A Cultural Dictionary of Punk

University of Detroit professor Nick Rombes has published a book on punk rock. In a LA Times interview he acknowledges it took several years to research his book as he found the intricacies of a historical sound.

CBGB. The Ramones. The Sex Pistols. Rage. Anger. Spitting. It’s all so in-your-face. It’s all so mosh pit wonderful. It’s all so punk. Giving the finger to hippie culture of the 1960s, punk made its stamp on the 1970s, bringing with it a flood of angst, nihilistic notions and a brand new subculture.

Safety pins and snarly guitar riffs came to embody not just a musical style, but a movement. Nick Rombes seeks to explain the movement, looking back over 30 years through fanzines, newspapers and vinyl.

In his creative dictionary, Rombes explains the finer points of punk, giving us both critical analysis and creative writing. The encyclopedic tome is laid out in alphabetical order, so readers can take in everything punk from the Adolescents to the Zeros in a tidy fashion.

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A Cultural Dictionary of Punk 1974-1982