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Review of: Statements of Intent 1982‐1987, 4 CD box set, ConflictLondon: Cherry Red, £21.99Statements of Intent 1988‐1994, 5 CD box set, ConflictLondon: Cherry Red, £21.99

"Working For the Clampdown": Review of Working For the Clampdown: The Clash, The Dawn of Neoliberalism and the Political Promise of Punk by Colin Coulter (ed). Manchester: Manchester University Press, 229 pp., ISBN 978-1-52611-421-1, p/bk, £17.99

Punk’s diaspora was not limited to the United Kingdom or the United States, and, even during its mid-1970s heyday, parallel developments were happening around the globe, and what would become known as “punk” emerged in Australia, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia at the same time as the nascent UK punk movement. Furthermore, as punk in the United Kingdom reached its commercial peak and began to decline (at least in terms of its public profile), it was being discovered, reinvented, or adapted in far-flung places beyond the (Western) critical radar. More than forty years on, punk has traversed international boundaries, and the legacies of the original UK and US scenes are now accompanied by a variety of global counterparts. This chapter narrates punk’s evolution as an international phenomenon, whose interaction with wider cultural contexts, languages, and systems of belief challenged notions of a homogeneous “punk” identity.

Review of: Christian Punk: Identity and Performance, Ibrahim Abraham (ed.) (2020)London: Bloomsbury, 227 pp.,ISBN 978-1-35009-479-6, h/bk, £60

A Hidden Landscape once a Week: The Unruly Curiosity of the UK Music Press in the 1960s–80s, in the Words of Those Who Were There, Mark Sinker (2018) London: Strange Attractor, 392 pp., ISBN 978-1-90722-263-4, p/bk, £15.99Soap the Stamps, Jump the Tube: A Story of Punk, Motorbikes, Witchcraft, Sandwiches, Squats and Sewing, Gail Thibert (2018) London: Unbound, 272 pp., ISBN 978-1-91261-818-7, p/bk, £10.99Dayglo! The Poly Styrene Story, Celeste Bell and Zoë Howe (2019) London: Omnibus Press, 192 pp., ISBN 978-1-78558-616-3, h/bk, £25.00

This chapter charts and explores the complex cultural origins of punk in Britain through three different case studies, beginning with an exploration of the influence of the Situationist International (SI) on the punk ethos and aesthetic around the Sex Pistols. Secondly, it looks at the musical and artistic trajectory of the anarcho-punk band Crass and, in particular, the contemporary classical music tradition that informed the work of Penny Rimbaud et. al., from the late 1960s, to the formation of Crass in the 1970s. Thirdly, the chapter turns to the artistic influences of Neil Megson, later to be known as Genesis P-Orridge. Here, emphasis is placed on a timeline of artistic and political activities by P-Orridge, from his time in school, through his forming of the COUM Transmissions in the early 1970s, to the early days of the innovative musical ensemble Throbbing Gristle (TG), formed in 1975. The case studies contribute to a wider understaning of the richer cultural references, practices and traditions that early punk drew on.

Review of Punk Rock is My Religion: Straightedge Punk and 'Religious Identity, by Francis Stewart. Punk & Post-Punk, 7(2) (2018), pp. 271-274.

Review of The Year’s Work in the Punk Bookshelf Or, Lusty Scripts, by Brian James Schill. Punk & Post-Punk 7(1) (2018), pp. 123-125.

Festival Review: "Bearded Theory": Bearded Theory Spring Gathering: Convoy Cabaret Stage. Punk & Post-Punk 6 (2) (2017) pp. 321-325.

Review of Beyond No Future: Cultures of German Punk, edited by Merko M. Hall, Seth Howes and Cyrus M. Shahan, in Punk & Post-Punk 6 (1) (2017) pp. 137-139.

