Punk & Post-Punk - Volume 13, Issue 1, 2024

This article is an exploration of the temporal politics of folk punk. Folk punk is a subgenre of punk played with predominantly acoustic instruments that emerged in the 1980s but developed a more concrete form in the late 1990s. This article compares the temporal politics of two scenes within folk punk. First, it looks at an early scene centred on the record label Plan-It-X. Second, ‘traditional folk punk’ is examined. In this latter scene, artists utilize an increasing range of instruments and musical resources associated with various types of traditional music. This musical change is also reflected lyrically; the second scene has much broader temporal references in comparison with the narrowly defined presentism of the Plan-It-X scene. The central argument of this article is that these musical and lyrical differences are politically and theoretically important. The dynamics within the folk punk scene complicate understandings of prefigurative politics, challenging the forms of presentism and individualism that this concept is associated with. The implications of these dynamics are lastly elaborated upon with reference to Gustav Landauer’s mystical anarchism.

Among the recurrent preoccupations of punk and post-punk is a critical consideration of the individual’s relationship to society. The emergence of podcasts in which hosts and musicians engage in historically contextualized conversations therefore presents an intriguing turn of events that will be of interest to punk and post-punk scholars. This article considers the possibilities of conversational podcasts via a discussion of the C86 Show, a popular UK-based podcast featuring interviews with punk, post-punk and indie musicians of the 1980s. Aided by the empathic interviewing style of its host, David Eastaugh, the show’s long-form, in-depth conversations connect musicians’ experiences and memories to historical contexts associated with the Thatcher era. Engaging two main fields of research – audio studies and punk and post-punk scholarship – I argue that the C86 Show offers listeners a rich window into punk, post-punk and indie during that time. By inviting musicians to reflect on their pasts (and their lives since the 1980s), the show sheds light also on how these musical movements and genres are remembered today. No less important, the show’s online collection of over one thousand interviews represents a significant archiving project that will be of interest to punk and post-punk scholars.

Between 1935 and 1970, roller derby was a co-ed North American sport practised on roller skates and played on a banked track. The 2000s marked its revival when a group of women decided to give it a new lease of life: roller derby is now exclusively for women and takes place on a flat track. Teams assert their independence from established institutions and follow a model of ‘do-it-yourself’ organization. According to some critics, the roller derby revival is a continuation of the feminist Riot Grrrl movement. This article aims to understand how French roller derby players use the ‘alternative’ heritage of American women. By mobilizing the frameworks of Cultural Studies and Sport Subculture, the article reflects on the ways in which the legacy of Riot Grrrl, as a movement to challenge a dominant order, enables derby teams to create alternatives to mainstream sports models. Through 90 interviews and participant observation conducted between January 2020 and the present day, the study was able to show a use of the DIY ethos articulated between resourcefulness and a claim to independence. While Riot Grrrl radically defends the values of the punk movement, against the prevailing economic and gender order, French roller derby and its teams propose a hybrid sporting model, articulated between reflections on a different way of looking at sport and a move away from the DIY model of the early days.

Review of: Wild Colonial Boys: A Belfast Punk Story, Thomas Paul Burgess (2024)

Manchester: Manchester University Press, 285 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-52617-337-9, p/bk, £16.99

Review of: The Resurrection of The Crazed, Paul Wainwright (2023)

Ticehurst: Earth Island Books, 260 pp.,

ISBN 9-781-91686-406-1, p/bk, £19.99

Review of: Life? And Napalm Death, Shane Embury (2023)

London: Rocket Books, 239 pp.,

ISBN 9-781-91097-898-6, h/bk, £35

Review of: The Revolution Will Be Televised, Ray Stuart (2023)

Ticehurst: Earth Island Books, 167 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-73936-387-1, p/bk, £9.99

Anarchist Atheist Punk Rock Teacher, Dan Mckee (2023)

Ticehurst: Earth Island Books, 318 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-73936-383-3, p/bk, £9.99

Review of: RÅPUNK: The Birth of Swedish Hardcore, 1981-1989, David Andersson (2023)

London: No Good, 322 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-73943-710-7, p/bk, £35.00

Review of: Transfigured New York: Interviews with Experimental Artists and Musicians, 1980-1990, Brooke Wentz (2023)

New York: Columbia University Press, 324 pp.,

ISBN 978-0-23121-088-1, h/bk, £35

Review of: Revolutionary Spirit: A Post-Punk Exorcism: The Teardrop Explodes, Care, The Wild Swans, and Beyond, Paul Simpson (2023)

London: Jawbone, 296 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-91103-683-8, p/bk, £16.95

Review of: Who Cares Anyway: Post-Punk San Francisco and the End of the Analog Age, Will York (2023)

Oxford: Headpress Books, 572 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-91531-609-5, p/bk, £22.99