A Wailing of a Town

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A Wailing Of A Town: An Oral History of Early San Pedro Punk And More 1977-1985
A Wailing of a Town.jpg
First edition
AuthorCraig Ibarra
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Subject Punk rock
GenreMusic
PublisherEND FWY Press
Publication date
April 1, 2015 [1]
Pages344
ISBN 978-0986097102

A Wailing Of A Town: An Oral History of Early San Pedro Punk And More 1977-1985 is a non-fiction oral history of the San Pedro punk scene of the late 70s to the mid-1980s. [2] Authored by Craig Ibarra, the book consists of 70+ interviews with band members (including members of Minutemen, Saccharine Trust, and Black Flag), photographers, and punk fans. [2]

Contents

While the book expends about a quarter of its length on the well-known Minutemen, [3] the book has been seen as a sort of rebuttal to the Hollywood-centric We Got the Neutron Bomb [4] [5] the book focuses on lesser known bands such as Saccharine Trust, Hari-Kari, Peer Group, Mood of Defiance [4] and The Plebs. [6] Ibarra spent seven years working on the book. [7] Ibarra first got the idea for the book in January 2007 after reading Please Kill Me and We Got the Neutron Bomb. [8]

The book was released on April 1, 2015, D. Boon's birthday. [1]

Reception

A Wailing Of A Town has received quite positive reviews. SLUG magazine praised the "excellent and essential, detailed oral history" and called the book "a must have." [6] Rich Cocksedge of PunkNews.org gave the book four and a half stars out of five. [3] Layla of Maximumrocknroll said "This book is one of the best accounts of punk I have read." [5] Kelley O'Death of Razorcake described the book as "painstakingly thorough, richly detailed, and impeccably researched" and ultimately declared it "required reading for anyone who believes that, as Jacobelly puts it in the book’s prologue, 'Punk Rock is what you make it.'" [9]

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References

  1. 1 2 Thompson, Elise (April 4, 2015). "LA Beat Interview: Craig Ibarra, Author of "A Wailing Of A Town"". Los Angeles Beat. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  2. 1 2 Wood, Liz (June 9, 2015). "This Week in Posivibes: A Wailing of a Town". The Rumpus . Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  3. 1 2 Cocksedge, Rich (July 4, 2015). "A Wailing Of A Town [Book] (2015)". Punknews. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  4. 1 2 McDonnell, Evelyn (July 2, 2015). "'A Wailing of a Town' paints a vivid picture of San Pedro's punk scene". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  5. 1 2 "Read a Book! A Wailing of a Town". Maximumrocknroll . September 25, 2015. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  6. 1 2 Kuzmack, Nick (September 3, 2015). "Review: A Wailing Of A Town". SLUG Magazine . Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  7. ↑ Scott, Tim (April 7, 2015). "San Pedro Punk Rules OK". Noisey . Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  8. ↑ Ziegler, Chris (June 4, 2015). "A Wailing Of A Town: An Oral History of Early San Pedro Punk 1977-1985". L.A. Record . Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  9. ↑ O'Death, Kelley (July 27, 2015). "A Wailing of a Town: An Oral History of Early San Pedro Punk and More 1977–1985: By Craig Ibarra, 344 pgs. By Kelley O'Death". Razorcake . Retrieved October 20, 2019.
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