Description

An intimate comingofage memoir by legendary guitarist Kid Congo Powers detailing his experiences as a young queer MexicanAmerican in 1970s Los Angeles through his rise in the glam rock and punk rock scenes

Kid Congo Powers has been described as a legendary guitarist and paragon of cool with the greatest resume ever of anyone in rock music That unique imprint on rock history stems from being a member of not one but three beloved groundbreaking and influential groupsNick Cave and the Bad Seeds the Cramps and last but not least The Gun Club the wildly inventive punkblues band he cofounded

Some New Kind of Kick begins as an intimate coming of age tale of a young queer Chicano kid growing up in a suburb east of East LA in the mid70s exploring his sexual identity through glam rock When a devastating personal tragedy crushes his teenage dreams he finds solace and community through fandom as founder The Prez of the Ramones West Coast fan club and immerses himself in the delinquent chaos of the early LA punk scene

A chance encounter with another superfan in the line outside the WhiskeyAGoGo to get into a Pere Ubu concert changes the course of his life entirely Jeffrey Lee Pierce a misfit Chicano punk who runs the Blondie fan club proposes they form a band The Gun Club is born So begins an unlikely transition from adoring fan to lauded performer In Pierce he finds brotherhood a creative voice and a common cause but also a shared appetite for selfdestruction that threatens to overwhelm them both

Quirky droll and heartfelt with a pitchperfect evocation of time and place and a wealth of richlydrawn supporting characters Some New Kind of Kick is a memoir of personal transformation addiction and recovery friendship and belonging set against the relentless creativity and excess of the 70s and 80s underground music scenes