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33⅓ Main Series #126
The Raincoats
In 1979, from the basement of a London squat, The Raincoats reinvented what punk could be. They had a violin player. They came from Portugal, Spain, and England. Their anarchy was poetic. Working with the iconic Rough Trade Records at its radical beginnings, they were the first group of punk women to actively call themselves feminists.
In this short book—the first on The Raincoats—author Jenn Pelly tells the story of the group's audacious debut album, which Kurt Cobain once called “wonderfully classic scripture.” Pelly builds on rare archival materials and extensive interviews with members of The Raincoats, Sleater-Kinney, Bikini Kill, Hole, Scritti Politti, Gang of Four, and more. She draws formal inspiration from the collage-like The Raincoats itself to explore this album's magic, vulnerability, and strength.
In this short book—the first on The Raincoats—author Jenn Pelly tells the story of the group's audacious debut album, which Kurt Cobain once called “wonderfully classic scripture.” Pelly builds on rare archival materials and extensive interviews with members of The Raincoats, Sleater-Kinney, Bikini Kill, Hole, Scritti Politti, Gang of Four, and more. She draws formal inspiration from the collage-like The Raincoats itself to explore this album's magic, vulnerability, and strength.
150 pages, Paperback
First published October 5, 2017
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446 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
September 27, 2017
This album is the best, and this book does it justice. If you want to know why the Raincoats were and continue to be important and life affirming (or you already know that but want more Raincoats love in your life) read this book.
December 3, 2017
The 33 1/3 series has been wildly uneven in terms of quality, with the visual design of the covers being the only consistently reliable element. I’ve continued to buy titles mainly because, at the very least, there is usually some baseline level of interesting band/album background history and author enthusiasm about the subject.
For me, this book was one of the better reads in the series. The author was well-matched to the band, who were generous with their own archives and clearly happy and eager to tell their own story.
It certainly helped that the Raincoats themselves seem to be among the most empathetic rock artists ever, and Pelly earned their trust early in the writing/research process.
The feminist aspect of the band comes across strongly on every page, with the band members’ fondness for and solidarity with each other, their friends, musical peers, fans, and humanity in general contrasting starkly with the reflexive cynicism and self-importance of many rock stars. Every performative aspect of making music was infused with political significance, from Palmolive’s insistence on not “dictating” the band with a beat, to the signature gang vocals on the song choruses. For a story that includes Palmolive and Lora Logic (both kicked out of important punk bands), there is no bitterness or lashing out to be found, just a desire among all involved to keep searching and creating and expressing.
In the world of punk history, there is an understandable and admirable (if frustrating) tendency for the key players to view with suspicion all modern attempts at documenting, archiving, and contextualizing the movement. Nostalgia is antithetical to most aspects of punk’s counterculture, and “no future” was a key tenet. But for bands like the Raincoats and the Slits, who were arguably misunderstood or deliberately misrepresented by media during their initial runs, there is a need to set the record straight, and the band members’ cooperation and generosity feels perfectly in keeping with their own unique take on punk.
The balance between historical information, the author’s own fandom, song interpretation/lyrical exegesis, cultural impact, and direct artist involvement felt just right.
This is just the latest exhibit for the case that “girls invented punk”, embodied its spirit the most, and created its most important documents.
For me, this book was one of the better reads in the series. The author was well-matched to the band, who were generous with their own archives and clearly happy and eager to tell their own story.
It certainly helped that the Raincoats themselves seem to be among the most empathetic rock artists ever, and Pelly earned their trust early in the writing/research process.
The feminist aspect of the band comes across strongly on every page, with the band members’ fondness for and solidarity with each other, their friends, musical peers, fans, and humanity in general contrasting starkly with the reflexive cynicism and self-importance of many rock stars. Every performative aspect of making music was infused with political significance, from Palmolive’s insistence on not “dictating” the band with a beat, to the signature gang vocals on the song choruses. For a story that includes Palmolive and Lora Logic (both kicked out of important punk bands), there is no bitterness or lashing out to be found, just a desire among all involved to keep searching and creating and expressing.
