THE SPITBOY RULE: Tales of a Xicana in a Female Punk Band Book

Most punk histories are written by the people who got the most column inches at the time. Michelle Cruz Gonzales wasn't one of them, which is exactly why this book matters.

Gonzales played drums and wrote lyrics for Spitboy, the Bay Area hardcore band who were doing something genuinely different in the early 90s underground, confronting machismo and identity politics at a time when the scene wasn't exactly ready to hear it. This isn't a riot grrrl memoir, and Gonzales is clear about that distinction. It's a Xicana woman's account of navigating punk spaces that weren't built for her, told with the kind of clarity you only get from someone who had to fight for their place in the room. Essential reading for anyone who cares about the actual history of alternative music, not just the version that ended up on the documentaries.

Paperback. Published by PM Press. Part of their Music and Culture series.