We Got Power!: Hardcore Punk Scenes from 1980s Southern California

In 1979, punk was over . . . but by 1981, hardcore was born. As teenagers in 1981, David Markey and his best friend Jordan Schwartz founded We Got Power!, a fanzine dedicated to the first-generation hardcore punk music community in their native Los Angeles. Their text captured the early punk spirit of Black Flag, the Minutemen, Social Distortion, Suicidal Tendencies, and Hüsker Dü at the height of their powers. Meanwhile, their amazing photographs captured the dilapidated houses, abandoned storefronts, and disaffected youth culture of the early Reagan era. Never before seen, except in crude fanzine form, these detailed and richly narrative photos are now collected to present an intimate document a uniquely fertile creative moments.

Filmmaker Dave Markey has been well known since the 1980s for films and videos including Desperate Teenage Lovedolls and Lovedolls Superstar, and 1991: The Year Punk Broke, featuring early appearances by alternative rock icons such as Mudhoney, Meat Puppets, Nirvana, and Sonic Youth. His indefatigable DIY aesthetic continues to drive him, as well as inspire a new generation of filmmakers, musicians and artists.

Over 300 documentary photos of California hardcore punk 1980-84

Complete reprints of WE GOT POWER zine volumes 1-6