In the world of punk history, there is an understandable and admirable (if frustrating) tendency for the key players to view with suspicion all modern attempts at documenting, archiving, and contextualizing the movement. Nostalgia is antithetical to most aspects of punk’s counterculture, and “no future” was a key tenet. But for bands like the Raincoats and the Slits, who were arguably misunderstood or deliberately misrepresented by media during their initial runs, there is a need to set the record straight, and the band members’ cooperation and generosity feels perfectly in keeping with their own unique take on punk.
The balance between historical information, the author’s own fandom, song interpretation/lyrical exegesis, cultural impact, and direct artist involvement felt just right.
This is just the latest exhibit for the case that “girls invented punk”, embodied its spirit the most, and created its most important documents.
January 25, 2020
I love The Raincoats so much. This book is great
December 26, 2017
oh i loved this intervention! i loved the archive pelly sits in ! pulling out de beauvoir, emma goldman, french cinematic criticism, chris kraus, foucault to create a fully felt ode to this formative band extending far beyond a fannish critique localized solely unto one band. i wanted to scream when pelly took up the raincoats as a band that could speak to a fractured unstable sense of (femme-inine) self! pelly argues that the band echoed a foucauldian destabilized self, pushing back against 20th-century rock/folk's impulse for the musician to be a Romantic figure who is Authentic, Sincere, Fully-Formed. also looved her assertion that empathy is not antithetical but central to punkness: "Rough trade and The Raincoats made art, curiosity, and empathy synonymous with a punk culture already in flux" <3
the text speaks about music and the critic/consumers place in sitting in it in such a compelling, urgent, tender, political, reverent, high-stakes manner, 5/5
the text speaks about music and the critic/consumers place in sitting in it in such a compelling, urgent, tender, political, reverent, high-stakes manner, 5/5
December 30, 2017
So good!
December 12, 2019
A fun and well-researched read. I’m not usually one for the tedium of bands’ inner-workings, but the size of this book is just right, and woven with thoughtful musings about feminism, art, and even literary criticism. The author also provides context to each band member’s upbringing and what they brought to the Raincoats as musicians, thinkers, and down-to-earth human beings.
May 1, 2020
When Jenn Pelly gets over 100 pages to talk about a band/album, she doesn’t waste a single sentence. Such a good investigation in to how the content of this album radiates radically outward and inward, reflecting the reality of its time while also creating a blueprint for those following it. BlSjwjdheheh Fantastic i’m gonna go listen to this album 50 times in a row
May 9, 2025
Great! It was fascinating to dive into an album that I've loved for years. Reminds me that I should listen to the rest of the Raincoats discography!
December 17, 2021
This is, without doubt, my favourite of all the '33/3' books that I've read so far; the very antithesis of the 'Dusty in Memphis' fiasco. That the subject is one of my all-time favourite albums may have coloured my outlook a little, I can't deny, but it is beautifully written and researched.
It's unquestionably the best, most informative, thing I've ever read about The Raincoats - there is real insight into what makes them tick as individuals, the experiences that shaped their outlook and in particular the unconventional, unique sound that some people struggled to assimilate; the notion that rhythms didn't have to follow the punk-cliched four-on-the-floor, but instead could owe more to the rhythms of everyday life - like the bus stopping and starting.
Jenn Pelly closes the book by explaining that she derives psychic and emotional strength from every play of this album, and that pretty much sums up my feelings too. Listen to the album, read the book and discover what you've been missing for these last 40 years or so.
It's unquestionably the best, most informative, thing I've ever read about The Raincoats - there is real insight into what makes them tick as individuals, the experiences that shaped their outlook and in particular the unconventional, unique sound that some people struggled to assimilate; the notion that rhythms didn't have to follow the punk-cliched four-on-the-floor, but instead could owe more to the rhythms of everyday life - like the bus stopping and starting.
Jenn Pelly closes the book by explaining that she derives psychic and emotional strength from every play of this album, and that pretty much sums up my feelings too. Listen to the album, read the book and discover what you've been missing for these last 40 years or so.
