After recently covering the UK thrash metal scene of the last forty years with ‘Contract In Blood: A History of UK Thrash’ (2018), Glasper has finally now deemed it time to bring his coverage of the ever-evolving UK punk scene to a triumphant conclusion, rounding up the last two decades with ‘The Scene That Would Not Die: Twenty Years of Post-Millennial Punk In The UK’.
An awful lot has happened since 2000 – not least of all the advent of the internet and social media, which has changed the way we create and listen to music, and how we interact with our favourite artists. For many, punk has become a nostalgic pastime, annual festivals like Rebellion giving them chance to reminisce about their youth, but for a new generation it is still a vital voice for protest, a way to rally against the inequality and injustice that remains a tragic constant in society. In more recent years, Brexit has blighted both the political landscape and the live music scene, but punk continues to adapt and survive, and ‘The Scene That Would Not Die’ captures the fierce determination to create vital music in the face of adversity that has epitomised the punk scene since its inception.
Teaming up with new collaborators, Earth Island Books, themselves veterans of the underground music scene, Glasper brings his series of books documenting UK punk to a close in fine style, undertaking in-depth interviews with 111 essential bands from the last twenty years, discussing the challenges they’ve faced, the obstacles they’ve had to overcome, and how they think they still need to evolve to stay relevant in these troubled times – by the end of it, you will understand exactly why UK punk is the scene that will not die.
