"...Alvin tells all with his usual searing honesty and superb descriptive prose... an exhilarating roller coaster of a ride through Alvin’s experiences travelling the world... " Steve Worrall was full of praise for Alvin's book when he penned a fabulous review on his brilliant Retro Man Blog website... Read the full review at: https://retroman65.blogspot.com/2024/12/alvin-gibbs-diminished-responsibility.html Get your order in for Alvin's book now - it's an ideal xmas pr

Yep, MC has gone punk rock crazy with our books this month, thanks to this string of releases from the Earth Island imprint. Voice of a Generation is tagged “80s UK punx in their own words,” and that’s pretty much exactly what it is. It’s as much about the characters as it is the music; we learn (or, if you were there, remember) some of the larger-than-life people that were integral to the British punk scene during that decade. Some of them are no longer with us, so it’s grat

Mickey Penguin visited All Ages Records and the Museum of Youth Culture recently, both in Camden, and both stocking his excellent Not Just Bits of Paper book, as do Freedom Press and Housemans book shop, also in London. Nick at All Ages with copies of NJBOP The Museum of Youth Culture held the 50th years of punk exhibition with visits from Mike Jones, Viv Goldman, various Slits and other punk-rockers. The MOYC have the NJBOP book in-store and on the webshop now: https://shop.

So, it’s out. Alex Boucher’s movie trailer for ‘Three and a Half Minutes of Fame’ is on YouTube now for all to see. The 90’s indie music documentary film based on his book is officially a thing and well underway now. Alex says "If you’d asked me five years ago when I was working on a rough unpublished draft of my book, that it would lead me into the world of film-making and music documentaries, I would have spat out my matcha. But here we are, in all our HD glory, with an e

‘All Good Cretins Go To Heaven: The Enduring Spirit of the Ramones’ by Jenn L. Beckwith is published in English in both the USA, by DiWulf Publishing and the UK, by Earth Island Books, and we want to get the book to more fans worldwide, so have now set up its publication in Portuguese in Brazil through our new partners there, Editora Denfire, a Sao Paulo based publishing house who’ve been specialising in books on rock, metal and punk since 2018. Their version of Jenn’s grea

Just a reminder that Volume 3 of Alvin Gibbs’ fabulous, critically acclaimed trio of autobiographies, is available now from Earth Island Books, having recently welcomed and incorporated the original publishers, Tome & Metre Books, into our own Earth Island publishing family… Alvin Gibbs’ volume 3 book of his ‘Diminished Responsibility’ trilogy, received a fabulous review in issue #117 of Vive Le Rock magazine when it first came out, from the head honcho himself Eugene Butch

A group of music-loving young people attempt to survive in 1970s and ‘80s San Francisco in Philippa’s collection of stories. A series of interlinked stories portrays the impoverished lives and occasional joys of a community of women in their teens and 20s, at the centre of which is a punk band known as the Shits. “The girls all love them,” we are informed early on, “they attend every show The Shits play in town.” They sweep streets and perform other menial jobs while attemp

For more than 25 years, Đjorđje Miladinović has been involved in underground music through bands, fanzines, record releases, artwork and his own music publication, Thoughts Words Action. The Serbian writer and musician, based in Čačak, has spent much of that time covering other people’s work. Now his own poetry is finding readers through “Ten Poets #3“, an anthology published by the British independent publisher Earth Island Books. The book brings together ten writers conne

Tim Grayson of Vive Le Rock reviews new books ‘Punk at Sea’ and ‘Voice of a Generation’ Punk At Sea: A Rebellion Festival photo book Rebellion has barely finished for another year but we have this Earth Island photo book to remind us of all the good, bad, funny, and ugly aspects of the world's greatest punk festival. Put together by Amsterdam based photographer and journalist, Michel Blijboom, his love of punk, Blackpool and Rebellion shines through on its 120 plus pages, w

Thoughts Words Action review Mike Magrann’s ‘Tin Knocker’ When discussing Southern California punk rock, the conversation usually circles back to the same hand-picked names that get plastered onto fast-fashion t-shirts. But if you actually spent time digging through the real history of the West Coast underground, Channel 3 stands tall as one of the most authentic and hardworking bands to ever come out of the SoCal suburban sprawl. Led by frontman and guitarist Mike Magrann,

