"Just by looking at these pictures I can smell piss & beer." That's what C'mish said when I handed him this book. And though I do agree with his visceral sentiment, there's a lot more going on here than your usual CBGB wanna-be punk scene. The Masque was L.A.'s premier punk venue during the late '70s (don't worry I didn't know this either) and this book is actually a visual recollection of the scene that was born out of there. Through a heap of previously unpublished photos, posters, and flyers collected, compiled and edited by Masque founder (and author) Brendan Mullen you can see that there was another side to L.A. that was more than just glamour and glitz. Check out energized pics of many influencial punk bands at their prime like Black Flag, Mau Mau's, Germs, Weirdos, Avengers, Dils, Zeros, and the Screamers plus early shots of bands that got put-on at the Masque like Go Go's, X, Dickies, Bags, Eyes, Black Randy & the Metro Squad, Plugz, Skulls, Controllers and the Deadbeats. Even if you're not really up on the Punk scene, you can really appreciate the raw feeling of rebellion and community that emanates from these photos (or just gawk at the cute punky goth girls). 328 B&W and color pages, hardcover.

reviewed by snackmaster