PAGES:288
DIMENSIONS: 5 x 8 Inches
FORMAT: Softcover
AUTHOR(S): Alexander Herbert

Theres No Future where punk is a crime

Punk arrived in Soviet Russia in 1978, spreading slowly at first through black market vinyl records and soon exploding into state-controlledperformance halls, where authorities found the raucousyouth movementeasier to control. In fits and starts, thescene grew and flourished, always a step ahead ofsecret police andneo-Nazis,throughglastnost,perestroika,and the end of the Cold War. Despite a few albums smuggled out of the country and released in Europe and the US,most Westerners had never heard of Russia’s punk movement until Pussy Riot burst onto the international stage. This oral history takes you through four decades of the scene’s evolution,from the early bands likeAvtomaticheskie Udovletvoriteli (Automatic Satisfiers, a play on the Sex Pistols) andNaive to more contemporary bands like Distress, Ricochet, and the anti-fascist Proverochnaia Lineika (Straight Edge).From its origins in St Petersburg and Moscow touniquely thriving punk scenes in theprovincial capitals,this glimpse behind the iron curtain feels immediate, real, and more relevant than ever. Includes never-before-published photographs of many of the bands.