In the Fascist Bathroom: Punk in Pop Music, 1977-1992
By now, first-generation rock critic Greil Marcus is better known as the author of highbrow pop-culture tomes (Invisible Republic: Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes) than as a workaday, keep-it-pithy critic. This collection of columns and short pieces (most rewritten to varying degrees for the book) churned out forNew West,Artforum,The Village Voice, andRolling Stonepresents the erudite Marcus as a periodical commentator subject to deadline and word-count pressures. As such, it gives a history-as-it-happens perspective on the music scene rather than a sweeping overview, meaning it's perhaps less provocative than Marcus's more recent efforts, but it's also more readable. Invigorated by the emergence of theSex Pistols, Marcus delighted in chronicling the music and behavior of the first wave of punk provocateurs. Here are pieces on the import of thePistols, theClash,Elvis Costello, theGang of Four, and (closest to the author's heart?), theMekons, presented largely as they were originally written, with the din still ringing in the scribe's ears.--Steven Stolder