The time is now to give Linda Aronow the respect she deserves for capturing the 80’s SoCal Punk/Hardcore Punk movement. I can smell the adolescent spirit in all of her photos because they just reek of youthful passion plus angst. What’s also rad is that you can feel the love that she had for the bands and people she captured on film.On the real Linda took photos of historic hardcore days like Black Flag performing at the Federal. A couple things made this day special for us young Punks is that LAPD could not bash our heads in for being different because they could step on to Federal property so we were free to be ourselves. A fun fact about that day a amateur skater named Mark Gonzales was there killing it with his hand plants! The fact that she also went the legendary Sewercide Hall in Culver City and took photos of the homies Neighborhood Watch gives me chills. All of Linda’s photos of my favorite Hollywood Club Cathay de Grande takes me back in time to all of the nights we would get drunk in the alleys and dodge the cops before going in. Her Minor Threat at the Rollerworks in Chatsworth CA flicks are a reminder that my mom had me on punishment that night so I could not go to one of sickest LA shows ever. I know for fact that Linda didn’t do what she did for money or to be popular she did because she loved it. To me Linda Aronow is way more than just a photographer because she is an archiver of ourstory and youth culture. It trips me out when these photos were taken the only way to see them was xerox copies and now we have instagram.Thank Linda for your passion and your vision it really means the world to me. The America’s Hardcore picture below brings tears to my eyes because Drew became my legal guardian when I was 15 and he was also one of my best friends. Without him there would be no CVLT Nation! To all of the Punks from the 80’s I salute y’all!
