Armed with Anger

How UK Punk Survived the Nineties

The fourth installment in Ian Glasper's legendary journey into the heart of UK punk and hardcore explores the punk underground's transformation as the gritty 1980s gave way to the 1990s

Glasper leaves no stone unturned when exploring the inspirations and motivations that drove the acts of this overlooked era of punk. From Therapy?, Understand, and Lostprophets, who all went on to major label success after starting in underground bands, through to groups who released just one demo or a lone 7" single, this history examines almost 100 bands, allowing them to tell their own stories in their own words, and is brimming with previously unseen photographs and long-lost memorabilia. The many subgenres of the scene are examined, from pop-punk (Goober Patrol, Panic) and ska-punk (Citizen Fish, Spithead), through raging hardcore (Voorhees, Assert), militant SXE (Withdrawn, Ironside) and old school punk rock (Sick On The Bus, Police Bastard), on to the birth of metalcore (Stampin' Ground, Above All) and emocore (Fabric, Bob Tilton). The leading lights and many more are explored, 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 have become must reads for anybody with an interest in punk, 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.