{"title":"Jon Fine","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"your-band-sucks-book-jon-fine-9780143108283","title":"Your Band Sucks","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e.\u003c\/i\u003e A \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Summer Reading List selection\u003ci\u003e.\u003c\/i\u003e A \u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e Best Summer Book of 2015\u003ci\u003e.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e A \u003ci\u003eBusiness Insider\u003c\/i\u003e Best Summer Read \u003ci\u003e.\u003c\/i\u003e An \u003ci\u003eEsquire\u003c\/i\u003e Father's Day Book selection \u003ci\u003e.\u003c\/i\u003e A \u003ci\u003eNew York Observer\u003c\/i\u003e Best Music Book of 2015\u003ci\u003e.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e A memoir charting thirty years of the American independent rock underground by a musician who knows it intimately\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Jon Fine spent nearly thirty years performing and recording with bands that played various forms of aggressive and challenging underground rock music, and, as he writes in this memoir, at no point were any of those bands \"ever threatened, even distantly, by actual fame.\" Yet when members of his first band, Bitch Magnet, reunited after twenty-one years to tour Europe, Asia, and America, diehard longtime fans traveled from far and wide to attend those shows, despite creeping middle-age obligations of parenthood and 9-to-5 jobs, testament to the remarkable staying power of the indie culture that the bands predating Bitch Magnet--among them Black Flag, Mission of Burma, and Sonic Youth--willed into existence through sheer determination and a shared disdain for the mediocrity of contemporary popular music.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Like Patti Smith's \u003ci\u003eJust Kids\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eYour Band Sucks\u003c\/i\u003e is a unique evocation of a particular aesthetic moment.Fine tracks how the indie-rock underground emerged and evolved, how it grappled with the mainstream and vice versa, and how it led many bands to an odd rebirth in the 21st Century in which they reunited, briefly and bittersweetly, after being broken up for decades.With backstage access to many key characters in the scene-and plenty of wit and sharply-worded opinion-Fine delivers a memoir that affectionately yet critically portrays an important, heady moment in music history.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49533267378449,"sku":"GOR008104968","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49728777978129,"sku":"NGR9780143108283","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50761544859921,"sku":"CIN014310828XVG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53615985623313,"sku":"CIN014310828XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/014310828X.jpg?v=1751389165"},{"product_id":"your-band-sucks-book-jon-fine-9780670026593","title":"Your Band Sucks","description":"\u003cb\u003eA memoir charting thirty years of the American indie rock underground by a musician who was at its center\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Jon Fine spent nearly thirty years performing and recording with bands that played aggressive and challenging underground rock music, and, as he writes, at no point were any of those bands ever threatened, even distantly, by actual fame. Yet when the members of his 1980s post-hardcore band Bitch Magnet came together for an unlikely reunion tour in 2011, diehard fans traveled from far and wide to attend their shows, despite creeping middle-age obligations of parenthood and 9-to-5 jobs. \u003cbr\u003e Their devotion was testament to the remarkable staying power of indie culture. In indie rock s pre-Internet glory days, bands like Bitch Magnet, Black Flag, Mission of Burma, and Sonic Youth operating far outside commercial radio and major label promotion attracted fans through word of mouth, college DJs, record stores, and zines. They found glory in all-night recording sessions, shoestring van tours, and endless appearances in grimy clubs. Some bands with a foot in this scene, like REM and Nirvana, eventually attained mainstream success. Many others, like Bitch Magnet, were beloved only by the most obsessed fans of the time. \u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eYour Band Sucks \u003c\/i\u003eis an insider s look at that fascinating, outrageous culture how it emerged and evolved, how it grappled with the mainstream and vice versa, and its odd rebirth in recent years as countless bands reunited, briefly and bittersweetly. With backstage access to many key characters on the scene and plenty of wit and sharply worded opinion Fine delivers a memoir that affectionately yet critically portrays an important, heady moment in music history. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eYour Band Sucks\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Everything a cult-fave musician s memoir should be: It s a seductively readable book that requires no previous knowledge of the author, Bitch Magnet or any other band with which he s played. Janet Maslin, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Jon Fine has produced as evocative a portrait of the underground music scene as any wistful, graying post-punk could wish for. \u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49587665240337,"sku":"GOR009592603","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50096988750097,"sku":"CIN067002659XA","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50304993100049,"sku":"CIN067002659XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52110837154065,"sku":"GOR014459745","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/067002659X.jpg?v=1751168028"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-jon-fine.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}