A forgotten musical and cultural history of drunks and miscreants, future country stars and political strategists

Perfect Youth is the story of the birth of Canadian punk, a transformative cultural force that reared its head across the country at the end of the 1970s. Bands like D.O.A., the Subhumans, the Viletones, and Teenage Head — alongside lesser-known regional acts from all over Canada — reshaped a dull musical landscape, injecting new energy and new sounds into halls, bars, and record stores from Victoria to St. John’s.

Reaching beyond the realm of standard band biographies, Sutherland unearths a detailed historical context to offer an idea of how the advent of punk reshaped the culture of cities across Canada, speeding along the creation of alternative means of cultural production, consumption, and distribution.

Sam Sutherland is a Toronto-based journalist. He is a former assistant editor at Exclaim! magazine and music editor of Broken Pencil. His work has appeared in the National Post, Maisonneuve, Alternative Press, and alt-weeklies across the country. He currently works as the online producer of AUX.TV.

Sam Sutherland's profile page

"Canadian music of any genre rarely gets mythologized; rarer still is it done as well as it is here. Sam Sutherland strikes the balance between an enthusiastic fanboy, a meticulous researcher and a masterful magazine writer; each of his chapters conveys maximum information in minimum time—with plenty of vomit, violence, electrocution and decidedly dangerous characters to fuel the narrative—and dispels the myth of a conformist Canada drowning in dreadfully dull culture." — Maclean's Magazine

“The thorough, fascinating and eminently readable Perfect Youth... is required reading for anyone remotely interested in the history of punk...or Canada, for that matter." — Canuckistan Music