Dance of Days: Two Decades of Punk in the Nation's Capital

REPRESS! Washington DC's creative, politically-insurgent punk scene is studied for the first time by local activist Mark Andersen and arts writer Mark Jenkins. The nation's capital gave birth to arguably the most fertile and influential punk underground of the 1980s and 90s. Dance Of Days recounts the rise of trailblazing artists such as Bad Brains, Henry Rollins, Minor Threat, Rites of Spring, Fugazi and Bikini Kill, while examining the roots of PMA, straight edge, Dischord Records, Revolution Summer, Positive Force, and Riot Grrrl. This book provides a window on the hidden history of a grassroots rock revolution that burst into the mainstream with Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Andersen is the co-founder of Positive Force DC, a punk activist collective, while Jenkins writes about film for the Washington City Paper and about music for the Washington Post, Time Out New York, WAMU-FM, and National Public Radio's All Things Considered.

The Dance of Days/Punk Planet book tour is coming in June. Click here for the schedule.

"Washington's musicians are a big reason why punk looms so large on the current pop landscape, as 'Dance of Days' makes clear. And while it's a loving look, this book is no love letter. It's an honest work, with often brutally frank retellings of the growing pains within the scene. It's a powerful piece of cultural reporting that deserves to be read by more than just the punk rock world."

–Eric Brace
Washington Post
(click here to read the entire review).