Spitboy Rule: Tales of a Xicana in a Female Punk Band

Michelle Cruz Gonzales played drums and wrote lyrics in the influential 1990s female hardcore band Spitboy, and now she’s written a book—a punk rock herstory. Though not a riot grrl band, Spitboy blazed trails for women musicians in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond, but it wasn’t easy. Misogyny, sexism, abusive fans, class and color blindness, and all—out racism were foes, especially for Gonzales, a Xicana and the only person of color in the band.

Unlike touring rock bands before them,...