May 6, 2018
Pretentious word ahead. This book transcends the genre of music criticism. It deserves a prominent place in the feminist canon. I learned of the book because the author was on Maximumrocknroll Radio. I probably wouldn’t have read it because it’s about an album I’ve never really gotten — but, wow. Consider this quote given to Rolling Stone magazine by the band in 1980: “Rock ’n’ roll is based on black music. And it’s based in the exclusion of women and the ghettoization of blacks. Which is why we want to put a bit of distance between what we do and the rock ’n’ roll tradition.” Even if you don’t like or know the album — where they sometimes sing out of tune and off the beat — you'll learn so much about life and feminism and art. It’s simply great. So one final quote. It was the first band of all punk women to identify as feminists. One of the members clarified to the British music magazine NME: “[Feminism] is only a dirty word in the eyes of those who are threatened by what it represents.” Grade: A
May 3, 2020
“‘The Raincoats’ is a collage of four brilliantly disparate people. There are primal instincts mixed with classically-trained musicality, raw energy and intuition mixed with conceptualism and theory. There is playfulness alongside stoicism. Impulsiveness and also a cerebral approach. Anguish mixed with joy. Pop and noise. Freedom and a sense of learning to be free. This multiplicity make ‘The Raincoats’ magic.”
Wow, what a great bite-sized telling of the band’s beginning and debut. Other than their “Lola” cover, I’d never listened to the Raincoats before, so this was a really rich introduction to the album, band, and context of the times. I loved the variety of voices Pelly includes, and her own passion for telling this often-untold piece of punk’s history comes across clearly.
Wow, what a great bite-sized telling of the band’s beginning and debut. Other than their “Lola” cover, I’d never listened to the Raincoats before, so this was a really rich introduction to the album, band, and context of the times. I loved the variety of voices Pelly includes, and her own passion for telling this often-untold piece of punk’s history comes across clearly.
January 21, 2019
I’m late in my discovery of The Raincoats but the gaps were filled in by reading this book. I love all the commentaries with Mary Timony, Carrie Brownstein, Kathi and Tobi. Usually 33 1/3 books miss the mark for me. They can be mediocre reads on albums you love that you keep fingers crossed the author does it some justice. This one is well done.
January 14, 2018
really great-- jenn pelly is one of my favorite music writers and this book exemplifies the power that the 33 1/3 series can have at its best. i love "the raincoats" and have for quite some time but reading this provided me with a context for listening that added a new dimension to my appreciation of the band and totally reoriented the way i approached the album. highly recommend.
April 29, 2018
I'm one of those people who learned about the Raincoats from the liner notes of Nirvana's Incesticide. For over 20 years, I'd remembered Kurt Cobain's comment about hidden copies of The Raincoats (eponymous first album) in fryer vats in kebab shops throughout the UK. It's funny, I learned from this book that Geffen actually reissued The Raincoats in the 1990s. But it was before the internet and I didn't know at the time. I somehow acquired a third-hand cassette copy in the early 2000s. I was living in a punk house and it disappeared at some point. I was really sad, especially as the songs got stuck in my head and seemed to be the perfect soundtrack to my late teen/early 20s girl/woman self. Eventually, probably around 2005, I did finally acquire another copy of the album. Although in recent years it has not been on heavy rotation in my life, I couldn't resist picking up this book when I saw it as just looking at this album cover triggers all sorts of memories for me.
That was the thing about The Raincoats: listening to them felt like listening to people baring their souls but they seemed so mysterious at the same time. It was so hard to find out who those people were. Jenn Pelly does a good job in this short book of delving into that mysteriousness, talking a bit about the band members' life experiences, the milieu that they inhabited when they recorded this significant album and the motivations and meanings behind the songs. Pelly has clearly done her research and engaged really well with the band members. But this is not just rock and roll hagiography, she also provides some pop cultural analysis, largely focused around the idea that The Raincoats is a remarkable album because it taps into and presents a compelling portrait of an evolving and becoming female interior life. Pelly latches onto what has always been one of the most compelling Raincoats lyrics for me: it makes no difference night or day / no one teaches you how to live!
Perhaps that explains why I enjoyed this book but didn't love it, I'm too old and this album no longer sends chills down my spine like it once did. Yeah, I loved it when I was watching Mike Mills' 20th Century Women and Fairytale in the Supermarket came on and I watched two characters dance around on screen to the song with the line about learning how to live (which gets a mention here). What I really wanted out of this book was a bit of discussion from the band members about what they did next and why, how this album and this period shaped their lives. I loved that aspect of Slits guitarist Viv Albertine's biography. And maybe I want too much. This book clearly presents itself as about this album and not more. But once I started to demystify The Raincoats, I wanted to demystify everything I knew about the band. But that book doesn't exist yet.