The excellent blog site PERSONAL PUNK has just reviewed Charlie Harper’s autobiography, concluding that “An Anarchy Of Demons is all Harper; unvarnished, candid and, ultimately, compelling.” Here’s a couple more snippets… “His chaotic young life is told in refreshingly blunt fashion…” “Harper’s honesty is both admirable and to his detriment, depending on whether or not one’s sense of morality is time-stamped. I will say, I find his self-awareness about his own band’s status r

This Wednesday JAMES DOMESTIC will do his final gig of the year before going into his regular S.A.D. hibernation months. It's going to be a good one too - look at that line-up! Mr Domestic will be doing a revised and tweaked version of his show from the Colchester Summer Fringe (and testing out some all new visual equipment!), the force of nature that is VIRGINIA BETTS will also be doing a feature length set, and the night opens with short sets from three amazing poets - DAVI

When ten poets from vastly different aesthetic and personal backgrounds gather in one place, the result can be either a chaotic compromise or an explosive harmony. In the case of the third volume of the now-cult Ten Poets series, we get the latter: an exceptionally cohesive yet fascinatingly diverse collection that serves as an exemplar of the contemporary poetic underground scene in its purest, most vital form. Published by the prestigious independent label Earth Island Book

Go behind the scenes of a chaotic punk era through the eyes of a steady drummer amidst exploding cars, smashed televisions, and legal battles. This intimate collection of diaries captures the raw madness of a legendary musical phenomenon! My Life as The Plasmatics Drummer: The Diaries of Stu Deutsch (1978-81) by Stu Deutsch Alongside the singer Wendy O. Williams, lead guitarist Richie Stotts, and bassist Chosei Funahara (later to be replaced by bassist Jean Beauvoir), Stu Deu

Alex Boucher is a lifelong musician and writer. Years ago, he chased the dream of making it in a 90s band; the gigs, the tours, the near misses. It was raw, chaotic, and unforgettable, and he wrote his excellent book, ‘Three and a Half Minutes of Fame’ to capture that experience. Now, together with producer Jenni Harrison and her production company Pink + Red, he’s bringing his book to the screen. Alex’s documentary, ‘Three and a Half Minutes of Fame’, looks at what’s chang

When the dark underworld of punk rock and the hardcore scene intersects with the darkest registers of literary horror, the result can only be raw, loud and uncompromising. The anthology Hardcore Horror: A Collection of Horrific Short Stories, edited by Tim Cundle and published by the prestigious independent publisher Earth Island Books, takes us directly to the heart of the underground, where impossible futures, terrifying present and gruesome pasts collide in the literary et

Paddy Shennan, author of ‘Not JUST About The Fall: 50 Adventures In A Post-Punk Paradise’, will be part of a special evening at the British Music Experience in the Cunard Building on Liverpool's world-famous waterfront. This will take place at 7pm on Thursday, 12th November and be an evening of two halves. Paddy will kick off proceedings. He will be in conversation with former members of The Fall, Steve and Paul Hanley, before another big fan of the group - David "Yorkie" Pal

Christopher Duda interviews Charlie Harper of the U.K. Subs for Scene Point Blank https://www.scenepointblank.com/features/interviews/uk-subs-Charlie-Harper/ The long-established Scene Point Blank webzine’s Christopher Duda recently conducted an excellent, wide-ranging interview with Charlie Harper, based on “the stories behind his brutally honest memoir” ‘An Anarchy of Demons’, in which the discussion took in which musicians had the biggest impact on Charlie’s style, attitud

Trust magazine review ‘The Scene Police Story – A Story of Rebellion, Passion, and Financial Ruin’ by Dennis-P. Merklinghaus with memory boosts from his friends. Dennis Scene Police with Colt, Tupamaros and Planes Mistaken For Stars "Scene Police was a label/organisation that was alive for six years in the late 1990s, some of the bands it had connections with: Hot Water Music, Planes Mistaken for Stars, Tiger Lou, Strike Anywhere and many more. They disappeared and left many

The third and final volume in the UK Subs bassist, Alvin Gibbs, excellent and insightful trilogy of autobiographies, ‘Diminished Responsibility: My life as a U.K. Sub, and other strange stories. Vol 3’ is in stock now and shipping immediately. With a Foreword by Gaye Black of The Adverts, Alvin has written thirty seven chapters packed with anecdotes and stories from his life in the scene and on the road with UK Subs and other alt-rock bands. There’s a full discography and bi