Tony Rettman

A fun and easy read mostly made of of quoted recolletions from scenesters, flyer reprints, etc. It seems to end up in about the very month I began my own humble sojourn into the Detroit punk and hardcore scene, so it sets context to my own memories.

This oral history of NYHC has the ups and downs common to these types of books. New Yorkers like to claim that they invented hardcore, when many bands were happening all over the place.

They like to skip the Midwest, which was doing the same thing at the same time.

There are some really terrible bands in here too, Agnostic Front sucks, always have, always will. Vinnie Stigma claims they were the first skinhead band, when in actuality, Iron Cross was two years before AF.

The first 3/4 of the show more book are pretty great.

I take offense that Freddy Cricien wrote the introduction, Madball is the shittiest band to come out of that scene. He used to run around with a Skrewdriver shirt on, a neo nazi band. Douche.

So enjoy the beginning, trash the end. show less