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Punk Spirit!
An Oral History of Punk Rock, Spirituality, and Liberation
Punk Spirit!
An Oral History of Punk Rock, Spirituality, and Liberation
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Description
A wide cast of musicians and artists provide surprising and thought-provoking insights into punk rock from the lens of spirituality and liberation.
Punk Spirit! is an oral history that examines this movement from many unique perspectives, bringing together well-known and cutting-edge bands including Sex Pistols, Minor Threat, Dead Kennedys, The Ramones, Gang of Four, Pussy Riot, Crass, Talking Heads, Propagandhi, The Slits, Bad Religion, Shelter, Rebel Riot, Blackfire, and many others.
Punk Spirit! ventures into the emotional and personal experiences of punk artists and activists from around the world and highlights intelligent, thoughtful, and humorous discussions on liberation, spirituality, and living freely. They discuss a myriad of topics from creativity and anger to freedom from suffering and the ways that punk rock has opposed or embodied religious and moral tenets. Chapters dive deeply into a variety of interconnected realms of punk rock such as the subgenre of straight edge, Krishnacore and Taqwacore, evangelical punk concerts in southern California churches, illegal punk concerts in East German churches, anti-religious sentiment within punk rock, the vital connections between punk and self-expression, and the myriad ways punk rock has been combined with spiritual and religious traditions to illuminate ideas from science, atheism, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and other ways of being in the world.
Table of Contents
INVOCATION / BLESSING: “Be Punk Now” by Reverend Billy Talen (The Church of Stop Shopping)
INTRODUCTION: The Music of No Music
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND GRATITUDE
1. PUNK AND SPIRITUALITY Direct Connection / Meaning and Purpose / In the Flow
2. “WHAT WE ALL WANT” Creative Self-Expression / Authenticity / Liberation & Living Free
3. “WHAT'S SO FUNNY ABOUT PEACE, LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING?” Revolutionary Compassion and Love / From DIY to Do It Together / Beyond Ego
4. “ANGER IS AN ENERGY”
5. “BLEED FOR ME” Self-Harm in Punk Rock
6. “ALL RELIGIONS MAKE ME SICK” Atheism / Anti-Authoritarian / Anti-War
7. “THE DISSENT OF MAN” Bad Religion and Greg Graffin / Science vs. Religion
8. “NO SPIRITUAL SURRENDER” Indigenous Punk Rock / Blackfire / Sihasin / Iconoclast / Observer Syndrome
9. “JESUS DIED FOR SOMEBODY'S SINS…” Jesus and Christianity in Punk Rock
10. “JESUS IS PUNK” Christian Punk in Southern California - The Altar Boys / Undercover
11. CHURCH FROM BELOW Kirche von Unten (KvU) – East German Punk / Zionskirche
12. CALM FOR THE REVOLUTION Meditation / Living Free / Transcend Emotions
13. “DON'T DRINK DON'T SMOKE” Straight Edge / Positive Mental Attitude - Minor Threat / Bad Brains
14. “MEDITATE AND DESTROY” Dharma Punx and Noah Levine, The Deathless
15. “MY BUDDHA IS PUNK” - Kyaw Thu Win and Rebel Riot in Myanmar
16. “HARDCORE ZEN” Brad Warner and ODFX
17. “NOT A BUDDHIST PUNK BAND!” Ruin / Sense Field / Deathless / Buddhadatta
18. “MESSAGE OF THE BHAGAVAT” Krishnacore, Raghunath Ray Cappo – Youth of Today & Shelter / Rob Fish - 108
19. “MUHAMMAD WAS A PUNK ROCKER” Taqwacore and Islamic Punk
20. “AVRAHAM WAS A PUNK ROCKER” Jewish Punk Rock / HeeBee GeeBee's at CBGB's / Punk Jews / Moshiach Oi!
21. PUNK IN THE PROMISED LAND Punk Rock in Israel / War in the Middle East
22. PUNKS FOR PALESTINE Los Angeles 2024 – System of Hate / Inqirad
23. “WHERE WERE YOU ON 9/11?” Haram
24. “LIFE IS A GIGANTIC MYSTERY” Impermanence / Death / Mystery & Paradox
LIST OF INTERVIEWS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Product details

Published | 13 Nov 2025 |
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Format | Ebook (PDF) |
Edition | 1st |
Extent | 384 |
ISBN | 9798765155950 |
Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
Illustrations | 24 b/w photos |
Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
About the contributors
Reviews
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I devoured Punk Spirit! in two sittings. It was pure enjoyment to read – pure exhilaration! Crack open Punk Spirit! and behold a 'volatile church' where the lifeblood of a rich, complex, and passionately punk spirituality surges through every page. Incited by John Malkin's galvanizing questions, the collective voices of his interlocutors raise up a kaleidoscopic vision of punk spirit that is as vibrantly alive as it is full of surprises.
Glenn Wallis, Guitarist for Ruin, Author of An Anarchist's Manifesto
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Punk Spirit! is an affirming and varied testimony to the significance of punk music and spirit in the library of humanity and existence. Explore! The Spirit of Punk reflects how in our extreme punk expression of letting go of societal norms and indoctrination, we find liberation and peace in reaching for and manifesting another state of being and its possibilities.
Yaotl Mazahua, Iconoclast, Aztlan Underground (aka Anahuak Underground)
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Punk rock means many things to many people. It can be contradictory; it can be exhilarating; it can be nihilistic or it can be empowering. The best thing about punk is that everything is up for grabs and every angle and contradiction is fascinating, and this book tries to make sense of the madness and to find the meaning in the noise and the spirituality in the energy and the idealism in the anger.
John Robb, Bassist and Singer for The Membranes, Author of Punk Rock: An Oral History and The Art of Darkness: The History of Goth
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Punk Spirit! is an important contribution to the ongoing conversation about how music, belief, and action intersect. John Malkin has spent decades listening deeply, and it shows – this book brings together a wide range of voices with honesty and care. For those of us who came up in punk clubs and later found a home in spiritual practice, this book isn't just interesting – it's personal.
Miguel Chen, Bassist for Teenage Bottlerocket; Author of I Wanna Be Well: How a Punk Found Peace and You Can Too and The Death of You: A Book for Anyone Who Might Not Live Forever
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A skilled interviewer, John Malkin is one of a handful of punk mavens willing to explore its deep, spiritual intimations. This is a monumental collection of conversations, offering anyone with a reasonable curiosity about punk rock and spirituality the opportunity to understand their amorphous, vibrant, and sometimes revolutionary entanglements. If God is dead, punk is not dead, and the anti-establishment postures and rebellious spirit captured in Malkin's book lives on!
Ken Chitwood, Religion Scholar, Journalist, Theologian
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Punk is far from dead; it is getting richer and richer. We are lucky to have John Malkin look at a very specific aspect of that world. With gems from more than 150 interviews conducted over the course of a quarter century, Punk Spirit! is an important contribution to the ever-growing oral history of one of the world's most compelling subcultures.
Gabriel Kuhn, Author of Sober Living for the Revolution: Hardcore Punk, Straight Edge, and Radical Politics