"Synonymous with American mediocrity, Peoria was fertile ground for the boredom- and anger-fueled fury of punk rock. Jonathan Wright and Dawson Barrett explore the do-it-yourself scene built by Peoria punks, performers, and scenesters in the 1980s and 1990s. From fanzines to indie record shops to renting the VFW hall for an all-ages show, Peoria's punk culture reflected the movement elsewhere, but the region's conservatism and industrial decline offered a richer-than-usual target environment for rebellion. Eyewitness accounts take readers into hangouts and long-lost venues, while interviews with the people who were there trace the ever-changing scene and varied fortunes of local legends like Caustic Defiance, Dollface, and Planes Mistaken for Stars. What emerges is a sympathetic portrait of a youth culture in search of entertainment but just as hungry for community-the shared sense of otherness that, even for one night only, could unite outsiders and discontents under the banner of music. A raucous look at a small-city underground, Punks in Peoria takes readers off the beaten track to reveal the punk rock life as lived in Anytown, U.S.A"--
Cover
Title
Copyright
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I. The Rise of Peoria Punk Rock: 1956-1986
1. Heebie Mesolithic Eon Drizzle
2. Creating the Peoria Scene
3. Punks Live on Straight Edge
4. The Underground Goes Aboveground
5. I Was a Mutant Cornchip . . .
Part II. Building the Scene: 1986-1992
6. Great Loser Bands and Loosey-Goosey Backwash Gigs
7. What Played (and Didn't Play) in Peoria
8. Public Enemy Number One
9. Montage of Madness
10. Nazi Punks Fuck Off
Part III. The Next Nirvana: 1992-1997
11. Teenage Airwaves
12. For God and Country
13. This Is Not a Fugazi Chapter
14. Rock over London, Rock On Peoria
Part IV. Tolling of the Digital Bell: 1997-2007
15. Hidden by Cornfields
16. Our CBGB
17. Peoria Heights .¿.¿. and Lows
18. For God and Country (Alternate Take)
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Back cover
About the author
Jonathan Wright is a writer, editor, musician, and longtime veteran of the Peoria music scene. He is editor in chief at Peoria Magazines.
Dawson Barrett is an associate professor of history at Del Mar College. His books include
The Defiant: Protest Movements in Post-Liberal America.