That was the thing about The Raincoats: listening to them felt like listening to people baring their souls but they seemed so mysterious at the same time. It was so hard to find out who those people were. Jenn Pelly does a good job in this short book of delving into that mysteriousness, talking a bit about the band members' life experiences, the milieu that they inhabited when they recorded this significant album and the motivations and meanings behind the songs. Pelly has clearly done her research and engaged really well with the band members. But this is not just rock and roll hagiography, she also provides some pop cultural analysis, largely focused around the idea that The Raincoats is a remarkable album because it taps into and presents a compelling portrait of an evolving and becoming female interior life. Pelly latches onto what has always been one of the most compelling Raincoats lyrics for me: it makes no difference night or day / no one teaches you how to live!
Perhaps that explains why I enjoyed this book but didn't love it, I'm too old and this album no longer sends chills down my spine like it once did. Yeah, I loved it when I was watching Mike Mills' 20th Century Women and Fairytale in the Supermarket came on and I watched two characters dance around on screen to the song with the line about learning how to live (which gets a mention here). What I really wanted out of this book was a bit of discussion from the band members about what they did next and why, how this album and this period shaped their lives. I loved that aspect of Slits guitarist Viv Albertine's biography. And maybe I want too much. This book clearly presents itself as about this album and not more. But once I started to demystify The Raincoats, I wanted to demystify everything I knew about the band. But that book doesn't exist yet.
January 4, 2018
I guess I really hadn't known so much about The Raincoats!
Jenn Pelly's 33 1/3 book on the band's first LP sets the scene for the genesis of the band, offering back stories on each band member, and dipping into a bit of general Rough Trade lore. From there, Pelly tackles the record a song at a time, digging deep into lyrics as the band's repertoire, live show and album take shape.
Pelly tries to approach her task from a "personal" vantage point, circling the ineffable magic that has made the album such an enduring favorite. That tone understandably defers to the journalistic necessity of retelling the band's stories. Fortunately, Pelly seems to have had terrific access to the band. There's a wealth of first-hand anecdotes here, and The Raincoats are able to amend the record on their relationship to punk, collectivism, feminism, musicianship, etc. Pelly does a nice job of relating the record to fellow travelers working in other mediums, but is less successful in imposing handy frameworks on the album ("cinematic," for example).
Of course the story of 'The Raincoats' is also the story of its "rediscovery" in the United States in the 1990s. Thus Kurt Cobain makes a not insignificant appearance in the book, and a few other notable fans (Tobi Vail, for example) are interviewed about the record. Also briefly mentioned: '10 Things I Hate About You.'
This was a nice companion to a favorite record, rich with trivia and a few name-drops that sent me a-Googling. Time will tell if the deep dive into lyrical content will enrich my listening, but I'm certainly glad to have a be better acquainted now.
Jenn Pelly's 33 1/3 book on the band's first LP sets the scene for the genesis of the band, offering back stories on each band member, and dipping into a bit of general Rough Trade lore. From there, Pelly tackles the record a song at a time, digging deep into lyrics as the band's repertoire, live show and album take shape.
Pelly tries to approach her task from a "personal" vantage point, circling the ineffable magic that has made the album such an enduring favorite. That tone understandably defers to the journalistic necessity of retelling the band's stories. Fortunately, Pelly seems to have had terrific access to the band. There's a wealth of first-hand anecdotes here, and The Raincoats are able to amend the record on their relationship to punk, collectivism, feminism, musicianship, etc. Pelly does a nice job of relating the record to fellow travelers working in other mediums, but is less successful in imposing handy frameworks on the album ("cinematic," for example).
Of course the story of 'The Raincoats' is also the story of its "rediscovery" in the United States in the 1990s. Thus Kurt Cobain makes a not insignificant appearance in the book, and a few other notable fans (Tobi Vail, for example) are interviewed about the record. Also briefly mentioned: '10 Things I Hate About You.'
This was a nice companion to a favorite record, rich with trivia and a few name-drops that sent me a-Googling. Time will tell if the deep dive into lyrical content will enrich my listening, but I'm certainly glad to have a be better acquainted now.
April 17, 2020
I saw The Raincoats a couple of months ago on their 40th anniversary tour and I was blown away by them. Both the stage and audience was full of women in their 60s making and dancing intensely to this strange emotional music and I immediately wanted to know everything about this glorious, ground-breaking band.
