2 new books relive the glory days of punk rock, hardcore

Punk rock.

The music and ideologies of this oft-misunderstood subculture went against the grain of the over-the-top and slickly produced music and fashion of the times.

Two books available now document the punk and hardcore scenes of the late '70s and early '80s.

First is Gavin Watson's photobook collection, "Skins & Punks: Lost Archives, 1978-1985," which is a follow-up to Watson's critically acclaimed 1994 photobook "Skins," which documented a multicultural, politically open-minded group of working-class kids, before the Aryan Nation and other groups adopted their fashions.

Like the photos in "Skins," the snapshots of family and friends the teenage Watson took in the '70s and '80s are poignant and nostalgic.

Watson's subjects, like himself, lived in Wycombe (middle England) and were seeped into the skinhead and rude-boy culture.

Vice Books, which published "Skins & Punks," gained access to Watson's archives and compiled the never-before-published photos.

One of the most powerful images is the last photo, taken in June 1989. The caption reads, "This is the last photo in the book because it symbolizes when we all stopped being skinheads... It was a massive time of transition for us."

Second, is Nathan Nedorostek and Anthony Pappalardo's "Radio Silence: A Selected Visual History of American Hardcore Music."

The book, published by MTV Press, uses interviews with bands, first hand accounts by fans and a load of dramatic photos to relive the glory days of punk rock.

"Hardcore was a reaction to punk," Dave Smalley, Dag Nasty lead singer, told Pappalardo for the book. "We made it faster, tougher, harder and made it unique and American. It's really an American genre of punk."

And while the book gives a brief history of American punk — using the Stooges and the MC5 as a comprehensible starting point — the treat is seeing the vintage, do-it-yourself fashions and vinyl album covers.

Everyone from Agnostic Front, Meatmen and D.R.I. to Madball, Black Flag and Utah's own Iceburn has a mention in this exciting and unadulterated book, whether it be in words, a photo or an album cover.

Just looking at the photos of the live shows is enough to get the adrenaline, sweat and blood going.

E-mail: jeff@desnews.com

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