Sign-In
Cart
Tear It Down: How crossover bridged metal and hardcore punk
Paperback
ISBN13: 9781916864962
Publisher: Earth Island Books
Published: Mar 13 2026
Pages: 646
Weight: 2.65
Height: 1.76 Width: 6.14 Depth: 9.21
Language: English
What happens when hardcore punk collides with metal-and refuses to choose sides?
Tear It Down: How Crossover Bridged Metal and Hardcore Punk captures the violence, creativity, and friction that defined one of the most misunderstood movements in underground music. From widely recognised names such as Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags, The Accused, and D.R.I., to overlooked but essential bands like Beyond Possession, Sacrilege B.C., Lobotomia, and Lethal Aggression, and further into the deepest underground with Ugly But Proud, Whoppers Taste Good, Dresden, and Capitalist Alienation, the book dismantles the idea of a single crossover narrative.
Based on more than 180 interviews with bands worldwide, ranging from original 1980s participants to post-2000 and current bands, Tear It Down centres on the formative years 1980-1990, while tracing crossover's long-term impact and mutations. The book also broadens the conversation through interviews with record labels, visual artists, fanzine creators, and even a blogger, recognising crossover as a culture rather than a style. Alongside, more than 1300 bands are namedropped or reviewed from all over the world.
At 220,000 words and featuring a foreword by Parris Mayhew (founding member of Cro-Mags, White Devil, Aggros), Tear It Down stands as the most extensive document ever produced on the crossover phenomenon.
Also from
Anesiadis, Alexandros
Also in
Punk
Smash!: Green Day, the Offspring, Bad Religion, Nofx, and the '90s Punk Explosion
Winwood, Ian
Hardcover
Emo Revival: Community, Diy, and Rebirth in Post-Hardcore and Emo (2008-2018)
Sacher, Andrew
Paperback
Punk in 50 Pieces: Punk Rock, Post-Punk, New Wave, and the Five Years That Changed Pop Music Forever
Dettmar, Kevin
Hardcover
Where Are Your Boys Tonight?: The Oral History of Emo's Mainstream Explosion 1999-2008
Payne, Chris
Paperback
Burning Down the House: Talking Heads and the New York Scene That Transformed Rock
Gould, Jonathan
Hardcover
Fenway Punk: How a Boston Indie Label Scored Big on Baseball's Greatest Rivalry
Wrenn, Chris
Hardcover
Sellout: The Major-Label Feeding Frenzy That Swept Punk, Emo, and Hardcore (1994-2007)
Ozzi, Dan
Paperback
More Punk Than the Public Library: The Adventures of a Little Free Punk Rock Bookstore
Bennett, J. Hunter
Paperback
Fucked Up + Photocopied: Instant Art of the Punk Rock Movement: 25th Anniversary Edition
Miller, Christopher T.
Turcotte, Bryan Ray
Hardcover
Tearing Down the Orange Curtain: How Punk Rock Brought Orange County to the World
Jackson, Nate
Kohn, Daniel
Hardcover
Resident Punk: How I Smoked, Drank, and Stumbled My Way Through the '70s Punk Scene (and Beyond)
McNeil, Legs
Hardcover
Revenge of the She-Punks: A Feminist Music History from Poly Styrene to Pussy Riot
Goldman, Vivien
Paperback
Gimme Something Better: The Profound, Progressive, and Occasionally Pointless History of Bay Area Punk from Dead Kennedys to Green Day
Boulware, Jack
Tudor, Silke
Paperback
Upside Down Punks: The Strange But True Story of That Fugazi Basketball Hoop Show
Bennett, J. Hunter
Paperback
Disco's Out...Murder's In!: The True Story of Frank the Shank and L.A.'s Deadliest Punk Rock Gang
Mattioli, Heath
Spacone, David
Paperback
Lexicon Devil: The Fast Times and Short Life of Darby Crash and the Germs
Mullen, Brendan
Bolles, Don
Parfrey, Adam
Paperback
Can I Say: Living Large, Cheating Death, and Drums, Drums, Drums
Edwards, Gavin
Barker, Travis
Paperback
Too Much Too Young, the 2 Tone Records Story: Rude Boys, Racism, and the Soundtrack of a Generation
Rachel, Daniel
Hardcover
Cook Your Own Fucking Life: Vegan Comfort Food Recipes to Feed Yourself and Build Community
Palafox, Ashley Rowe
Paperback
The Only Music That Mattered: A Guide to Punk, Post-Punk and Second Wave Ska, 1976-1983
Zukowski, John A.
Paperback
We're Not Here to Entertain: Punk Rock, Ronald Reagan, and the Real Culture War of 1980s America
Mattson, Kevin
Hardcover
Acme Boy: The Birth of Punk & Anti-Fashion 1975 - 1985...and Other Twisted, True Stories from Pre-Internet Counterculture
Strongman, Phil
Paperback
Johnny Thunders: In Cold Blood: The Official Biography: Revised & Updated Edition
Antonia, Nina
Paperback
Tenement Kid: From the Streets of Glasgow in the 1960s to Drummer in Jesus and Mary Chain and Frontman in Primal Scream
Gillespie, Bobby
Paperback
Born of Struggle, Living in Hope: The Anarcho-Punk Lives of the Centro Iberico, 1971-1983
Soulsby, Nick
Paperback
Complicated Fun: The Birth of Minneapolis Punk and Indie Rock, 1974-1984 --- An Oral History
Collins, Cyn
Paperback
MDC: Memoir from a Damaged Civilization: Stories of Punk, Fear, and Redemption
Dictor, Dave
Paperback
Fall Through: A Punk Music LGBTQ+ Love Story by National Book Award-Winning Graphic Novelist Nate Powell
Powell, Nate
Hardcover
Patti Smith Collected Lyrics, 1970-2015: Lyrics, Reflections & Notes for the Future
Smith, Patti
Paperback
Punk and Disorderly: Acting Out Gender and Class in First-Wave British Punk
Fournier, Karen
Paperback
Mc5: An Oral Biography of Rock's Most Revolutionary Band
Tolinski, Brad
Uhelszki, Jaan
Edmonds, Ben
Hardcover
England's Dreaming, Revised Edition: Anarchy, Sex Pistols, Punk Rock, and Beyond
Savage, Jon
Paperback