Jenn Pelly does a brilliant job in a small volume to get across the origins, process and legacy of a band that saw traditional music as a patriarchal form and wanted to create something entirely new to express their experiences. From Palmolive and Ana da Silva's experiences growing up in fascist countries, to misogyny in the punk scene, through The Raincoats' DIY creative processes and relationship with Rough Trade, to Kurt Cobain's love of them and their influence on the riot grrl movement this is a full account of a pivotal album in music history.
Highly recommended for punk fans or just those who love reading about women making extraordinary things from nothing.
Jenn Pelly does a brilliant job in a small volume to get across the origins, process and legacy of a band that saw traditional music as a patriarchal form and wanted to create something entirely new to express their experiences. From Palmolive and Ana da Silva's experiences growing up in fascist countries, to misogyny in the punk scene, through The Raincoats' DIY creative processes and relationship with Rough Trade, to Kurt Cobain's love of them and their influence on the riot grrl movement this is a full account of a pivotal album in music history.
Highly recommended for punk fans or just those who love reading about women making extraordinary things from nothing.
October 28, 2017
An intensely satisfying and well written piece of music criticism. I was pretty unfamiliar with the album when I started reading Pelly's entry in the 33 1/3 series, but after taking in this deep dive on the Raincoats' self-titled 1979 LP will be in regular rotation. Pelly's analysis and personal connection to the album add untold levels of affection to this book. Maybe one of the best books ever written about punk music.
May 6, 2021
Jenn Pelly’s thoughtful, well researched meditation on why The Raincoats album The Raincoats is so good and important does the hit and miss 33 ⅓ series proud. That the Raincoats’ music is still hard to define 40 plus years after their eponymous debut is the music’s obfuscating, idiosyncratic non-point. Still, Pelly manages to poetically capture the essence of an early all female and devoutly feminist band: their oblique rule breaking, and their unintentional, outsized influence
October 14, 2017
I didn't think anything could make me love the Raincoats more than I already did. This was a joy to read.
October 19, 2017
This book made me sob more than once, but I love this band and all they stood/stand for. A seriously uplifting, free, and complex work.
November 7, 2017
love love love
hugely inspiring band, beautifully written book
<3 <3 <3
hugely inspiring band, beautifully written book
<3 <3 <3
August 21, 2022
Back when I was writing about music, in my review of The Raincoats, I said that while I am no gender essentialist, it was difficult -- if not impossible -- for me to imagine any boy/man group making music anything like The Raincoats were making. They were -- are -- like no other bank I've ever heard. Sometimes categorized as "post punk" the whole Raincoats project may be the most punk expression of all. Kiwi Smith, co-writer of the film 10 Things I Hate About You describes them perfectly: "The Raincoats seemed eccentric...feeling different. They sounded private and curious, like odd people, but very decidedly feminine. The way they dressed was simple, which was beguiling. The Raincoats were less like, 'LOOK AT ME!', which seemed to show there was room for every type of woman in this feminist punk movement. You could be a beautiful weirdo."
If you aren't familiar with The Raincoats, you may be with a cinematic pop moment where their whole aesthetic was centered in the film 20th Century Women where the single mom, Dorothea (Annette Benning) walks in on her boarder Abbie (Greta Gerwig) who is introducing her son Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann) to the Raincoats' "Fairytale in the Supermarket" and Dorothea asks what they are listening to.
Abbie: It's the Raincoats.
Dorothea: Can't things just be pretty?
Jamie: "Pretty" music's used to hide how unfair and corrupt society is.
Dorothea: Ah, okay so -- they're not very good, and they know that right?
Abbie: Yea, it's like they've got this feeling, and they don't have any skill, and they don't want skill, because it's really interesting what happens when your passion is bigger than the tools you have to deal with it. It creates this energy that's raw. Isn't it great?
And yeah, it IS great!
And so is Jenn Pelly's "biography" of the The Raincoats eponymous debut album. Pelly takes this music personally and her passion for the music, the lyrics, the feeling that is The Raincoats permeates her telling of their story. Pelly doesn't do a song by song analysis but interweaves song analysis with the circumstances of the song she's writing about -- the philosophical or political influences -- or the real story of a woman's assault that makes up "Off Duty Trip," one of the most powerful songs on the record.
