The Secret History of Black Punk: Record Zero

by Raeghan Buchanan

Begin to delve into the largely overlooked footprint that Black punks have on the underground music scene in a new archival publication brought to you by Raeghan Buchanan and Silver Sprocket.

The Secret History of Black Record Zero by Buchanan is an illustrated roll-call for punk, post-punk, hardcore, no-wave, and experimental bands from ground zero 'til now. A starting point for anyone curious, another reference for those who devour all genre-related things, or a cool artifact for anyone in the know.

This book is part of an ongoing series that covers musicians like Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Poly Styrene, Don Letts, Minority Threat, and many others. From LA to London, from the early 1900s till today, Buchanan examines and presents narratives to show how Black musicians shape (and are shaped by) the world we live in.

Genres: Comics, History, Music, Nonfiction, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Comics Manga

Paperback

Published February 1, 2023

About the author

Raeghan Buchanan is an illustrator, writer, and musician born in Eerie, PA. After more than a decade performing in hardcore, post-punk, and power pop bands, she turned her artistic focus to comics. Buchanan’s comic work often explores different areas of Black American heritage, most notably in music, like in her comic The Secret History of Black Punk (2023).

Reviews

[Steven Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful written, researched, and illustrated. This made me proud to be a black punk.

[D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buchanan's art has an incredible energy, with strategic use of color and bold solid black swaths. Her page design is thrilling, too—many of the pages on this book would make great posters. The book traces Black involvement in punk from Sister Rosetta Tharpe's trailblazing guitar explorations to modern practitioners. I'm psyched for more folks to learn about fantastic bands like Killer of Sheep and Big Joanie, and equally psyched to dig into some artists I wasn't aware of. More volumes are promised, and I can't wait.

[grimmbeing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gives details of Black Punk bands and musicians, classical and contemporary in a fun zine format. Smiled at ones I knew and learned about the ones that were new to me. Some REALLY surprised me. Like Basquiat had a band?! HELLO?! Glad to see this part of the genre’s history coming to light after decades of being erased. As a Black punk, my heart is full. Punk is Black and Blackness is punk.

[Kristin Vogel-Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such an important piece of music history, a must read for any self-described fan.

[Barbara McVeigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
This zine-length graphic book, written in a vernacular style with a lot of cussing (that’s for you, school libraries), is an introduction to black punk rock. I appreciated learning about Rosetta Tharpe, but wished that the other acts mentioned in the book were given the same level of attention and detail.

There’s a great list of references at the back - online accessible.

[Rachel Hutchinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've got a ton of new (to me) artists to check out now! Loved learning the history, but I can't lie that some of the artistic choices of incorporating the font with the art can give one a headache (think House of Leaves twisting and turning).

[Rog Middleton · Rating 4 out of 5]

fascinating roll-call of punk bands & artists, and bands from the genres that grew out of punk. my "to listen to pile" just got a lot bigger.

[Luke Goldstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

It can be impressively tricky to expand your cultural inputs outside your comfort zone. You visit the same record stores, listen to the same streaming playlists, and doomscroll the same feeds. Knowing that when a chance appears for me to peek outside my chamber through a medium I already adore, in this case, graphic novels, I enthusiastically leap at it.

Raeghan Buchanan does more than slap together a list of black punk musicians and groups and hand it to you with a gift tag reading, "Please listen to." His artwork, choice of words, and choice of music to introduce all feed into each other. Each delivers the same electricity and impassioned cry to be heard and make a difference.

Once I finished reading this, I went back through band by band and musician by musician. I looked them all up to hear the music that inspired Raeghan to put in the dedicated work it took to include them in this volume of largely underappreciated creators. Some I knew within minutes were not my cup of tea, but that's ok. No one should open this up, expect to agree, and fall in love with every entry. But I can virtually guarantee you will hear something that will grab your ears and yank them back into your brain while you silently berate yourself for not knowing about it sooner. These two acts, Big Joanie and Nova Twins, were gold in the mine to me. They were eons different from each other but equally as powerful; they were immediately added to various personal playlists and my vinyl shopping list.

I also felt an incredibly nerdy connection when digging into Jean Beauvoir and realizing his music was on the soundtrack for "Cobra," one of the all-time "so bad it's good" movies.

Thanks to Raeghan for bringing these musicians and scenes to light!

