Image via Akashic Books.

There’s no shortage of media documenting the D.C. punk scene in the ’80s and ’90s, but here’s one more for your collection: Hard Art, DC 1979, a gorgeous, fascinating photo book that documents a pivotal year for the development and legacy of harDCore.

The book, which culls together a collection of photos from Pulitzer Prize-winning and former Washington Post photographer Lucian Perkins, tells the story of harDCore before punk was as synonymous with D.C. as New York is to the No Wave generation. The photos, which were taken during the fall and winter of 1979, documents the DIY shows of a soon-to-erupt punk scene. Photos of bands like Bad Brains, the Slickee Boys, Teen Idles, Trenchmouth, and the Untouchables captures the energy of a generation of frustrated, angry youths. But most interesting about the book, is the portrait of race relations and early gentrification documented by Perkins.

Narrated by Alec MacKaye—who was in the Untouchables, as well as The Faith and Ignition—Hard Art, DC 1979’s features stunning, beautifully textured photos of several DIY shows in various spaces, but the best ones capure a young Bad Brains hosting a concert in an Anacostia housing development project. The photos capture Bad Brains and a host of other bands performing in front of a mostly black crowd. MacKaye’s wistful, intimate text channels his fourteen-year-old self as a kid discovering this culture and his identity for the first time, while retaining a nostalgic, but not “back in my day”-esque tone.

Hard Art, DC 1979 is an essential book for music fans, but also for anyone looking for a glimpse into D.C.’s rich cultural history.

You can find Hard Art, DC 1979 at most area book and record stores, or buy it here for $17.96.