Without The Raincoats, it's arguable whether there would have been the Riot Grrrl Movement. Certainly they were a big influence on bands such as Bikini Kill, Le Tigre and others, and their influence continues with songwriters such as Angel Olsen, with whom The Raincoats played back in 2016!
I only got to see them play live at their famous gig at The Kitchen, recorded and released as The Kitchen Tapes and it stands as one of the five or six most transformative performances I ever saw (and seeing The Velvet Underground tops that list).
If you love The Raincoats, you will want to read this book. If you don't know The Raincoats, give them a chance. But be forewarned: there's an open-ended, wobbliness to this music, it (and the band) is something that is both fragilely human and vulnerable AND yet a 'take no prisoners' strength in it.
Pelly ends by sharing that Gina (one of The Raincoats) asked her if she would be making her book about the Raincoats first album "personal." Pelly writes a summation that captures what The Raincoats are... what they mean to all of us who love them: "In so much as every bar of The Raincoats feels attuned to my humanity, the entire book is personal. 'No one teaches you how to live' -- or think, or listen, or love, or write. But The Raincoats gives me psychic and emotional strength each time I play it. More than a mirror, it turns out -- like a note slid across time -- this album helps me see in myself what I often cannot: That I am no alone."
If you aren't familiar with The Raincoats, you may be with a cinematic pop moment where their whole aesthetic was centered in the film 20th Century Women where the single mom, Dorothea (Annette Benning) walks in on her boarder Abbie (Greta Gerwig) who is introducing her son Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann) to the Raincoats' "Fairytale in the Supermarket" and Dorothea asks what they are listening to.
Abbie: It's the Raincoats.
Dorothea: Can't things just be pretty?
Jamie: "Pretty" music's used to hide how unfair and corrupt society is.
Dorothea: Ah, okay so -- they're not very good, and they know that right?
Abbie: Yea, it's like they've got this feeling, and they don't have any skill, and they don't want skill, because it's really interesting what happens when your passion is bigger than the tools you have to deal with it. It creates this energy that's raw. Isn't it great?
And yeah, it IS great!
And so is Jenn Pelly's "biography" of the The Raincoats eponymous debut album. Pelly takes this music personally and her passion for the music, the lyrics, the feeling that is The Raincoats permeates her telling of their story. Pelly doesn't do a song by song analysis but interweaves song analysis with the circumstances of the song she's writing about -- the philosophical or political influences -- or the real story of a woman's assault that makes up "Off Duty Trip," one of the most powerful songs on the record.
Without The Raincoats, it's arguable whether there would have been the Riot Grrrl Movement. Certainly they were a big influence on bands such as Bikini Kill, Le Tigre and others, and their influence continues with songwriters such as Angel Olsen, with whom The Raincoats played back in 2016!
I only got to see them play live at their famous gig at The Kitchen, recorded and released as The Kitchen Tapes and it stands as one of the five or six most transformative performances I ever saw (and seeing The Velvet Underground tops that list).
If you love The Raincoats, you will want to read this book. If you don't know The Raincoats, give them a chance. But be forewarned: there's an open-ended, wobbliness to this music, it (and the band) is something that is both fragilely human and vulnerable AND yet a 'take no prisoners' strength in it.
Pelly ends by sharing that Gina (one of The Raincoats) asked her if she would be making her book about the Raincoats first album "personal." Pelly writes a summation that captures what The Raincoats are... what they mean to all of us who love them: "In so much as every bar of The Raincoats feels attuned to my humanity, the entire book is personal. 'No one teaches you how to live' -- or think, or listen, or love, or write. But The Raincoats gives me psychic and emotional strength each time I play it. More than a mirror, it turns out -- like a note slid across time -- this album helps me see in myself what I often cannot: That I am no alone."
