In this well-written social and cultural study, Helen Reddington explores the important but often overlooked contribution to rock and punk music made by female musicians in Britain during the late 1970s and early 1980s, in an effort to rescue ‘this moment from the amnesia of conventional popular music historiography’ (p. 201). Reddington bases this study on original interviews with musicians and individuals who made key contributions during this time period, such as John Peel, The Raincoats, The Au Pairs, Poly Styrene, Geoff Travis, and Viv Albertine of The Slits. She argues that ‘the male memory of the unk movement is no more “true” than the female memory; historically, it is the latter that is likely to be forgotten’ (p. 5). Thus, this book seeks to address this oversight, delivering a robust and rich insight into female memories and experiences, and how they were perceived and portrayed by the music press during this time period in Britain.

The book begins with a most arresting revelation surrounding understandings and perceptions of female musicianship still operating in contemporary times. At a conference in Brunel University in 2001, the author was presenting a paper relating to the study, and was asked a question by a male member of the audience enquiring as to why all female groups should use a photograph of themselves as a gimmick on posters and still be expected to be taken seriously. This example of how women are often approached in this restrictive manner within rock and punk music gives insight into some of the main threads and rationales running throughout the book. It is Reddington's aim to provide music scholarship with a vivid and compelling insight into the role that women played at the time, how they were perceived and eventually excluded, and the extent to which their presence is missing from documentation, alongside their own articulations of what happened at the time. Reddington's study achieves this well and works extremely effectively in delivering readers a robust insight into this time period, most specifically by drawing on the original material, and also considering the current approach towards females in music, determining the extent to which perceptions have changed. It is apparent that her own perspective also strengthens the work further – Reddington was a bass player in a punk band during the time period under study, and the drawing on her personal memories and experiences gives the work a greater richness.

The structure of the book works well, with a contextualising introduction to each chapter that works to firmly situate the analysis. There is an introduction to the experiences and empowerment of women in the punk scene, an exploration of the role played by media gatekeepers and cultural intermediaries, a focus on a musical and political ‘micro subculture’ in Brighton during the 1970s, an unravelling of noise, violence and femininity, and a consideration of the aftermath of these events. Finally, the book concludes with a chapter examining academic writing and research on subcultures, the rock press and women in rock. I do feel that this chapter would have been more insightful and contextualising if it had been placed earlier in the book; however, it does work in providing a good snapshot of the implications and key considerations surrounding the original research presented in the book.

In this book Reddington underlines the sharp ‘lack of feminist writing about females in subcultures and female rock instrumentalists, and a corresponding lack of writing by men about females in subcultures and female instrumentalists’ (p. 12). Her interviews and analysis here seek to work towards changing this and offering fresh, and much needed, perspectives that will stimulate further debate and discussion. This was also benefitted by the inclusion of some interviewees that were not major players in the punk music scene, and were less famous, thereby allowing different experiences and perspectives to be aired. The inclusion of interview material is particularly vivid and is encapsulated by a strong analytic approach – Reddington backs up her main points in each chapter through these articulations and rich source material. There is also strong consideration of this method, and a revealing account of how the author sought questionnaire respondents, yet unfortunately found attention from mainstream press, which ‘resulted in the reduction of [the] research to tabloid caricature and misrepresentation’ (p. 8).

In sum, this book gives a strong and important account of female musicians in the British punk scene during the 1970s and 1980s that was much needed in music history scholarship. It vitally works towards redressing the aforementioned ‘amnesia’ surrounding women in punk, the important roles they played, and the obstacles they faced. The issues and experiences raised in this book also work to provoke a consideration of how females continue to be regarded in the music field today, and the extent to which, if at all, things have largely progressed. The wealth of empirical interview material within delivers the work vitality and supplies an analysis that ensures it will provide valuable insights into this time period of musicianship for popular music scholars.