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Summary: Lexicon Devil: The Fast Times and Short Life of Darby Crash
Review: ... This is not only a great book about the Germs and Darby Crash, it is a whole overview of the L.A. punk scene at the time - the only book on The Germs and Darby Crash - by the people that knew him best and were in the thick of it all! Over 120 photos. The book is presented as a lot of medium to short quotes, stories and anecdotes from family, friends, enemies, band-mates, etc.. over 100 notable people in all - recalling the most fascinating moments of the times - compelling you to read on. Also includes lyrics, listing of live gigs and recordings . Four or five years in the making - this book has it all !! I recommend it highly!!
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Summary: Kalediscopic Darby
Review: Adam Parfrey's Feral House gave us another fascinating biography with the same unique format: Nightmare of Ecstasy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood, Jr. (Rudolph Grey, 1992). These books present a chronologically arrayed series of short of paragraph-length quotes from those that knew or experienced the subject. No attempt is made to rectify contradictions. (Looking back, how often can the truth of biographical minutiae really be determined?) The result makes for easy reading and provides a kaleidoscopic view of the subject. In both these cases, that is a complex and controversial artist. Author/editor/publisher Adam Parfrey (Apocalypse Culture, Extreme Islam) stakes a claim in the rich quarry of the violent and dark subcultures and countercultures. Through this lens, Germs vocalist and songwriter Darby Crash appears as both a taunting jester of the burgeoning West Coast punk scene as well as mischievous if not malevolent pied piper leading impressionable thrill seekers into would-be decadence of the type predicted by Oswald Spengler in The Decline Of The West. Through the remembrance quips, Crash also reveals a side as an extremely image-conscious and thus insecure youth struggling more to obscure his homosexuality rather than create a cohesive and worthy artistic legacy. Taken this way, it seems that songs that still reverberate in the global punk community, are only accidental revelations of writing genius whose suicide cut short a career that could have been even more defining on this music genre. Full of black and white pictures, this volume includes lyrics of songs by The Germs and discography as well as a time line of gigs and key events.
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Summary: An important oral history of Darby, the Germs and LA punk
Review: Anyone that has any passing interest in LA/American punk has heard the names Darby Crash and the Germs. The songs of the Germs (Darby Crash/Pat Smear/Lorna Doom/Don Bolles) have been heard for almost 25 years. The image of Darby and the Germs live in the film Decline of the Western Civilization has been visible for almost as long. In the years since his death in 1980, many tales have been told about Darby and the life he led. This book attempts to clear up some of the confusion and offer the story of Darby from people who where there with him. Band members, family members, hanger on's, hustlers, and scene makers all contribute in this recount of the life of Darby Crash.
The charm and allure of this book is that it is not a one-sided biography of Darby. Lexicon Devil is not presented as a "this is how it was" history. Instead, the three co-authors Adam Parfrey(Feral House founder), Brendan Mullen(founder of the Masque) and Don Bolles(drummer for the Germs, Vox Pop, 45 Grave and Celebrity Skin) compile a huge number of recollections and piece them together in chronological order. Lexicon Devil shows how a young man transformed himself from Paul Beahm to Bobby Pyn to Darby Crash and finally to death. This approach bears spectacular results. It allows the reader to see the same occurrences through multiple eyes and perspectives. And while this approach may not be the norm in the world of biographies, it is a style that works in this case; Darby Crash didn't live a life that can be pinned down in a one-dimensional conventional biography.
So was Darby a Manson like cult of personality? Was he a David Bowie glam rock wannabe? Was he a troubled genius? Was he a drunk? Was he a junkie? Was he gay? Was he a suicidal mess? Was he a hustler looking for a handout? Did he create his own myth? All these questions and more are asked during the course of this book. And they are all answered, sometimes by more than one person and sometimes in contradictory terms. So where does the truth lie in regard to the life of Darby Crash? I have no doubt that the real Darby can be found in the pages of this book. Lexicon Devil provides the reader with a few versions of "the truth" and then leaves it up to them to define their version of the real life of Paul/Bobby/Darby.
The folks that contribute to Lexicon Devil read like a who's who of the early LA punk scene. Members of X, the Weirdos, the Screamers, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Black Randy & the Metro Squad, Go-Go's, the Runaways, TSOL, the Dils, the Bags, the Zeroes, Fear, Angry Samoans, as well as other early scenesters all contribute. Also included at the end of the book are short profiles of each contributor.
In addition, this book includes 140 never before published photos, Germs lyrics, a Germs discography, as well as a list of gigs and key events. As a whole, the quality of the book is at the same high level that has come to be expected from any Feral House release.
This book is an important oral history of a person, a band, a time long past that will never be repeated. Today, when "punk" is heard on the radio and seen on MTV or reduced to a hairstyle and mall bought clothes, it is important to remember where, how and why this movement started. The creators of the LA punk scene started something special; Lexicon Devil tells their story and history while they in turn relay the story and history of Darby Crash. (TR)
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Summary: Excellent primer on Darby and the pre-hardcore LA punk scene
Review: As this is a historical document, it surely contains incorrect and biased information.
It's also very interesting and informative, especially if you can trust your own B.S. detector instincts. It's a mixture of half Darby anecdotes and half LA punk underground retrospective.
If nothing else, this is an enlightening and depressing read. Throw MIA into the CD player and crack it open.
