Now Is the Time to Invent!
Reports from the Indie-Rock Revolution 1986-2000
Now Is the Time to Invent offers a definitive portrait of the vibrant indie-rock scene that flourished in the mid-1980s and reached its creative peak in the 1990s. More than 60 profiles and interviews, taken from the pages of the acclaimed independent music magazine Puncture and illustrated with many rare photographs, cover all the major contributors to a lastingly influential musical movement.
It's impossible to determine a single starting point for indie rock, but here it is found in the scintillating psychodramas Kristin Hersch conjured up for Throwing Muses and the deadpan, genre-busting, proto-slacker anthems of Camper Van Beethoven, and followed through to the critical triumphs of Sleater-Kinney and Neutral Milk Hotel more than a decade later. Along the way, it takes in such pioneering artists as P.J. Harvey, Sonic Youth, the Pixies, Bikini Kill, Nick Cave, Beck, Cat Power, Fugazi, Mekons, Pavement, Belle & Sebastian, Meat Puppets, My Bloody Valentine, Sebadoh, the Breeders, Jeff Buckley, Guided by Voices, Will Oldham, Hole, Flaming Lips, the Magnetic Fields, and many more.
'Nineties nostalgia is still peaking...(a) new book out this month perfectly captures that artistic and cultural heyday. Now is the Time to Invent...collects writing from Puncture, a little magazine that covered the indie scene of the late Eighties and Nineties with authority, scope, generosity, and a lovingly critical eye.' — Rolling Stone
Katherine Spielmann founded Puncture in 1982, together with Patty Stirling, and she was the magazine's editor and publisher during its 18-year history. Steve Connell was the managing editor of Puncture from 1984 to 2000. Musician and writer J Neo Marvin was Puncture's most consistent contributor throughout its history. Jay Ruttenberg was a frequent contributor to Puncture for many years and was the magazine's music editor from 1997 to 2000.
