jenn pelly // the RAINCOATS olympia library 4/25/2018

“It is important to find the most honest way of living, trying to avoid as much as possible playing the games constantly proposed to you.”
   -- The Raincoast Booklet

"'The Raincoats were a group of women who were, in part, just learning to play their instruments, but their debut album also coincides with the start of a whole artistic sensibility, one of fearless and knowing amateurism,' Pitchfork contributing editor Jenn Pelly writes in her recent book about the origins of the Raincoats, part of Bloomsbury’s 33 1/3 music writing series."

 from https://www.bookforum.com/interview/19418
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​JENN PELLY ended her book tour in Olympia, WA yesterday evening -- discussing and reading from her 33 1/3 book on THE RAINCOATS! I had to dash before the bands played (twilight only lasts so long), but here are some photos from the reading and discussion... 

Praise for the book -- 

“Jenn Pelly’s book on The Raincoats’ 1979 self-titled debut album is an outstanding addition to the 33 1/3 series. Pelly deftly weaves sophisticated historical analysis and critical and cultural theory into her writing about this feminist punk band’s music and lifestyle in a way that is both accessible and effective. Her writing and structuring of the book even manages to embody the collage-like ‘Raincoats logic’ of the music itself. I can’t recommend this book (or this album) highly enough.” —Garrett at The Strand

“Jenn Pelly’s book is not just an illuminating piece of criticism and history about a specific album that has always been mythic and enigmatic to me, but also, more generally, a vital feminist reclamation of what it means to be punk that manages to weave together everything from Helene Cixous to Chris Kraus to 10 Things I Hate About You.” —Matt at Greenlight