Lanky Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore is one of the few No Wave-ers to have achieved a measure of commercial success.
So its no wonder that he pays homage to the musical subculture that his hipster empire is founded upon in his cool new book, No Wave: Post-Punk. Underground. New York 1976-1980.
Charting “the collision of art and punk” that captured the zeitgeist of the scene during those years, it’s is an illustrated oral history of such forgotten acts as the Theoretical Girls, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, and The Gynecologists, though it also features cameos by the likes of prodigal MOTH David Byrne, Debbie Harry, Brian Eno, Iggy Pop, Richard Hell, John Lurie and a certain natty gafly called Glenn O’Brien.
It’s well worth it for the never-seen-before photos, but nonetheless we’d buy any book boasting an introduction by Lydia Lunch.
—J.P.S.