July 7, 2018
i love jenn pelly. liz and jenn are two of my favorite writers, so i was stoked beyond belief when this was announced. i made a spotify playlist of the relevant songs/artists mentioned, if you're so inclined (https://open.spotify.com/user/1217034...).
this is only the 2nd 33 1/3 book i've read—'kick out the jams' didn't do much for me (the book or the album), but i had much higher hopes for this one. i've always loved the raincoats, but never knew very much about them—i knew they shared a member with the slits, i knew kurt cobain was one of their big fans, that was about it. to be fair, i hadn't done much digging, so i can't vouch for how much of the information in this book could have been obtained easily from other sources. regardless, i learned a lot from it (i loved finding out that the raincoats were tight with gang of four!) and i think it has a lot to offer someone who's never heard of the raincoats as much as someone who thinks they know everything about the band.
my only problem with the book was pretty minor—sometimes i feel like jenn pelly puts a little too much of herself into her journalism in a way i don't get much from. i'm a big proponent of putting oneself in one's writing and making bias apparent and i appreciate that in her writing, but sometimes it feels a little bit much for me. the anecdote at the end about introducing the raincoats to angel olsen embarrassed me a little—it felt weirdly self-congratulatory and out of place. it didn't come anywhere near ruining the book for me, though, and only shows itself here and there (i felt like another section like this was the one about kurt cobain—knowing jenn pelly's other writing about nirvana, it felt a little heavy-handed). i loved reading this book and it gave me a huge new appreciation for and understanding of the raincoats. i'd probably re-read it and i think everyone with any interest in music or feminism, let alone the raincoats specifically, should give it a look.
this is only the 2nd 33 1/3 book i've read—'kick out the jams' didn't do much for me (the book or the album), but i had much higher hopes for this one. i've always loved the raincoats, but never knew very much about them—i knew they shared a member with the slits, i knew kurt cobain was one of their big fans, that was about it. to be fair, i hadn't done much digging, so i can't vouch for how much of the information in this book could have been obtained easily from other sources. regardless, i learned a lot from it (i loved finding out that the raincoats were tight with gang of four!) and i think it has a lot to offer someone who's never heard of the raincoats as much as someone who thinks they know everything about the band.
my only problem with the book was pretty minor—sometimes i feel like jenn pelly puts a little too much of herself into her journalism in a way i don't get much from. i'm a big proponent of putting oneself in one's writing and making bias apparent and i appreciate that in her writing, but sometimes it feels a little bit much for me. the anecdote at the end about introducing the raincoats to angel olsen embarrassed me a little—it felt weirdly self-congratulatory and out of place. it didn't come anywhere near ruining the book for me, though, and only shows itself here and there (i felt like another section like this was the one about kurt cobain—knowing jenn pelly's other writing about nirvana, it felt a little heavy-handed). i loved reading this book and it gave me a huge new appreciation for and understanding of the raincoats. i'd probably re-read it and i think everyone with any interest in music or feminism, let alone the raincoats specifically, should give it a look.
April 4, 2018
Back in 2001 I bought the Rough Trade Shops 25 year anniversary boxset - which exposed me to a ton of music which influences me to this day. Anyway on disc 2 there was a track which consisted of yelpy raw vocals, furious drumming, primal guitars/bass and a scratchy violin. It was AMAZING.
That was my first exposure to the Raincoats.
A few years later a friend of mine copied their debut album and their equally good second album Odyshape and I wore them out. I admit the self-titled debut got more exposure.
Even today The Raincoats debut never ceases to amaze. It is a record full of melody and inventiveness. I still discover new sounds from it, not to mention the dadaist/personal lyrics. It really is a special record for me and unconsciously influences the way I make music ( https://thesuburbanite.bandcamp.com/a...). Thankfully not only does Jenn Pelly's book do justice to the band and album but it is an AMAZING read and I learnt a ton of new things.
The main focus is the album but also Pelly goes into separate bios of each band member, the history of Rough Trade Shops, the state of Britain in the late 70's, the musical climate and then an analysis of the album and its affect on cultural context. The book also mentions how the Raincoats influenced Beat Happening's Calvin Johnson, the rriot grrl movement of the 90's and Kurt Cobain's obsession with the debut. To make things more authentic Pelly managed to interview all members of The Raincoats and glean never seen photos of the group and artwork which are scattered throughout the book.
What else can I say? - do yourself a favour. Listen to the debut and then read this.
December 28, 2018
One of the best 33 1/3 books I've read. Seminal feminist journalist, Jenn Pelly, takes a look at seminal feminist record, The Raincoats.
Admittedly this was a record my ears were not ready for many years and times before when I played it for myself. It took reading about its history for me to understand why it sounds so unusual and grasp the concept of the band, their sound, and the artistic experiment of The Raincoats.
