Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Mutations

By: Sam McPheeters, Tobi Vail - introduction
Narrated by: Sam McPheeters
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $17.19

Buy for $17.19

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

How can so many people pledge allegiance to punk, something with no fixed identity? Depending on who and where you are, punk can be an outlet, excuse, lifestyle, escapism, conversation, community, ideology, sales category, social movement, punishable offense, badge of authenticity, reason to drink beer forever, or an aesthetic of belligerent incompetence. And if someone has a strong belief about what punk is, odds are they have even stronger feelings about what punk is not.

Sam McPheeters championed many different versions. Over the course of two decades, he fronted Born Against, released dozens of records and fanzines, and toured 17 times across the northern hemisphere. In this collection of essays, profiles, criticism, and personal history, he examines the diverse realms he intersected - New York hardcore, Riot Grrrl, Gilman street, the hidden enclaves of Olympia, New England, and downtown Los Angeles - and the forces of mental illness and creative inspiration that drove him, and others, in the first place.

©2020 Sam McPheeter (P)2020 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Mutations

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    43
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    35
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    38
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Really Good!

If you like the music you’ll like the book. Full of information about different scenes.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Informational

This opened my eyes to a lot of things in the scene. Loved it!!! Would highly recommend.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

That guy from the Holly Valance video!

A very articulate and witty book about various punk and punk-adjacent subjects. He is very self-deprecating and his fabled love of confrontation seems to now be focused laregly on himself and his past projects. A+ listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good but incomplete version - no footnotes

Main issue is the there are no endnotes as a friend informs me exist, and are probably a loss given the main body digressions and asides are both funny and relevant to the overall thrust of the essays. Maybe no easy way to do that within audio format, but seems like a pretty big omission not to have in either PDF format for those who have the audio version.

Apart from that, story itself is good hence the rating. 70% new-ish content, hybrid memoir/observations about the weirdo / wackadoo punk scene in a series of 10-20 minute essays, with Sam is able to warily comment with just a bit of detachment yet still engage with those who are more sincere / less embarassed by their output. Sam is also generally hilarious and a good writer and the underlying theme is pretty consistent so the book doesn't feel too random. Nothing drags, he's pretty pithy, and even if there are some things that aren't of interest to you (I don't care much for, say, Discharge) the essays are short enough enough that it all moves along well.

As for the reading, Sam's enunciation is sometimes a bit overdone, but it's nice to hear in his voice.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Can't complain at all

I am super biased, so take this with a grain of salt.
Crucial Listening

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I loved this sofa king much! Sam Mcpheeters!

Its a dream to hear about the love of hardcore punk from a hero while I was living the same moments as he was. His cynical viewpoint and sarcastic artistry put into words and explanations of how and why our love of music gives us hope and strength and then disappoints and depresses. Interesting and powerful....

I wish there was more book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Sam was a generation ahead of me in punk

His story reminded me of my youth in both familiar and unfamiliar ways. I loved it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Boring

By far the most boring meaningless book I ever listened to. Definitely can not say enough on how bad that was

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!