Description
Book SynopsisPunk rock culture in a preeminently average town Synonymous with American mediocrity, Peoria was fertile ground for the boredom- and anger-fueled fury of punk rock. Jonathan Wright and Dawson Barrett explore the do-it-yourself scene built by Peoria punks, performers, and scenesters in the 1980s and 1990s. From fanzines to indie record shops to renting the VFW hall for an all-ages show, Peoria''s punk culture reflected the movement elsewhere, but the city''s conservatism and industrial decline offered a richer-than-usual target environment for rebellion. Eyewitness accounts take readers into hangouts and long-lost venues, while interviews with the people who were there trace the ever-changing scene and varied fortunes of local legends like Caustic Defiance, Dollface, and Planes Mistaken for Stars. What emerges is a sympathetic portrait of a youth culture in search of entertainment but just as hungry for community—the shared sense of otherness that, even for one
Trade ReviewRussell P. Strange Memorial Book of the Year Award 2022— Russell P. Strange Memorial Book of the Year Award
Table of ContentsCoverTitleCopyrightContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroductionPart I. The Rise of Peoria Punk Rock: 1956–19861. Heebie Mesolithic Eon Drizzle2. Creating the Peoria Scene3. Punks Live on Straight Edge4. The Underground Goes Aboveground5. I Was a Mutant Cornchip . . .Part II. Building the Scene: 1986–19926. Great Loser Bands and Loosey-Goosey Backwash Gigs7. What Played (and Didn’t Play) in Peoria8. Public Enemy Number One9. Montage of Madness10. Nazi Punks Fuck OffPart III. The Next Nirvana: 1992–199711. Teenage Airwaves12. For God and Country13. This Is Not a Fugazi Chapter14. Rock over London, Rock On PeoriaPart IV. Tolling of the Digital Bell: 1997–200715. Hidden by Cornfields16. Our CBGB17. Peoria Heights . . . and Lows18. For God and Country (Alternate Take)ConclusionNotesBibliographyIndexBack cover
