‘The Underground in China’ brings together more than 350 pages of photography, interviews, and first-hand observations from inside a thriving alternative music scene that rarely reaches Western audiences.’ In 2013, Ryan Dyer arrived in China with little idea of what lay beneath the surface of its music scene. Within a week, he found himself at an underground show featuring the band Rectal Wench. That night opened the door to a world few outsiders ever see. Over the next eight

Chris Wynne of InEffect Hardcore reviews Tear It Down An absolute beast of a book here at over 600 pages and 220,000 total words, “Tear It Down, How Crossover Bridged Metal And Punk” continues the strong underground lineage that the UK’s Earth Island Books has created over the years. Alex Anesiadis attacks the crossover topic in a DIY zine type of way with 180 interviews with bands that date back to the 1980’s to post-2000 and current day ones as well. A key takeaway here

Thoughts Words Action review ‘Not Just About The Fall: 50 adventures in a post-punk paradise’ Anyone who has spent a significant portion of their life immersed in the underground music scene knows that a subculture is only as strong as the people who show up. You can have the most revolutionary band in the world rehearsing in a garage, but if nobody is there to press the record button, buy the seven-inch, or stand in a cold, half-empty venue on a Tuesday night, the music ef

CHARLIE HARPER SOLO IN JUNE - SONGS AND STORIES Less than a month away! Saturday 13 June 2026 - Signature Brew, Haggerston, London. Charlie will perform an intimate 45-minute live song set, followed by another 45 minutes discussing and telling stories from his autobiography 'An Anarchy of Demons'... BRING YOUR COPY OF THE BOOK AND CHARLIE WILL GLADLY SIGN IT - OR GRAB A COPY AT THE GIG... DON'T MISS OUT ON THIS SPECIAL SHOW. TICKETS: https://dice.fm/event/v39mqd-charlie-h

Life after retirement for Bill ‘Toxic Shock’ Sassenberger is getting busier and busier. Check out the flaming hot book review of Wanderlust and Welcome Mats by Mick Rhodes from the Claremont Courier here: https://claremont-courier.com/opinion/transcending-grief-in-wanderlust-and-welcome-mats-88464/ This part joyful punk rock travelogue, part later-in-life love story, Bill Sassenberger’s second book, “Wanderlust And Welcome Mats: The Broccoli Chronicles,” is ultimately a celeb

TEAR IT DOWN - How Crossover Bridged Metal And Hardcore Punk by Alexandros Anesiadis - Earth Island To start with I should probably say that the music this book covers isn’t my thing, I’m not into metal at all. However, I do have records by quite a few bands featured here - GBH, Discharge, Verbal Abuse, The FUs, Broken Bones, English Dogs, The Skeptix etc, but it’s just their punk stuff I like; for instance I only really like the first English Dogs 12’, ‘Mad Puns And English

Former Liverpool ECHO journalist Paddy Shennan releases ‘Not JUST About The Fall: 50 Adventures in a Post-Punk Paradise’ via Earth Island Books. Serving as a prequel to The Talk of Liverpool, the book dives into Shennan’s teenage obsession with post-punk, The Fall, and the transformative power of music. A heartfelt memoir and cultural reflection, it features encounters with icons like Mark E. Smith, Pete Shelley, and Mick Jones. Part music history, part personal journey, Not

Here I am in London at a friend’s squat. Came down south to meet up with friends and most importantly to attend 3 punk gigs in three nights. I wanted to see the bands I’d taped off of my friend which introduced a change in my life to a degree I started to learn bass lines from some of them. Bands in question are Subhumans, Sears, Icons of Filth, Mau Maus, Anti-System, Devoid. That is not me of course, and that is not now. First of all, I cannot play bass and, most important

Oh, you know, no big deal - just our latest book hitting #1 on Amazon's hottest new music books. "All Good Cretins Go to Heaven: The Enduring Spirit of the Ramones" by Jenn L. Beckwith and Gary Clevenger. Get it on the devil’s own reseller, Amazon, in most good book and record stores, or directly through the publishers, Diwulf.com. in the US or A and Earth Island Books in the UK and Europe. Thanks.

