Laina Dawes

Pure Hell are known for three things: 1) being the first all African-American punk band; 2) having a wickedly cool band name; and 3) being the focus of a very popular online photo from 1978, depicting the quartet with dyed, glow-in-the-dark, chemically-straightened hair and ill-advised face paint. Formed in Philadelphia in 1974, they were inspired by…

1992 was an interesting year. On the West Coast, the dichotomy between the intensity of Seattle’s grunge scene and Los Angeles’ growing racial tension (thanks to the highly publicized beating of Rodney King and the following riot) made for some interesting times. White kids were rebelling against conformity and black folks were rebelling in the…