We Got the Neutron Bomb : The Untold Story of L.A. Punk
For years, West Coast punks have been ardently arguing for some  much-deserved respect. Though the L.A. punk scene had a late  start, it has turned out more relevant bands in the last two  decades than the communities in New York and London combined.  There's only been one roadblock in L.A.'s way until now, there  hasn't been a book. Spitz, senior contributing writer at SPIN  magazine, and Mullen, founder of the seminal Masque club that  fostered many of the bands covered here, have fashioned a  long-overdue oral history along the lines of Legs McNeil and  Gillian McCain's Please Kill Me, Gotham punk's definitive  history. Starting in 1971 with Jim Morrison and the glitter rock  invasion and ending in 1981 with the Go-Go's commercial success,  this book presents raw quotations from vital scenesters,  promoters, and musicians. Readers will get glimpses into the  formation and demise of acts like the Runaways, X, and the  Circle Jerks. Much more thorough than Forming: The Early Days of  L.A. Punk (LJ 11/1/99), this book not only titillates with  insights and anecdotes that are alternately hilarious and grisly  but also fills a gap in popular music history. Highly  recommended for all libraries, especially those in the Golden  State. Robert Morast, "Argus Daily Leader," Sioux Falls, SDCopyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.