Just a quick note from Alex Anesiadis to say a BIG THANKYOU to everyone who came out on Sunday to see his 'Tear It Down' book presentation at The Dev in Camden before the bands hit the stage. Good to see so many old-skool HC kids there. (Keep those elbows in Bod!) Alex says: "Thank you The Dev for all the beautiful moments today! So happy for my friends coming up, and hosting another presentation of 'Tear It Down'." There will be more events coming up where you can get Alex t

Fully back into the rhythm of gigging, James Domestic can be seen headlining Fen Speak in Ely on 20th May (Centre E, Barton Road). Doors at 7:00pm. Performances from 7:30pm – and it’s free entry too! The following night he’s at The Bell in Ticehurst (home town of Earth Island Books!), on the Kent/Sussex border the following night, supporting the brilliant TV comedy and film scriptwriter, Andy Riley. On the subject of Andy Riley, he’s also a widely published cartoonist and h

Punks In The Willows and Raccoon Starts A Band, for alternative kids of all ages. Alex CF’s beautiful and important book, ‘Punks In The Willows’ is a colourful guide to the punk rock community, told through the lives of animals. This forty page, A4 hardback collection of illustrations depicts the creativity, music, social justice and above all, friendship that is found in punk. With verses suitable for readers of any age, and gorgeous artwork that will be available as print

Paying four quid for a single can of warm cider when you could have bought four for the same price in an off licence is enough to negate any lingering belief in a benevolent god but seeing a room full of bodies moving and thrashing as one to the sounds of distorted guitars and bass that reverberates through every pore in your skin is enough to let that belief linger on a little longer. Take Me back To Babylon is taken from Martin Appleby's excellent 'In Pursuit of Expressio

Come out to Randy Now's Man Cave in Hightstown, New Jersey, on 23rd May and help us celebrate the release of the new Ramones book, "All Good Cretins Go To Heaven: The Enduring Spirit of the Ramones" with special guests Ramoms! The author Jenn L Beckwith will be there signing copies of her excellent book and US publishers DiWulf Publishing House will have plenty of copies of this great new book, plus a selection of their other superb publications for you to pick up. Informat

This Sunday, 10th May, from 5pm onwards at The Dev in Camden, London, there is going to be a FREE gig with two great HC bands, a DJ set by Alex Anesiadis, and a book presentation, reading and signing, of his incredible new book, ‘Tear It Down: How crossover bridged metal and hardcore punk’ It’s going to be a great evening, so get along to The Dev at 33 Kentish Town Road, London, NW1 8NL. Alex will have plenty of copies of Tear It Down at the gig with him, and a few posters, b

Punk at Sea: A Rebellion Festival photo book by Michiel Blijboom If you ever plan to visit Blackpool, make sure it’s in the first days of August. Not that all of a sudden the sea turns light blue due to the rays of golden sun, but the fact is that the town really is more colourful than ever in that period. The reason: Rebellion, the annual punk festival in and around the not so aptly-titled Winter Gardens. For four days in a row Blackpool is the beating heart of everything pu

The Underground in China: Metal, Punk, Hardcore and Noise, 2013-2021 by Ryan Dyer 'The Underground in China' brings together more than 350 pages of photography, interviews, and first-hand observations from inside a thriving alternative music scene that rarely reaches Western audiences. About the book: In 2013, Ryan Dyer arrived in China with little idea of what lay beneath the surface of its music scene. Within a week, he found himself at an underground show featuring the b

Spoken word and poetry is a genre I often overlooked, feeling that there were more theatrical events to see. That changed at last year’s Colchester Fringe when punk poet James Domestic presented his show That’s Not Poetry! at Coda. James Domestic skewers expectations of what audiences believe poetry to be, exposes the snobbery around the genre, and has a great time lampooning different styles. Above all, he brings a working-class punk sensibility to the microphone and, occa

AN ANARCHY OF DEMONS, Episode 3: 1983 TO 2026 podcast is now live The U.K. Subs front man Charlie Harper tells his story… Once again The Saint of RETROPOPIC RADIO talks with Charlie about his autobiography, 'An Anarchy of Demons' covering 1983 to 2026. Click here to access: https://www.mixcloud.com/.../r1301-an-anarchy-of-demons.../ Subjects discussed include: Although recognised by Charlie as being a great player, why Steve Roberts was sacked from the UK Subs In what way p

Great to see copies of Alexandros Anesiadis' latest tome 'TEAR IT DOWN: How crossover bridged metal and hardcore punk’ finding its way to plenty of creative, musical and well-known HC scene readers. Here’s a few of the pics we’ve had so far… Kurt Brecht of D.R.I. - Taking copies of the book on their tour, so get one signed! Animal of the Anti-Nowhere League, a true punk HC crossover band! Chris Kontos, drummer of Attitude Adjustment, Machine Head and countless others! Dr. S