Ian Glasper: Armed With Anger - How UK Punk Survived The Nineties, Book

The fourth instalment in Ian Glasper’s legendary journey into the heart of UK Punk and Hardcore, ‘Armed With Anger’” explores the transformation of the UK Punk underground as the gritty 1980s gave way to the 1990s and everything that came with it. Thought by many to be an absolutenadir in the history of punk, this overlooked era still spawned many important and intriguing bands, and, as per his previous works, Glasper leaves no stone unturnedwhen exploring the inspirations and motivations that drove the acts of the time.

From the likes of Therapy?, Understand and Lostprophets, who all went on to major label success after starting in humble underground bands, through to groups who released just one demo or a lone 7" single, 'Armed With Anger’ examines almost a hundred bands, allowing them to tell their own stories in their own words, and is brimming with previously unseen photographs and long-lost memorabilia.

No stone is left unturned as the many disparate sub-genres of the scene are examined, from pop-punk(Goober Patrol, Panic etc) and ska-punk (Citizen Fish, Spithead), through raging hardcore (Voorhees and Assert), militant SXE (Withdrawn, Ironside)and old school punk rock (Sick On The Bus and Police Bastard), on to the birth of metalcore (Stampin'
Ground and Above All) and, love-it-or-hate-it, emocore (Fabric and Bob Tilton). The leading lights (and many more) are explored and featured, along with the politics, underground fanzines and DIY labels which were synonymous with the scene.

 

A must for anyone who enjoyed the first three books, all of which were hugely successful and have become cult classic must reads for anybody with an interest in the genre, this 'fourth book in the trilogy' pulls together many of the threads of those volumes and brings Glasper's celebration of the UK's underground punk heritage to a satisfying, informative conclusion.