Matthew Worley. 2017. No Future: Punk, Politics and British Youth Culture, 1976-1984. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Matt Worley will be in conversation with Steve Ignorant, formerly of legendary punk band Crass. Chair: Cathi Unsworth. DJ set by Tim Wells.
Tuesday 17 October 2017, 19:00
Rough Trade East
Old Truman Brewery
91 Brick Lane
London E1 6QL19:00 – On-stage “in-conversation” + audience questions // 20:00 – Book signing + Tim Wells DJ set // 21.00 – close.
‘No Feelings’, ‘No Fun’, ‘No Future’. The years 1976–84 saw punk emerge and evolve as a fashion, a musical form, an attitude and an aesthetic. Against a backdrop of social fragmentation, violence, high unemployment and socio-economic change, punk rejuvenated and re-energised British youth culture, inserting marginal voices and political ideas into pop. Fanzines and independent labels flourished; an emphasis on doing it yourself enabled provincial scenes to form beyond London’s media glare. This was the period of Rock Against Racism and benefit gigs for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the striking miners. Matthew Worley charts the full spectrum of punk’s cultural development from the se Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks and Slits through the post-punk of Joy Division, the industrial culture of Throbbing Gristle and onto the 1980s diaspora of anarcho-punk, Oi! and goth. He recaptures punk’s anarchic force as a medium through which the frustrated and the disaffected could reject, revolt and re-invent.
Pre-order a copy of No Future by Matt Worley | Pre-order a copy of References by Steve Ignorant
