Punk Love

I loved this book! It was very cool looking through Suzie's early pics of documenting the birth of the DC Hardcore scene. Many of the pics are just great.

This book has some awesome pictures in it. Having grown up 40 minutes south of DC, seeing those pics brought back great memories of shows and fun times had. There is a foreward by Henry Rollins and an interview of the author by Ian Mackaye, but this is primarily a picture book.

I went to the book launch party for this a few weeks ago, and all I can say is "Wow!" This beautifully designed and produced book is a little photo album which captures the people and energy of the Washington, D.C. punk scene circa 1980-81. Susie Horgan was in college there at the time, and worked in the Georgetown Hagen Daaz ice cream parlor alongside punk legends Henry Rollins and Ian MacKaye. She was just starting to learn how to use her camera, and happened to be in the right place at the right time with the right attitude to capture these two indie music legends in their goofy early years, along with a plethora of other local musicians and scenesters. The book is divided into five sections, along with a preface by Rollins and a conversation between MacKaye and Horgan. The first section, "Ice Cream, You Scream" is a cheerful series of Rollins and MacKaye horsing around the Hagen Daaz parlor. It's notable for rendering a pair of guys known for their seriousness, dourness, and sometimes anger, as a pair of goofy teenagers. Next is "Minor Disturbance", which is basically bits of the cover shoot for the Teen Idles 7" of the same name -- and features the iconic shots of the crossed X'd-up hands. "Get Up and Go" is a series of shots of MacKaye riding his skateboard, and "Riding with Henry" is just a few shots of Rollins driving. These are just the opening acts for the largest section, "Getting in to the Shows," which is where the book really comes alive. Horgan captures the scene inside and outside of iconic DC venues like the Wilson Center, dc space, the old 9:30 club, and Woodlawn High School. All the major bands of the era appear, especially Minor Threat, SOA, G.I., along with lesser known bands such as Red Cross, Black Market Baby, and the Stimulators. Overall this is a beautiful testament to the vibrancy of the early D.C. scene and makes a great companion to the two other major books on the era: Banned in D.C. and Dance of Days. Great stuff!