The Past The Present 1982-2007: A History of 25 Years of European Straight Edge

Another cool book is out about Straight Edge over a 25 year period in Europe. I'm actually quite interested in this book as it follows five Dutch bands through the various periods of SxE. I am quite amazed at how worldwide Straight Edge is and that it has become something that can bring people from all over together with a single philosophy. I'm very excited about all the books that are coming out lately that cover Straight Edge.

You can check out more info on the book from this blog and you can order the book from Refuse Records. I realize I'm a tad late on this news, but better late than never.

Burning Fight: The Nineties Hardcore Revolution in Ethics, Politics, Spirit, and Sound

I recently found out about a new book about hardcore culture. I haven't picked it up yet, so as soon as I get it I'll post a review. The book is called "Burning Fight: The Nineties Hardcore Revolution in Ethics, Politics, Spirit, and Sound" and it's by Brian Peterson. The book is supposed to cover where 80s hardcore left off and discuss the culture that embraced straight edge, animal rights, D.I.Y., and spirituality into their lives and hardcore.

I find the concept of this book rather interesting by the fact that the author was into hardcore in his teens in the 90s and now is a writer and high school English teacher. Just because you're a punk as a kid or even listen to hardcore as an adult does not mean that you can't become whatever you want in life. Hardcore isn't a barrier to life and you can live your life as an adult outside of the scene and still enjoy the music and culture.

I think that too many people see subcultures like hardcore as a dead end. It's whatever you make it, it's not a beginning or and end, it's part of life and a means to get some enjoyment from the world around.

King Dork

King Dork has been one of the best books I've read in a while. The ending felt a little vague and without a solution but I feel that this was the effect that Frank Portman was going for. Frank "Dr. Frank" Portman from the band the Mr. T. Experience is certainly an author I want to read more from as well as read some of the other books referenced by Tom, he main character. I'm especially interested in reading Brighton Rock now. King Dork reminded of the experience I felt when I was younger and read Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume as it ellicted the emotions of a young boy and all experiences you go through so well. I related a lot to how Tom felt, his alienation from the other kids, his isolation inside his own mind and how things sound much better inside than when spoken. When I was Tom's age I wasn't as in to music as he was, but I was definately into D & D (as most young dorks & geeks were, i prefer the term geek myself,) and never understood how to talk to girls either and was interested in codes and Dr. Who. The story tended to drift around as the thoughts flowed from Tom's mind, and it seemed sporadic at times, which helped give the impression of a young kid trying to explain the events of his 10th grade year. The book was a quick read, and by that I mean that I didn't want to put it down ever, except towards the end when I didn't want it to end and wanted to delay that a bit. I can't say enough great things about this book and hope that everyone checks it out.

One great part in the book that I want to mention without spoiling anything is that Tom is always coming up with or thinking about great band names. Along the way he mentions that "Most Precious Blood" would be a great band name. Well of course it would, since MPB is already a great Straight Edge band.

Out of Step: Faces of Straight Edge

I've been meaning to blog about this particular book for a while now, and just kept forgetting. It will be coming out next month and looks to be a very positive and cool photography book that documents everyday Straight Edge people. The book is titled Out of Step: Faces of Straight Edge by Raymond McCrea Jones and will contain 66 photos. For more info check out the book blog.

They are having a book release party in Atlanta on October 6th.

I can't wait to get my hands on a copy.

All Ages Review

A while back I started reading All Ages by Beth Lahickey. I enjoyed the book for the most part but felt that it became a bore to read after a while and I had to take a break from it. I thought when I read this book that I find something inteligent and enlightening about the people that were at the forefront of the Straight Edge movement, but that was nowhere to be found. And I was quite saddened to know that some of these people that sang so much about how SxE was a life choice that made themselves better they broke edge to fit in.

I felt that Beth should have had some more in depth questions and attempt to get more than the same answer from everyone she interviewed. It became trite after awhile to hear the same things regurgitated interview after interview.

