I don't usually write reviews on Amazon, but I wanted to say something about this book.
I found Punk House to be one of the most beautiful, colorful depictions of punk life that I've seen outside of the zine world. Living in and visiting some of these houses, they certainly don't feel as vibrantly alive as Abby Banks' photography makes them appear. I was looking over one photo of dirty dishes with a vegan cookbook,mostly torn apart from overuse, and it made me fall in love with the punks again (not that I ever fell out of love, but like you would a lover who you see in a new light after years of relationship).
So much heart is captured in this book, and so much life. Fleeting life.
It says somewhere in these pages that 90% of the houses photographed are now gone. Maybe not the house itself, but the people inside and what made it a punk house in the first place-punks.
So few think to document their lives, thinking that they'll remember or that there will always be time to take pictures. Then, as the years go by, they find that they'd wished they'd at least had a few momentos of a time gone by. Abby Banks took the pictures for us and presented them in a tasteful manner, with permission of those featured, that captures an ongoing moment, a piece of our history, and a slice of life that is usually marginalized at best.
Punks don't need to see their pictures in print to know they matter. But it doesn't hurt sometimes. Hassled by the power structures that make our lives somewhat on the fringe, we need few reminders that much about our way of life is fleeting.
I lived in one of the houses featured in this book and had no fewer than 50 roommates over 8 years (not including a dozen or so dogs, 4 cats, mice (some as pets and some living in the walls). Some of the people who lived in our house are in other countries now, some became ex-punks before our eyes, some moved on to other houses, and others simply moved on with their lives. Memories are good, but photos are more clear.
However, few took pictures or thought much about the unique moment they were living in. That's why Abby Banks' book is so important. It's somewhere between a yearbook, anthropological study, and a beautifully illustrated history book.
Everyone I have talked to, including many of those that were featured in this book that live in the houses featured, had nothing but praise for this work.
Criticism from within the elite statospheres of anarcho-punk are certain to come, mainly because of how professional this book looks and because it documents something that some may feel protective of. But I have to say that the professional feel takes little away from how beautiful these photos are. It is not overdone and feels mostly like it was made by punks, which is was. While feeling protective of our culture is understandable, I feel that the fact that Banks documented a piece of our history is worth the very slight "intrusion" into our dirty laundry (literally) to show us realistically portrayed in all of our beauty.
We're smart, well read, active, and political. All of that is captured here. From the books we're reading to the people we're seeing. And, not to mention, we look good! No use shying away from it. Punk, not only are good people (as Thurston Moore says in his introduction), but we look good. From the dirtiest crust lord to the musician with guitar, we look good.
This book is a celebration of punk culture for once done by a punk. Not by some corporate jerk trying to make a buck off of us, or some has been aged ex-punk who happened to have glory years at the right time-later to become an accountant and come back to punk when it's profitable. This done by a punk, of punks, and inside their homes. I think that means a lot.
I highly recommend Punk House to punks and those interested in our culture. Abby Banks Rules!
Stay punk.
