So This Is Readin? Life on the Road with the Unseen

by Tripp Underwood

You've read GET IN THE VAN by Henry Rollins, well now it's time to get out of that van, and push it up hill to the closest gas station 'cause you've blown the transmission again. That's what "So This Is Readin?" is all about, a REAL band working REAL hard. The book reads like Unseen's music: brutally honest, fast-paced, and in-your -face. But unlike so much punk music of the day Tripp's words never seem to lose sight of the importance of keeping your sense of humor, even in the face of adversity.

163 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read Tripp Underwood's So This Is Readin? in college, when I had a mohawk and syphoned my fun money on legit mail order stickers from bands with commendable hubris.

In terms of selling an actual physical product, I graciously pre-ordered a bundle online that came with a shirt and bonus CD of early 7inch material. As a pious reader of physical books, having a CD lodged in the back of a 163-page printed work is mildly frustrating.

Underwood's story is honest and almost more believable now close to some twenty years later, but definitely could have used additional copyediting before production.

I found typo and formatting issues on:

Indentation typo (58)
"T- Shirt" spacing typo (74)
"Anti Flag" (102)
"F minus" (110)
Extra space after a period (113)
Extra paragraph indentation (114)
No spaces after commas (115)
"german" (116)
comma should be before the quotation mark (125)
No space after period (140)
"Lynard Skynard" (157)

So this is editing... ??? Oi...

I'm surprised The Pinkerton Thugs weren't actually mentioned until page 111 despite writing about Paul quite a bit. The last time I actually saw him in person was at Panera Bread in Brookline when he was still dating one of my friends.

James Lynch was instrumental (bad pun) to getting The Unseen on a substantial European tour with the Dropkicks. I have shared Jack Daniels whiskey with James before. That guy is so fucking cool. #jameslynchrules

"The guys in the band fed effortlessly off the energy of the crowd and by the third song I was totally hooked. After their hour plus set was finished I had a completely different vision about this band; they had gone from being the worst band I had ever heard to one of the best live performances I had witnessed in all of my years of playing and going to shows." (114-115)

My favorite James Lynch story confirmed from multiple sources is when he went on tour, his mother replaced the Ramones photo in a picture frame in his bedroom with a photo of his girlfriend. He was pissed!

Some of the most crucial advice that Tripp shares about touring is the importance of toilet paper and comes clean about the mental and financial stresses of selling enough physical CDs and shirts just to keep a gas tank full. Oi...

The Stern Brothers are definitely hard to please. Some DIY Boston Punks will backline an entire Youth Brigade show at The Middle East Downstairs just to get a crack at an opening slot, while others (me?) will get axed from a club show at Punk Rock Bowling because their real friends e-mailed the promoters too many times. Oi...

My favorite part was when they met Mick fucking Jones while haphazardly touring the U.K... Holy shit, so cool!!!

My buddy, Drew from Lost City Angels is mentioned on page 143. It was awesome catching up with him at Faces in Malden this past November. That guy is a true punk rock lifer. He was proud of my sobriety even though we hadn't hung out in about a decade or so. He wisely told me, "You gotta' do what makes you happy."

At the time of publication, the sales of the State of Discontent album were, "moderate," but in my humble opinion, I still think to this day, the actual sonic engineering is damn-near perfect. Kenny did a helluva job producing that one and it's obvious Jim Siegel and Brett Gurewitz had their wizard hands in the mix. Easily bettah than anything that guy who made that awful Liz Phair rekkid did.

Featuring Lars Frederiksen (one of the most unique and serrated voices of my generation) and a Rolling Stones cover is the icing on the cake.

After thirty years, The Unseen can sell out The Middle East Downstairs AND Lenny will open for them even after writing a true Boston Singalong about how much he hated them.

"But as awkward as the whole thing was, part of me feels glad that we were the guys to turn the son of a no-fooling rock legend on to the Ramones. To me that's what being in a punk band is all about." (10)

Oi. Oi. Oi.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this a lot. I saw my first punk show in 86 and played my first punk show in 88. My bands never went on the road overnight, so I feel like I missed out on some of the suffering and fun other bands have had on the road.

The funniest thing about this book is that I had never even heard of the Unseen before I read it. After reading a few chapters I looked them up online and thought their music sounded pretty generic, but not terrible.

I thought the book was well written and had enough funny/interesting stories to keep me reading. The length was perfect, he stopped right when things got to be pretty "standard".

[Matty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tripp's book is the true-to-life account of (the less than glamorous) playing/touring/living in an independent punk band. Most readers will be surprised how slow the process of building a band is; and it's humbling to discover how Tripp and the Unseen actually follow their heart and do exactly what they love to. Like any tour/band book, there is one drunken amusing anecdote after another.
The editing is funny. In true DIY style, I don't think the book was edited at all so there is a series of typos, but that just kinda adds to the charm.
Anyone remotely interested in independent music or one of the greatest punk bands ever to grace the planet, the Unseen, will treasure this gem.
I just wished it was longer.