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| Marc Spitz and Brendan MullenWe Got the Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story of LA Punk [book]2001 Three Rivers Press ![Marc Spitz and Brendan Mullen - We Got the Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story of LA Punk [book] (Cover Artwork)](/images/covers/we-got-the-neutron-bomb_copy1.jpg)
  Review by: Cos See others by this writer Random House (link) Only registered users can post comments 
 Published on November 26th 2004
In the annals of punk rock, Los Angeles is largely forgotten. Legs McNeil’s Please Kill Me doesn’t mention Southern California, other than to reference Iggy & The Stooges post-glam misadventures there. The vast majority of British-centric histories, like Stephen Colgrave’s Punk: The Definitive Record of a Revolution, fails to mention it at all (most of them would prefer to ignore America altogether, but that’s another story). Marc Spitz and Brendan Mullen’s oral history, We Got the Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story of LA Punk does a more than admirable job of documenting the legacy of Los Angeles. Strangely enough, it begins with a mention of the Doors (who, admittedly, had a pretty great ‘fuck you attitude’ in Jim Morrison, and Iggy was also a fan) and runs through the pre-punk glam rock scene, anchored by The Runaways. The book’s punk focus finally starts to formulate 63 pages in, when we are introduced to 1976 and the Weirdos, the Screamers and later, the Germs kick-start the scene. From there, the really interesting stories of Los Angeles pour in: Belinda Carlisle (yes, from the Go-Go’s) as a former cheerleader and was slated to be the drummer for the Germs; X’s Billy Zoom once played with R&B legend Etta James; Jack from TSOL tortures someone in his parent’s garage on Easter; scenester, promoter, and all-around scumbag Kim Fowley pops in and out with wonderfully amusing observations (his thoughts on Germs fans are particularly outrageous). In between, various personalities gravitate towards synth pop, rockabilly, roots rock, and most famously, hardcore. The rise and fall of the Germs’ Darby Crash is documented, Penelope Sphears makes the infamous “Decline of Western Civilization” (John Doe: “Didn’t care”) and punk falls as hardcore rises. Unlike most scenester histories, “We Got the Neutron Bomb” does not just end with 1981—there’s a nice epilogue, chronicling Germs guitarist Pat Smear’s moonlighting with Nirvana, Bad Religion’s popularity, and Epitaph’s success. While its does have its share of oversights—no mention of the Descendents, no mention of the late, great cartoonist Shawn Kerri (she did the Circle Jerks flyers), no Greg Ginn interview—the book does paint a vivid picture of what life must have been like for a young punk back in the day without sounding too jaded. People who liked this also liked:           Please login or register to post comments. What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?
anonymous wrote "that is awesome that Mark Spitz, the olympic swimmer, wrote a book on punk rock" I found this book at a library in semi-rural Tennessee a few years ago, so it can't be THAT hard to find. it's easy to hate l.a. Just because they played simple music doesn't mean the Ramones weren't talented. Their sets were 20-30 songs long, no breaks (as documented by 5 live albums I own by them), and all extremely tight. This score is for LA overall. that last one was me "What LA groups besides X, the Weirdos, and the Screamers had the originality/chops of The Ramones, Television, Blondie, Heartbreakers, etc?" "FEAR. Black Flag. Geza X/Deadbeats. Bags. Alleycats. Zolar X..............." hye....im nas....i join punk's no dead plz...... "What LA groups besides X, the Weirdos, and the Screamers had the originality/chops of The Ramones, Television, Blondie, Heartbreakers, etc? I'm with bsd, la punk was way behind for an age. What LA groups besides X, the Weirdos, and the Screamers had the originality/chops of The Ramones, Television, Blondie, Heartbreakers, etc? I don't think the Germs were out to write great hooks. They actually wrote great hooks. More than you can say for the Germs. Yeah, because the Ramones were the epitome of maturity. "just like hip hop, new york invented it, l.a. perfected it" Mike Watt is interviewed a lot, but the Minutemen as a band aren't mentioned much. wow. it 's los angeLOS. san pedro is for the most part of part of l.a., so yeah the minutmen would count This book is awesome, read it and then go buy a Black Randy and The Metrosquad album. that is awesome that Mark Spitz, the olympic swimmer, wrote a book on punk rock "but LA never really had a band that could write as well as the Clash or the Pistols." Old punk like totally sucked. Quite possibly my favorite book. Introduced me to The Screamers and the Weirdos. This is a great companion to the Darby Crash biography, which is much harder to find. Get both of the books. Watch? I wanna participate! You'd love to see that wouldn't you? Chinatown needs to be sodomized with a sandpaper dick. It wasn't pointless at all in the context of what I was saying... Jesus christ, being cynical for the sake of it must suck. Should I submit this as news? "Chinatown tries his hand at pointlessly namedropping- Followed by suicide" Hey cos, i'm starting an online zine run out of cork and need a book reviewer, could you email me please. Should I submit this as news? "Chinatown tries his hand at pointlessly namedropping- Followed by suicide" And "Orange Rhyming Dictionary," "White Thrash Heros," "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain," "Do You Know Who You Are?," "The Lonesome Crowded West," and "There's Nothing Wrong With Love" are some of the best indie rock albums of the 90s. The LA hardcore scene started off great (Black Flag, Fear, Circle Jerks, Adolescents, Bad Religion, Middle Class, etc), but none of those bands really stuck to hardcore long enough to be a big part of the nationwide movement. You can't really blame them, but by 82, Black Flag was playing their "My War" album... Circle Jerks started just turning into a regular band... Fear basically broke up, etc. I'll second that one BSD. Black Flag and the Circle Jerks started good but lost their edge after the first couple of releases, and the Descendents (if they even count as an LA band) unfortunately went the opposite way and eventually degenerated into making more or less the same release over and over. While many of the LA bands are obscure enough to "raise your cred," I don't think they were as classic as the other scenes. After reading this book, my opinion that a lot of the LA bands sucked didn't change. LA punk was based more off the "anyone can do it" UK guide... but they didn't have any classic bands, really. The Germs were great, and X were good, but LA never really had a band that could write as well as the Clash or the Pistols. Sounds not bad, I'll have to check it out. I'll admit while I like the Germs, the Circle Jerks, Black Flag, and the Descendents, I don't really know much about the actual history behind the LA scene, since it's generally the New York and UK scene that gets focused on. ....because Green Day is old school. Scores for Green Days awwwsome career. You could say that... Or you could say "music with substance week". What is this, old-school week? Fucking brilliant... I love the parts about early Black Flag. Man, I wanna read this so bad, but I never see it in any store......accept once when I was fucking BROKE in Chicago at Quimby's. My favorite music ever is the pre-hardcore LA scene......a la Dangerhouse records and Slash. I was even lucky enough to open for The Weirdos on their reunion tour and hear some darby stories first hand............but still, I NEED this book. The Germs book is pretty good, and I thought Please Kill Me was fantastic.......Damn....... Please Kill Me is a good book, but Legs McNeil is such an asshole, after a while, it gets just boring to read. also, how close is LA to san pedro? shouldn't the minutemen warrant a mention? Punxxx no read! up the dvd! |