Foreword: I first published Trevor Paviour’s work in my edited anthology of poetry Factories Run By Robots in 2018. Trev’s poetry is often raw and, at times, shocking. His talk of sexual abuse in ‘Religion’ and ‘The Born Again Christian’ (especially in the latter when he writes, ‘The vicar parts with a sinister grin/Off to break new choirboys in’) is both graphic and sordid. While at the same time, his hints at high-profile paedophiles in the British government in the 1970s (‘Remember the Seventies’) and his portrayal of the corrupt ruling classes in ‘Sebastian Theodore Cornwallis’ cut an anti-authoritarian zeal throughout his work.\ud \ud Yet, on the other hand, Trev’s poetry is tragic. His writing of lost love in ‘Seven Year Itch,’ of the ‘old folks boot camp’ in ‘What Goes Around Comes Around,’ and the monotonous grind of the 9 to 5 in ‘Get Up Go To Work, Come Home Go To Bed,’ highlight a subtlety of writing. And of course, we have the homage to suicide in ‘Blackpool Suicide,’ a desperate poem focusing on loneliness, gossip and mental health. The final poem, ‘A Poem for Brian,’ is a piece especially close to the author’s heart. Brian Barnett was – and still is – the quintessential figurehead of the Pompey punk scene and inspired many through his kindness, humour and punk attitude: and it is fitting that this set of poems is dedicated to Brian.\ud \ud Accompanying these poems is the imagery of Pompey-based artist Kevin Fitzjohn. Alongside Trev and Brian, Kev has been a stalwart of the south-coast scene for decades, first getting into punk in his teenage years growing up in Leigh Park. As a self-taught artist, Kev’s work fuses together imagery from punk, politics and popular culture to create montages of Margaret Thatcher, Sid Vicious and others. His work fits the imagery of the poetry perfectly, especially in the tragic figure of Sid Vicious.\ud \ud It has been a pleasure working with these two artists, and a special mention must also go out to Russ Bestley who, as usual, has spent many hours designing the book you hold before you. Thank-you.\ud \ud Up the punks!\ud \ud Mike Dines (Portsmouth, 2019)

David Mathew is a versatile writer, academic and practitioner. With interests including psychoanalysis, pedagogy and creative writing, Mathew has a varied research output including academic publica...

This article is a reflective/reflexive account of punk, pedagogy and academia. It draws upon the auto-ethnographic approach and the principles of critical reflective practice (CRP) in pedagogic research. These two traditions have a natural affinity owing to the importance placed on the researchers’ reflections upon their own experience in the context of broader theoretical issues and themes.

Review of Fight Back: Punk, Politics and Resistance, The Subcultures Network (ed.) (2014) 1st ed., Manchester: Manchester University Press, 320 pp., ISBN: 9780719090295, h/bk, £75.00

Fragile Learning: The Influence of Anxiety is an intriguing exploration of what David Mathew notes as the ‘wide variety of factors that might test a learner’s resilience or make the process of lear...

Punk Pedagogies: Music, Culture and Learning brings together a collection of international authors to explore the possibilities, practices and implications that emerge from the union of punk and pedagogy. The punk ethos—a notoriously evasive and multifaceted beast—offers unique applications in music education and beyond, and this volume presents a breadth of interdisciplinary perspectives to challenge current thinking on how, why and where the subculture influences teaching and learning. As (punk) educators and artists, contributing authors grapple with punk’s historicity, its pervasiveness, its (dis)functionality and its messiness, making Punk Pedagogies relevant and motivating to both instructors and students with proven pedagogical practices.

Review of “KISMIF Conference 2015 and Summer School: Crossing Borders of Underground Music Scenes and Getting Underground Together!” Punk & Post-Punk 4(2) (2016) pp. 185-187.

Review of Punk Goes Science: The Academic Punk Bibliography, by Vasileios Yfantis. Punk & Post-Punk 3(3) (2015) pp. 265-266

This thesis aims to investigate the way in which anarchism - both as a means of\ud theoretical political dissent as well as a practical tool of shock - was transformed\ud from the `chaotic' intent of first wave punk towards a more informed political\ud ideology in the emerging `anarcho-punk' scene of the 1980s. In particular, I wish to\ud explore the way in which ideas surrounding `anarcho' and `punk' were fused\ud together so as to provide a space where individuals could develop a more `informed\ud lifestyle' in expressing a subversive distaste towards corporate forms of oppression\ud such as multinationals, governments and the police.\ud Chapter one will provide an overview of punk within a wider history of political and\ud philosophical dissent, exploring ideas that link it to a continuing thread of agitation\ud akin to groups such as the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Situationism.\ud This debate will be further explored in chapter two. With particular attention to the\ud music of the Sex Pistols, I wish to explore the extent to which the break down of the\ud post-war consensus, and the resultant economic crisis in Britain in the 1970s,\ud nurtured a social, political and musical environment for first wave punk to flourish.\ud The anarcho-punk scene proper is introduced in the main body of this work. Here, I\ud will turn primarily to the way in which the musical characteristics of the anarchopunk\ud movement encompass the twin ideals of `punk' and `anarchism' so as to\ud provide a new form of organised dissent towards a capitalist system seen to embody\ud oppression and uniformity. In particular, I wish to explore the extent to which the\ud practical realities of applying a complex political system such as anarchism had\ud repercussions on the transformation of the British punk scene as a whole.

This report presents the findings of a research project undertaken by the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance (hereafter The Institute) investigating the experiences of small music venues in the UK. The project was commissioned by the Music Venue Trust (MVT) and funded by Arts Council England (ACE) via an allocation of a grant awarded to MVT (Grant for the Arts ref. 27555752) and by The Institute.