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Summary: Very interesting account of the early LA punk scene
Review: Book is commentary of the origins of LA punk with the focus being on Darby Crash and the Germs. The portrayal of togetherness that all these misfit types in the scene formed makes for an interesting story. Is not surprising that a number of people (including Darby) did not survive this party hard, rock harder, lifestyle. A number of people from that time made it thru and have done noteworthy things (John Doe, Exene, Belinda Carlisle, and Pat Smear). If you like punk, you should check this out.
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Summary: This Book Is About Four Stars But Only Deserves Three
Review: Here's a story about Darby Crash and the Germs that didn't make it in the book:
A band from Phoenix, Arizona moved into town and lived in the Masque. They were Brendan Mullen's staff there for a brief period of time. The band was called the Red Army, and just like the Police with blond hair they all had red hair.
They tried to make a name for themselves by threatening all over town to kick Darby's ass. They bragged about it in writing (grafitti at the Masque) and would brag about it verbally to anyone that cared enough to listen.
The Germs had a big show at the Kings Palace (soon to be Rajis) and the Red Army showed up and got in front of the stage. The biggest guy (bass player) punched Darby while he was singing and I think Pat Smear then hit the big guy in the face with his guitar. When the big oaf tried to hit back the Germs' cult of fans closed in on the Red Army and chased them out of the place.
The next and last time I saw the Red Army they traded in their regulation Ramones-style leather jackets and jeans for suits and ties. Their Sid-spiky hair was combed back neatly. They were all standing around Hollywood Boulevard clutching Bibles and preaching gospel to anyone who cared to listen. They traded in hardcore for Heaven. And that's the truth.
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Summary: Darby-The 'Glitter' influenced performance artist
Review: I love The Germs. I love this era of punk rock. I love that Southern California had it's own punk rock cult leader . We went to the same high school! I like how this book portrayed Darby as kind of nerdy and idealistic. I appreciated that he was such an earnest fan of David Bowie,searching for hidden meanings in his lyrics on LSD. I was also fascinated by the strange relationship with his mother. I thought the book did an excellent job of humanizing an "icon". I could really see and feel him as a disturbed young man creating work that still has profound ripple effects.
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Summary: It's all about image-it certainly isn't about the music
Review: I remember first seeing The Germs on the Decline of Western Civilization about 15 years ago. I remember thinking to myself that this band and this lead singer(Crash) are the absolute worst thing I've ever seen or heard. Period. I had to watch it a second time just to believe what I had seen. When I found out later that he had offed himself in a pathetic attempt at the stardom his lack of talent could never achieve, and that The Germs had a cult following as some sort of supposed "seminal band"-I couldn't believe people were talking about the same band. It's more than obvious that most people who claim to like the Germs or Crash have never listened to their music or just don't care what they sounded like. They're into them for the "image". Because that's all they have to offer. A dead lead singer who supposedly didn't "conform" to any standards. When actually he was a pathetic, attention starved idiot who would do anything for everyone's attention-just as long as he didn't have to put any thought or effort into it. He was only concerned about trying to get everone's adulation and glory. He was the pathetic kid at school who follows the "in" group around saying "hey, like me!" while they kick him in the face and spit on him. That's supposed to be non-conformist and original?? Sorry, but being a pathetic slobbering idiot crying for everyones attention is only one thing-STUPID.
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Summary: Disappointed
Review: In recent years, there have been some really good books written about the American hardcore punk scene, but Lexicon Devil is not one of them. Darby Crash was a punk James Dean, and it is long overdue that his life and work deserve a decent examination. In that regard, Lexicon Devil suceeds: Crash's background and upbringing give some insight into the mind of this complex and deeply troubled young man. The problem with this book, however, lies in the fact that it spends too much time on passges about hangers on, groupies, and people on the periphery of Crash, the Germs, and the LA punk scene. Worthless characters are introduced or mentioned briefly without context as to why they are important to the story. The focus of the book gets lost in several places because of this. In my opinion, a decent editor could have easily trimmed about 50 pages, and made a more cohesive piece of work. Finally, given that this is a bio of someone who killed himself at the age of 22, to describe Lexicon Devil as a downer goes without saying. Still, some of the events described within this book are simply stomach turning. I seriously doubt anyone would want to put themselves through the misery of reading it more than once.
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Summary: Before the sickness there was The Germs
Review: Leave it to Feral House to offer one of the best books on punk rock ever printed. LA punk is terribly underrated and "We Got The Neutron Bomb" was alright, a glimpse into the LA scene. But after I finished that book, I couldn't help but want wonder, what else? There had to be more to it than that. Well, Brendan Mullen's second book on the subject (albeit focused on just one figure from the LA scene), is so completely dense with information, it's frightening! This visceral and engrossing book affected my subconscious to such an intense degree, my dreams were haunted by the presence of Darby Crash! It's that real, that deep and that provoking. With insight, observations and reporting from hundreds of people who were there, the people who were closest to Darby, from his family, his school friends, his band mates, to his musician peers, general acquaintances, on-lookers and hangers-on, supplemented with an extensively researched list of live performances, discography and lyrics, jam-packed with photos, "Lexicon Devil" will no doubt be the quintessential biography on one of the most misunderstood cultural icons of punk rock, as well as the 20th century. Darby and the Germs wrote the blueprint for Hard Core. And Brendan, Don and especially Adam Parfrey, who provided what no commercial publisher would even have the guts to suggest, should be applauded for doing what needed to be done: recognizing the legacy and significance of Darby Crash, the Germs and LA punk rock.
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