Every time you delve into Ian Glasper's excellent round-up of the last two decades of UK punk that is ‘The Scene That Would Not Die: Twenty Years of Post-Millennial Punk In The UK’ you'll find something new to inspire you and another great band to check out.
This hefty book is currently shipping with 'The Scene That Would Not Die' posters and a double CD of tracks by some of the bands inside too.
(And Now Ian has finished his book about the Subhumans, for releasee early in the new year, we may even get him working on a Scene follow up!)
An awful lot has happened since 2000 – not least of all the advent of the internet and social media, which has changed the way we create and listen to music, and how we interact with our favourite artists. For many, punk has become a nostalgic pastime, annual festivals like Rebellion giving them chance to reminisce about their youth, but for a new generation it is still a vital voice for protest, a way to rally against the inequality and injustice that remains a tragic constant in society. In more recent years, Brexit and coronavirus have blighted both the political landscape and the live music scene, but punk continues to adapt and survive, and ‘The Scene That Would Not Die’ captures the fierce determination to create vital music in the face of adversity that has epitomised the punk scene since its inception.
Teaming up with Earth Island Books, themselves veterans of the underground music scene, Glasper brings his series of books documenting UK punk up to date in fine style, undertaking in-depth interviews with 111 essential bands from the last twenty years, discussing the challenges they’ve faced, the obstacles they’ve had to overcome, and how they think they still need to evolve to stay relevant in these troubled times – by the end of it, you will understand exactly why UK punk is the scene that will not die.