Pelly approached the subject matter from the love of a fan but managed to keep herself out of the book. She interviewed each Raincoat and other important figures in the band's world during the making of their self-titled debut. I've been following her work for years and am not surprised about the depth and care in this book. It's an important part of rock history and feminist history and Pelly was the perfect author for this edition.
Read this if you like punk, DIY, scenes, feminism, and music history. It's an important chapter to all of those worlds. I can't wait to recommend it to everyone I know.
Excerpt from The Raincoats Booklet to get you in the mood:
"So being a woman is both feeling female, expressing female and also (for the time being at least) reacting against what a woman is told she "should" be like. This contradiction creates chaos in our lives and if we want to be real, we have to neglect what has been imposed on us, we have to create (sometimes recreate) our lives in a new way: in art, work, at home, in the streets, in the shops, in meetings, with our lovers (male or female), in our appearances, etc. etc. etc. etc."
Admittedly this was a record my ears were not ready for many years and times before when I played it for myself. It took reading about its history for me to understand why it sounds so unusual and grasp the concept of the band, their sound, and the artistic experiment of The Raincoats.
Pelly approached the subject matter from the love of a fan but managed to keep herself out of the book. She interviewed each Raincoat and other important figures in the band's world during the making of their self-titled debut. I've been following her work for years and am not surprised about the depth and care in this book. It's an important part of rock history and feminist history and Pelly was the perfect author for this edition.
Read this if you like punk, DIY, scenes, feminism, and music history. It's an important chapter to all of those worlds. I can't wait to recommend it to everyone I know.
Excerpt from The Raincoats Booklet to get you in the mood:
"So being a woman is both feeling female, expressing female and also (for the time being at least) reacting against what a woman is told she "should" be like. This contradiction creates chaos in our lives and if we want to be real, we have to neglect what has been imposed on us, we have to create (sometimes recreate) our lives in a new way: in art, work, at home, in the streets, in the shops, in meetings, with our lovers (male or female), in our appearances, etc. etc. etc. etc."
January 21, 2023
Punk is, was, and always will be an ethos more than a sound. Some they got it and some they don’t. The Raincoats got it.
(Conformity within a non-conformist movement is just a ridiculous concept to expect anyone to adhere to in order to get the benefits of the outsider group. If all the outsiders do the same thing, aren’t they just insiders of a different sort? I never understood why people attributed a look or sound to what was essentially a philosophical and political stance. Maybe Johnny Rotten was right and punk was dead the moment it became about fashion. He made it performative as much as anyone else.
Is punk dead? Maybe to you. To me, it still lives.)
(Conformity within a non-conformist movement is just a ridiculous concept to expect anyone to adhere to in order to get the benefits of the outsider group. If all the outsiders do the same thing, aren’t they just insiders of a different sort? I never understood why people attributed a look or sound to what was essentially a philosophical and political stance. Maybe Johnny Rotten was right and punk was dead the moment it became about fashion. He made it performative as much as anyone else.
Is punk dead? Maybe to you. To me, it still lives.)
September 3, 2018
Without a doubt, one of the best if not the best book in this series that I’ve read so far. Jenn went the extra mile to talk not only to the band themselves but their coworkers and the bands they influenced. Truly does this underrepresented album justice. Recommended for fans of The Raincoats, Punk, Feminism in music or music writing in general. An informative and insightful read. Future writers or wannabe writers for 33 1/3 take note!
August 5, 2020
A little worried knowing Jenn writes for P4k, but that's on me and my own bias. The book was really well done, providing the appropriate balance between background and the album itself. I thought maybe it dragged a bit at the end, though I couldn't pinpoint one exact reason for that...maybe that was all emotional. Felt like everything was really thoughtful and personal, and while the record is often talked about, it definitely provides a good viewpoint...and even an entry point for discovery.
November 2, 2018
Can't recommend this book enough. Highly personal and analytical about The Raincoats. The music changed my life and so did this book. It draws connections that make it clear punk was never about white guys shouting. Women were written out of the history. This book reclaims their history. About damn time.
March 23, 2021
An excellent dive into an album I absolutely adore. Not only did this book give me more love for the album but gave me some great insight about it I never knew before and I got a deeper understanding of it as a whole. It put into words a lot of feelings I had for it that I couldn’t figure out myself but when read had me go “ah yes! Of course!”
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