Earth Island Books

30/09/2026

October 8, 9, & 10 - join us in DC for 3 book signing events!

30/09/2026

The third and final volume in the UK Subs bassist, Alvin Gibbs, excellent and insightful trilogy of autobiographies, ‘Diminished Responsibility: My life as a U.K. Sub, and other strange stories. Vol 3’ is in stock now and shipping immediately. With a Foreword by Gaye Black of The Adverts, Alvin ...

27/09/2026

50 Years of Chaos

Christopher Duda interviews Charlie Harper of the U.K. Subs for Scene Point Blank
https://www.scenepointblank.com/features/interviews/uk-subs-Charlie-Harper/

The long-established Scene Point Blank webzine’s Christopher Duda recently conducted an excellent, wide-ranging interview with Charlie Harper, based on “the stories behind his brutally honest memoir” ‘An Anarchy of Demons’, in which the discussion took in which musicians had the biggest impact on Charlie’s style, attitude, or approach to performing, how being a pre-punk hairdresser served Charlie well in the UK SUBS Subs, which member of the Stones admired Harper’s footwear, how song’s come to Charlie, his advice to any bands starting out, how “Politics is a s**t show…”, how his book finally came about, the importance of Yuko, who “is a force of nature”, plus his belief that “True punk is an animal you can’t tame…”
Read all about it (and so much more!!!) at: https://www.scenepointblank.com/features/interviews/uk-subs-Charlie-Harper/
And pick up a copy of Charlie’s superb autobiography, ‘An Anarchy of Demons’, here: https://www.earthislandbooks.com/post/the-beautifully-chaotic-mess-that-is-scene-police

27/09/2026

The beautifully chaotic mess that is Scene Police

Trust magazine review ‘The Scene Police Story – A Story of Rebellion, Passion, and Financial Ruin’ by Dennis-P. Merklinghaus with memory boosts from his friends.

Scene Police was a label/organisation that was alive for six years in the late 1990s, some of the bands it had connections with: Hot Water Music, Planes Mistaken for Stars, Tiger Lou, Strike Anywhere and many more. They disappeared and left many disappointed and more. Or as it says on the back cover: “...dive headfirst into the beautifully chaotic mess that was and is Scene Police. This is the story of a DIY punk rock empire (heavy on the DIY, light on the empire), run by a bunch of sleep-deprived misfits, who thought it was a great idea to ignore all rules, lose money on records, and still challenged the status quo and created something truly unique.“ Now they are back and DPM looks back on what was going on then, in this book. Many photos, many stories that are a good read. The difference to many other labels that came and went, Scene Police is back now and this book presents their story from the past to hopefully fuel their future.
(Dolf – Trust)
https://www.earthislandbooks.com/post/the-beautifully-chaotic-mess-that-is-scene-police

27/09/2026

Diminished Responsibility

The third and final volume in the UK Subs bassist, Alvin Gibbs, excellent and insightful trilogy of autobiographies, ‘Diminished Responsibility: My life as a U.K. Sub, and other strange stories. Vol 3’ is in stock now and shipping immediately.

With a Foreword by Gaye Black of The Adverts, Alvin has written thirty seven chapters packed with anecdotes and stories from his life in the scene and on the road with UK Subs and other alt-rock bands. There’s a full discography and bibliography for collectors, and with over 130,000 words across 400 pages, there’s plenty to read and new tales to find out. The book is fully illustrated with photos and memorabilia throughout from Alvin's personal archive.
UK SUBS

27/09/2026

Punk's not dead

Trust review - 'Punk at Sea: A Rebellion Festival photo book' by Michiel Blijboom

This year (2026) the Rebellion Festival in Blackpool/UK celebrates its 30th anniversary. The author of the book is a journalist and photographer from Amsterdam. After a short foreword, you get to see very many photos of punks off and on stage, mostly accompanied by short sentences that describe what is going on, or makes some sort of joke. If you dig the classical punk look (colourful hair, mohawks, spiked hair, leather, bo***ge, tattoos….) this book will be like a treasure, since exactly that is what you get to see. Brilliant quality photos of punks that visit the Rebellion Festival or play it. Way over 200 photos that proof that punk after 50 years still is not dead.
(Dolf - Trust magazine)

Trust review - 'Punk at Sea: A Rebellion Festival photo book' by Michiel BlijboomThis year (2026) the Rebellion Festival in Blackpool/UK celebrates its 30th anniversary. The author of the book is a journalist and photographer from Amsterdam. After a short foreword, you get to see very many photos of...

27/09/2026

25/09/2026

The life and times of Charlie Harper, punk rock legend and frontman of UK SUBS, is written in his own voice. Charlie’s story provides an insider’s eye witness account of punk rock and earlier pop cultures over the last 7 decades. A great read, says Nathan Brown. Louderthanwar Louder Than War Magazine

Charlie’s story provides an insider's eye witness account of punk rock and earlier pop cultures over the last 7 decades.