Texas is the birthplace of some of the most fiercefiercest and uncompromising punk rock ever created. As Gary Floyd, vocalist for Austin band the Dicks, is
quoted here: “I’m a redneck fag. It’s like, ‘You don’t like it? Fuck you.’”
Like the Lone Star State itself, Texas Iis
the Reason: The Mavericks of Lone Star Punk is immense, and author Pat
Blashill uses his iconic photographs of stalwart Texas-tough bands like the Big
Boys, the Dicks, Scratch Acid, the Offenders, and the Butthole Surfers to tell
his version of the story of Texas punk rock in the early ‘’80s.
Photographer/journalist Blashill’s book is heavy on the Butthole Surfers, which
is great for a lifelong fanatic like me. At the time, the Butthole Surfers had
to be one of the most visually compelling underground acts ever to exist, and
the massive number of Surfers photos in Texas Iis
the Reason are about as twisted and provocative as any I’ve seen. On the
other hand, I find myself wishing this was balanced out a little with more pics
of slightly lesser known bands, like the Dicks or the Hickoids, as the photos
of these bands that are included in this book are fantastic.
The book’s publisher Bazillion Points never fails to produce a fantastic
looking book, and Texas Iis
the Reason is no exception. This is a super-nice hard-bound edition with
killer cover art and , cool embossed
lettering down the spine, etcetera. The inner page printing is
top notch as well, with huge crisp, photographs presented flawlessly on
glossy pages throughout the book, ensuring that the author/photographer's obvious
passion is properly conveyed.
Texas Iis
the Reason also includes seven essays by Texas punk veterans like film
director Richard Linklater (Slacker, Dazed and Confused, School
of Rock), Blashill himself, and a few others. David Yow’s story about
getting locked in in his University of Texas dorm room
when he was about to go out to see the Dicks is pretty hilarious, and Teresa
Taylor of the Butthole Surfers has a “Top-Ten” Texas punk records segment that
is essential.
The few photos of bigger non-Texan bands (Devo, Dead Kennedys, Samhain) are
great, they look fantastic and all, but they don’t seem to add much to the
story. However, the pics of the young and clearly rowdy Replacements are
entirely priceless.
My only major complaint: not enough Wade Driver.
Texas Iis
the Reason: The Mavericks of Lone Star Punk is an outstanding photography
book, a trip back in time, and an essential look at the early days of Texas
punk rock. Calling this a coffee table book would be an injustice. The
presentation of the photographs is thoughtfully executed, and the packaging is aesthetically
unsurpassed. In fact, when I first picked up Texas Iis
the Reason and flipped through it, I thought to myself, “I would take a
bullet for this book.” What would Oswald do? –Buddha (Bazillion
Points, bazillionpoints.com)