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28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The people united will never be... blah, blah, blah, October 19, 2001
By A Customer
"Dance of Days" is a thrilling but ultimately incomplete and unfocused take on the most self-absorbed music scene in American rock history. For all their "activism", DC punks made some pretty great music, but you wouldn't know it from reading "Dance of Days". Maybe because it was penned by Positive Force founder Mark Andersen. And maybe because his impressions of "what happened" are consistently shot through a filter of self-important antiestablishment political posturing and bumpersticker sloganeering. Y'see, Positive Force was the political soul to the Dischord/harDCore scene's aggressive mind, but when the two became hopelessly inseparable somewhere around the outbreak of the Gulf War (and, ironically, the arrival/creation of Fugazi), suddenly everything that came after became really, really IMPORTANT (and unfunny), and everything that came before looked homophobic, sexist, racist, and dead WRONG. And if you were around at the time of this catastrophic transformation in DC music history (I was), you'll admit that the music put out by the bands and people discussed in "Dance of Days" became wrecked with the sort of black-vs.-white puritanism that punk was supposed to be against in the first place. Every Fugazi song became an opportunity for social catharsis, detailing the long list of crimes perpetrated by the "oppressors", be they men, meat-eaters, or the cops. Fidelity Jones is described in "Dance of Days" as some sort of "voice of the voiceless" (to cop a lame bumpersticker pseudo-radical phrase), and Andersen's treatment of the "riot grrrl" phase suggests he slummed with their ideals for reasons more related to his own sexual guilt than for musical enjoyment. But then, almost everyone I knew that went to DC punk shows back then was into it for the "message", so I guess by that definition this book is okey-dokey. But I gotta ask: where is Jawbox, one of the best bands (musically speaking) to evolve from this scene? Or how about Shudder to Think, one of the most strikingly original groups to come out in the 90's? Or Autoclave, the progenitor of every girl group discussed in the riot grrrl chapter? Or Scott McCloud's flashingly amazing Girls Against Boys? Or projects like Moss Icon? Tsunami? These guys get a sentence out of chapters that appear totally devoted to live Fugazi concerts and their supposed political "importance". At the end of the second half of the book, I was rolling my eyes at every mention of "do it now!!" and "the future is in our hands!!" What once seemed important (but in a personal way, not the public drama that Andersen extols) has become ridiculously excessive and corny. This is precisely what the DC scene always had going for itself in the late 90's: politically charged individuals like Andersen and the Positive Force set dominated the discourse, the stage, the airwaves, the record bins, and the zines. They set the tone, and if you didn't march to their beat, you left town eventually (both Shudder To Think and GVSB relocated to New York, for reasons probably unrelated to DC politics, but their music flourished there, in a way it wouldn't have in DC). How fitting, then, that the "definitive" book on DC punk history serves up a slice of that old-time, stifling political bandwagoneering. I suddenly feel guilty listening to Bad Brains while chomping on a cheeseburger. Don't tell Ian.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Play It Faster...!", June 8, 2001
Anyone interested in underground music, activism or civil disobedience should buy this book in a flash. It describes how a small clique (in this case a handful of Washington, DC high school kids) united by energy, idealism, and a Do-It-Yourself ethic can spearhead national campaigns to change society. Step by step it tells the story of Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Faith, Rites of Spring, Fugazi, and other DC hardcore bands and the social movements (Straight Edge, Positive Force, Revolution Summer, Riot Grrrl...) they inspired. It was exhilarating to see a local phenomenon erupt into international musical trends and activism I read about in such distant papers as the Bangkok Post. And reading the whole, hardscrabble saga is almost as exciting. The one prior book on DC punk, Sun Dog Propaganda's great "Banned in DC", was more a photo album than a history. In contrast, "Dance of Days" is exhaustively researched, rapidly paced, and full of vivid characters. It's especially brilliant at suggesting the link between punk cultural values and progressive politics, something usually ignored by such books. As well as inspiring newcomers, it will stir up fond memories for scene insiders and even provide them new information. Admirably, the book is more than a celebration. The authors deal also with the downside of the movement, condemning its violent, bigoted elements. While this face of punk has long been exploited by the mainstream media, "Dance of Days" had to address it to provide a balanced account. Acknowledging that the scene had serious problems just makes its final renaissance seem all the more miraculous. Like the scene it describes, the book has flaws that prevent it from being the last word on DC punk or the equal of a study like Jon Savage's "England's Dreaming". The section dealing with the scene's most exciting era, pre-1984, has little of the "juice" you'd expect from fans' memories of hardcore. Punks may be reminded of the history books they ditched to hang out at the 9:30 because there are few amusing anecdotes and no real sense of fun or abandon. While authors like Gina Arnold take narrative gusto to mawkish extremes, some enthusiasm would've made these chapters both more fun and evocative of the era. I applaud the authors for stressing the activism of harDCore, but their earnestness gives some chapters a dark tone. As a casual spectator to the scene I was deeply unsettled by their expose of its fascist and street-gang elements. One detail especially bothered me: A person who was very helpful to me at one of my first gigs is described here as a vicious, gay-bashing neo-Nazi. The book gives little indication that this person had some positive qualities. Similarly, the authors' depiction of the heyday of the Georgetown Punks focuses on violence and elitism rather than the gleefulness of the clique. Insiders may deem this old news, but those less hip should prepare to be disillusioned. Another drawback is the lack of a coherent timeline. Often the chronology is so confusing that it is hard to tell in what month or even year a particular gig or event took place. For a book called "Dance of Days", and with such a factual tone, this is surprising. Despite these qualms I was overwhelmed by the book's breadth, detail, and fair-mindedness. As an example of how grassroots art and activism can create a community and even improve society, it is inspiring and unsurpassed.
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Nice try..., December 10, 2001
By A Customer
Obviously this book took a lot of time and effort. It's just too bad Andersen and Jenkins were so focused on ultra-politically correct Dischord and Positive Force. Anyone who was there between these years can tell you there was a helluva lot more going on than what's in this book. I agree with the reviewer above--so many bands & people are missing and skimmed over, I suspect because they just weren't in the Dischord clique. I'm talking Moss Icon, Images, MFD, DSI records, Outcrowd, Marginal Man, Parasite, Mopagans, Immoral Discipline, Indian Summer, Neverman, Agent 86, Safari Club, Barbecued Iguana shows, Avail (another who fled...to Richmond), the Hated,...SO many others. And whythe hell the chapter on riot grrrl? That was Washington STATE, as far as most DC punks are concerned. There were always women involved in the Washington scene. The cheap production values don't help this book's case much, though I heard the authors paid forit themselves due to trouble with the publisher. A sad story and a slanted way of telling it.
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