Kick Out the Jams: Jibes, Barbs, Tributes, and Rallying Cries from 35 Years of Music Writing

Kick Out the Jams is a collection of influential critic Dave Marsh's writings on popular music from the 20th century, offering an opinionated and eye-opening overview of the era, including essays on Elvis Presley, Kurt Cobain, Nina Simone, the Beatles, Green Day, and underappreciated artists. The book reflects Marsh's passion to explain things and keep the way clear for others from the trashy outskirts of barbarous America.

Format: Hardback
Length: 336 pages
Publication date: 31 August 2023
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Spanning three decades of astute,acerbic,and overall astounding music writing, Kick Out the Jams is the first large-scale anthology of the work of renowned critic Dave Marsh. Ranging from Elvis Presley to Kurt Cobain,from Nina Simone to Ani DiFranco,from the Beatles to Green Day,the book gives an opinionated,eye-opening overview of 20th century popular music—offering a portrait not just of an era but of a writer wrestling with the American empire. Every essay bears the distinct Dave Marsh attitude and voice. That passion is evident in a heart-wrenching piece on Cobains suicide and legacy; a humorous attack on “Bonos bullshit;” an indignant look at James Brown and the FBI; deep,revelatory probes into the work of underappreciated artists like Patty Griffin and Alejandro Escovedo; and inspiring insight into what drives Marsh as a writer,namely “a raging passion to explain things in the hope that others would not be trapped and to keep the way clear so that others from the trashy outskirts of barbarous America still had a place to stand—if not in the culture at large,at least in rock and roll.” If you want to explore the recent history of pop music—its politics as well as its performers— Kick Out the Jams is the perfect guidebook.
Spanning three decades of astute, acerbic, and overall astounding music writing, Kick Out the Jams is the first large-scale anthology of the work of renowned critic Dave Marsh. Ranging from Elvis Presley to Kurt Cobain, from Nina Simone to Ani DiFranco, from the Beatles to Green Day, the book offers an opinionated, eye-opening overview of 20th-century popular music, offering a portrait not just of an era but of a writer wrestling with the American empire.

Every essay bears the distinct Dave Marsh attitude and voice. That passion is evident in a heart-wrenching piece on Cobain's suicide and legacy; a humorous attack on "Bono's bullshit"; an indignant look at James Brown and the FBI; deep, revelatory probes into the work of underappreciated artists like Patty Griffin and Alejandro Escovedo; and inspiring insight into what drives Marsh as a writer, namely, "a raging passion to explain things in the hope that others would not be trapped and to keep the way clear so that others from the trashy outskirts of barbarous America still had a place to stand—if not in the culture at large, at least in rock and roll."

If you want to explore the recent history of pop music—its politics as well as its performers— Kick Out the Jams is the perfect guidebook.

Weight: 492g
Dimension: 163 x 236 x 31 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781982197162