Here are a few quotes (with some comments by me in italics):

Mike Hartsfield [Outspoken] - "Yeah, it's really weird I remember all of that stuff pretty vividly"
Beth Lahickey - "That's because you were straight edge"

Susan Martinez - "I bet the straight edge kids remember so much more" ... Of course we do

Drew Thomas [Bold] - "It's easy to be straight edge if you have a really clean lifestyle and your parents are rich." What a fucking cop out, being an alcholic or a drug addict can happen to anyone. You can never say someone had an easier life only by looking from the outside inward.

So I honestly feel that the idea behind the book was great, and it was nice to read some of the interviews, but don't read it cover to cover. Read the interviews that you think would be important to you and skip the rest.

Devil's Night Book Release on Straight Edge

I just found out about an interesting book avout Straight Edge. It will be released on October 30th, it's available on pre-order from Amazon. It's written by Robert T. Wood an associate professor of sociology at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta and the book is titled: Straightedge Youth: Complexity And Contradictions of a Subculture. I'm interested in reading this as it's from an outside view and I want to see what sort of angle this authoer takes on the subject, is it biased, does he view it as bad, good, or will he slander SxE as a violent movement as others in the past have done.




So this gives me yet another reason to look forward to Devil's Night. The other being that I will get to see AFI agin.

All Ages and Breaking Edge, so much in one post, but it's all related I promise

So I finally got the "All Ages" book in mail today from the UK. I read the Foreword and the Intro so far. I'll post a reveiw of the whole thing soon. Just wanted to post a few things to start with though. Ray Cappo wrote the foreward, and as I read it I thought about the article by Ray that I found on Grrrls With X's on Their Hands. I don't know when he wrote it, or if it's truly his writing, the original source link was a now defunct Anglefire page. But even if it's not really his words, it still makes me think about what it means to break edge and what others should do and say about people that break edge. First reactions are always to say WTF! especially when you consider that someone is Ray, who has been such a huge influence on the scene and SxE kids across the planet. Now I never met Ray and don't judge him for his choices at all. It just makes you wonder what being SxE meant to him (or anyone for that matter) that it can be thrown aside with a simple glass of wine. I think people become angry hearing about Ray and others they know breaking edge because it affects them in a certain way, by this I mean that your community has lost someone and this pride and conviction you hold deeply feels like it was stepped on. When people outside SxE step on your convictions, you just brush it off and say whatever. But when someone inside SxE steps on them, you feel that and can't let it go. As a community we should definitely be more concerned with finding out the why though first and then decide how we feel afterwards.

That all then leads to the concept of becoming Straight Edge again. Is that possible? Can you drink a glass of wine or smoke a cigarette once and then decide that you want to be SxE again. I tend to think no, I mean you can decide to no longer drink or smoke, but you can't take on the label again. I feel this way cause it's like you dirtied what it meant and then crawl back. Now this leads to the ill feelings that arise when someone does break edge, but I still feel this way.

So back to the book, I'll review it soon, but I wanted metion that I came across another great blog recently by Eric Grubbs who is writing a post-hardcore book. And he said the book has been "quite handy" for research on his book, so I'm looking forward to reading the rest and certainly interested in reading Eric's book when he's finished.

Books on SxE

So I was looking around on the net a few months back for books or pretty much anything on SxE and came across this book called All Ages by Beth Lahickey. I kept looking still for other books, there were a few others but people seemed to really like this one. So I plucked down the $12 (actually a tad less since I got it online.) I'm waiting for it to come in the mail, I was hoping it'd come today since I have to ride the bus to Pennsylvania tomorrow. I also get to show my brother my new tattoo. He's not Straight Edge but he's got a bunch of tattoos, the best being the Rebel symbol from Star Wars. After I read the book I'll put up my review on the book.

Maybe after this one I'll also take a look at the other books and such out there that talk about being SxE, might be a cool idea to start compiling a list and reviewing SxE media outside of music, which is already heavily reviewed.