Germans such as Slime who see many of their songs still banned to this day, the Algerian-by-way-of-France performers Carte de Séjour who had an alleged hand in inspiring the landmark Clash hit "Rock The Casbah," and a galaxy of other punk groups from more exotic locales.

Punk diehards and travel enthusiasts with a taste for chaos will enjoy the country-by-country cultural explorations and wild stories offered within these pages.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 426 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜

978-1-4422-6984-2 • Hardback • October 2017 • $53.00 • (£41.00)

978-1-4422-6985-9 • eBook • October 2017 • $50.00 • (£38.00)

Subjects: Music / Genres & Styles / Punk, Music / History & Criticism, Social Science / Popular Culture

Author

James Greene, Jr. is a freelance writer who has contributed to such succulent publications as Crawdaddy!, New York Press, Orlando Weekly, Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader, and No Recess. He is also the author of This Music Leaves Stains: The Complete Story of The Misfits. Stay up to date with James on Twitter @HoneyIShrunkJG2.

Table of Contents

Part I: Asia
1. Heaven’s Penis: Japan
2. Be the Change: India
3. The Tank Girl(s): Nepal
4. Howlin’ Pinoy Chaos: Philippines
5. What They Eat Is Conscience: China
6. Geeks, Nuts, & Burgled Meat: South Korea
Part II: The U.S.S.R. & The Eastern Bloc
1. We Expect Uncle Death: Estonia
2. Never Mind the Bolsheviks: Russia
3. Careful Thought Won’t Harm Even a Chicken: Czechoslovakia
4. I Would Love to Rip Your Ears Off: Hungary
5. Grey Reality: Poland
6. No Borders, No Time Limits: Yugoslavia
7. Bullenschweine: East Germany
Part III: Western Europe
1. With My Finger in Your Ass: West Germany
2. Get Out of My Pocket: Austria
3. Who Do You Think You Are?: Belgium
4. Pulse of Life: Finland
5. Transcending Decay & Corruption: France
6. Rock Right Context: Iceland
7. Not to be Dying: Italy
8. Nothing Can Go Wrong: Netherland
9. Milkmaids & Murder: Norway
10. Many Police, Little Fun: Spain
11. We’re Only in It for the Drugs: Sweden
Part IV: Africa
1. Smoke That Thunders: Zambia
2. Rock n’ Raï: Algeria
3. International News: South Africa
Part V: Central & South America
1. Who Lives?: Peru
2. Random Punk Rock Chupaderos: El Salvador
3. If There Is Something to Be Saved It’s the Youth: Argentina
4. No Split between God and the Devil: Brazil
5. We Do Not Need Flags: Chile
6. Vultures, Invaders, Stomachs: Uruguay
Part VI: North America
1. Poets of Noise: Mexico
2. Heads, Shitheads, and Dishrags: Canada
3. Death Is a Door: Cuba
vii. Oceania
1. New Centre of the Universe: Australia
2. Your Name Maketh It: New Zealand
Selected Discography

Reviews

"Greene, Jr., who wrote a killer biography of the Misfits a couple of years ago, not only leaves American cities like New York and Seattle to find punk, he literally spans the globe encyclopedically chronicling the bands, scenes, fanzines, and cultural phenomenon of the musical movement everywhere else in the universe." - Substream's "Top Ten Music Books of 2017"
— Substream Magazine

I absolutely inhaled this book! Greene's writing is filled with enthusiastic taste and warmth and fascinating tales of anti-establishment action. This book is the condensed proof that punk rock erupted all over the world at the same time.
— Rolf Yngve Uggen, guitarist, Gluecifer and Smoke Mohawk

In this fascinating and well-researched book, James shares the highlights of punk music from lands all over this very Earth...James does a fantastic job of a) setting the stage of what each society is like, be it repressive, corrupt, conservative, liberal, violent, impoverished, etc, and (b) outlining the histories and key releases of the most important bands...I loved this book.
— Mark Prindle

Brave Punk World

The International Rock Underground from Alerta Roja to Z-Off

James Greene Jr.

Brave Punk World

The International Rock Underground from Alerta Roja to Z-Off

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