[Clint · Rating 4 out of 5]

A neat oversized zine spotlighting several under-recognized Black musicians; I’d only previously heard of a few before, and had actually listened to even fewer. Some subjects get a few pages of backstory and greater context, and some are confined to a single page evoking their vibe more than anything else. It’s mostly focused on early acts from the 70s and beginning of the 80s, but the last third covers more recent acts from the past ten years, including Death Grips but also a ton of still-young groups I’d never heard of and probably wouldn’t have otherwise. Buchanan’s rough alt caricatures of each musician look great.

“Rock ‘n roll origins are usually pinpointed to the times when white people claimed and monetized it, and while that telling of history is common, it’s simply not true.”

“Just like all genres that intersect with an aesthetic, it has been commodified…punk’s legacy is the legacy of most movements that were created by the marginalized and seen as profitable by the non-marginalized. The heartbeat of it, in many ways, is kept alive by those people who are less at the forefront of the conversation.”

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

The art for this book is great, and somehow the author is able to imbue the pictures with some energy that just makes you imagine you're hearing the music, or some internal version of it. The brief biographies of all the groups and individuals just make you want to dive in an listen to every single one, which is my rubric for what makes an excellent book about music.

I did not know a lot of the artists in this book, including the aside featuring the Cleveland 1970s metal band, Black Death. I was wonderfully surprised to see mentioned Obnox/Lamont Thomas, who has been in a slew of bands, including my beloved This Moment in Black History. It also features the briefest of interviews with Hanif Abdurraqib and another Columbusite Scott Woods shows up in the acknowledgements. Wonderful stuff!

[Kieran · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Mainstream punk spaces are still too white, too male, too cis, and are seemingly unwilling to imagine themselves out of that way of thinking." -Arthur Lee

This was a quick, intense read. It's a very thorough dive into the history of black punk bands, and it sounds like there will be future issues of this as well.

This is very well written, very well outlined & organized, and very well illustrated. I learned a lot and found many new bands to go listen to and support.

I HIGHLY recommend this.

[Aydin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was excited to learn about this zine because Noise Addiction by Pure Hell is one of my favorite albums and I wanted to learn more about the band themselves. This issue is kind of an overview, moving quickly through numerous artists who are given just a few pages each. I learned about a lot of artists I'd never heard of and learned other artists I already listen to were Black lol. The portraits and layouts are really excellent and inventive without being too difficult to read.

I love these types of music history zines and look forward to the next installment!

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty well written and a bunch of folk along the fringe of mainstream/popular punk that readers will be familiar with. I like that it addresses the white supremacy woven into a lot of the hardcore scene. It's a secret history so I get why they might not have wanted to include Pete Wentz especially from his Racetraitor days, but I think that would have been a nice nod to the sexism in Punk vs Pop Punk we see today.

[A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Small Joys is a podcast with Hanif Abdurraqib. They are conversations with individuals that Abdurraqib responds to creativity and individuality. These conversations are just that, not interviews, but low-key conversations that feel like they are between friends. Abdurraqib's conversation with Raeghan Buchanan piqued my interest, as her books was mentioned. Music - punk rock - a beginning.

https://www.wosu.org/small-joys-seaso...

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fantastic. I really enjoyed it. It took me forever but I created a massive playlist with all the bands mentioned. Some I knew already like Negro Terror and Death but there were so many I didn't know. The art was great and the tone of the book was both informative and passionate. You could feel how much the author enjoyed some of these bands. I love punk music and was so happy to learn about lesser celebrated bands and the black roots of punk.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pure Hell is my new favorite band. I've listened to Noise Addiction over 10 times since finishing this book a few days ago. I was also reminded of ESG. I saw them open for Robyn in 2019 and liked them. Finally started listening to their music thanks to this book reminding me to. Good stuff all around. Can't wait to listen to other artists featured in this book.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fucking fantastic comic. Can be finished in an hour and will last you decades. Currently listening through all the artists mentioned and enjoying every second. A clearly personal, very strong passion project with some of the best art I've ever seen from a graphic non-fiction.

[Polynyas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read. I can’t wait for future issues.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My only complaint about this book is that my eyes are too old for a lot of that print. Worth the eye strain! 🤘

[Steve Wolcott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fanzine, about a little known aspect of punk rock. Presented as a comic book

[maximillian:3 · Rating 5 out of 5]

well written and researched! discovered my favourite metal band from this too!!

[Amanda Curry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a stunning and eye opening graphic novel. Incredibly well researched and i cannot wait for the next ones

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the illustrations, love the vignettes on the musicians that are slice of life and not linear.