In 1975 Black Sabbath, the band that many believe originated ‘heavy metal’, had released what we would probably call a ‘greatest hits album’ these days, with tracks from their previous six albums. Called We Sold Our Soul For Rock & Roll, it cherry-picked the tracks that fans counted as favourites.
The problem? It was released without the band or their manager’s knowledge, part of a deal between their new record label and their last. Allegedly, the first the band knew of the album was when fans brought them to concerts to be signed.
Why this is relevant here? Well, author Grady Hendrix clearly knows this. I’m sure that the name of his latest novel is no coincidence, a story where the rise and fall of a rock and roll band meets Stranger Things, where corporate sell-out and backroom shenanigans are part of the deal.
The story is told through Kris Pulaski, founding member and guitarist of Dürt Würk, a rock band brought up by learning Black Sabbath guitar riffs, who almost made it big in the ‘90’s, and then broke up for reasons that will be explained through the novel. Now twenty years on, Kris, having given up on the big dream, spends her time working as a receptionist at a Best Western in a small backward hometown and generally being abused by the local clientele.
Her life is changed when she sees hears of Terry Hunt, Dürt Würk’s ex-singer, planning a reunion-farewell tour of the band he created after Dürt Würk. We discover through backstory how the demise of Dürt Würk led to the formation of Koffin by the ex-singer, in a deal that took away Kris’s rights to her material and left her ruined. Dürt Würk’s last album, Troglodyte, which was never released, and has become something of legendary status. Made in a rundown house in the woods, the rumours about Kris’ masterwork album, and why it was never released have become mythical.
As the backstory develops, we determine what caused the breakup of the band, something that will be familiar to anyone who knows their rock-band history. And as this is a Grady Hendrix story, we discover, with a Lovecraftian twist, what really happened that night the band broke up. Kris cannot remember what happened herself (drugs & rock and roll, right?), but is determined to finally get to the meaning of what happened that night by meeting up with the ex-members of her band and even Terry Hunt – who may have a more sinister reason for his success.
For anyone who knows Grady’s previous work – Horrorstor, My Best Friend’s Exorcism (reviewed here) and the non-fictional Paperbacks from Hell (reviewed here) – will know that he excels in reinvigorating the 80’s tone of those mass-produced novels of the 1980’s. This one clearly plays homage to Stephen King, but also any of those books from that time. (I’d personally recommend George RR Martin’s The Armageddon Rag as a similar, alternative read.)
It’s not particularly deep, nor meaningful, but it does what it does right. Fans of Stranger Things will ‘get it’. Anyone who has formed a band in a garage or basement and *nearly* made it big will sympathise (and perhaps wince!) at some of the things that happen here. And what is most important is that Grady elicits the emotion, the power, the almighty good created by being part of a band – the camaraderie, the sheer buzz of creating and playing music, to fans who love your work. This is never a book that attempts to poke fun at its material – instead, through empathy, it makes the reader’s inner-teenager want to go start a band all over again.
In my youth I was never part of a band – but this book makes me wish I was. And therein lies its secret. This is a book written by someone that cares about its subject matter, and you can tell. Moreover, Grady manages to make the reader feel, to care about his characters and to connect with emotions from a time when things were simpler. Sometimes you just need a guitar….
When such relatable elements of youth are added to the more supernatural elements, the result is that the combination works. There are moments of horror that I found quite creepy, and there’s definitely parts that claustrophobic readers will cringe at.
In short, if you are a Horror fan and are/were a fan of ‘90’s rock/metal, you will love this book. If you’ve ever felt yourself to be an outsider, and that your love of music is not understood, if you’ve been derided for your enjoyment of rock and metal, and yet, despite this, have stayed true to your own beliefs, We Sold Our Souls will speak to you.
It’s a great read. Just be careful next time you feel the need to include some occult leanings in your lyrics….
We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix
Published by Quirk Books, September 2018
336 pages
ISBN: 978-1683690122
Review by Mark Yon
