Jared DuBach
Daily Egyptian
Every so often, a book comes along that tells it like it is.
Ben Weasel, a seasoned veteran of the Chicago punk rock underground, has released his latest work of social satire and harsh music criticism, "Punk is a Four-Letter Word."
The book documents both the achievements and the misgivings of punk rock as seen through the eyes of Screeching Weasel vocalist and songwriter, Ben Foster, aka Ben Weasel. Weasel's book features columns in which he attacks Nirvana and praises punk icons, the Ramones. The book also sheds some light on what it's like to be one of the most despised people in modern rock 'n' roll.
In the book's introduction, Weasel writes about how his upbringing in Chicago and musical taste gave him an even greater incentive to be as harsh as he felt necessary.
The collection features columns and articles Weasel has previously written for the underground rock 'n' roll magazines "Maximum Rock 'n' Roll" and "Panic Button," not to mention the many direct-to-fan postings on Screeching Weasel's website, www.screechingweasel.com.
Even though Weasel is very personal in his attacks, he still maintains a poignant sense of humor. His style of humor has been compared to that of author Charles Bukowski by the Chicago Sun-Times.
One of the more direct forms of his humor is best expressed when he states: "If you place any band above the Ramones, you are an idiot. I will be buying insurance from you come July." Whether he is serious is left up to the interpretation of the reader.
Weasel's collection also includes columns that tell some of his fonder memories as a struggling musician. Weasel has an excellent ability to recreate events in the reader's mind as they originally happened. Trying to imagine Weasel as an extra in a Ministry video or posing as a schoolteacher to get accepted on a beer-judging board is simply priceless.
Weasel's first book, "Like Hell," left fans of Weasel and punk rock wondering if some of the things he'd written about were true. The novel was written from a first-person perspective, and documented the life of a struggling punk rock musician. In essence, "Like Hell" is the "Almost Famous" of the punk sub-culture. "Punk is a Four-Letter Word" definitely adds credibility to "Like Hell," and adds credibility through sincerity to a genre of rock 'n' roll that is often labeled by pop culture as minuscule and juvenile.
Ben ends his 176-page memoir with an acknowledgment that he had to learn some things in life the hard way, yet deep down humanity has to learn things the hard way. For Weasel, compiling this collection of columns has had a healing effect.
"In writing this," Weasel says, "I've come to realize that I've probably wasted my time - not that it hasn't been somewhat cathartic."
Reporter Jared DuBach can be reached at jdubach@dailyegyptian.com.
Published on 11/17/05; 12:24:44 PM
