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East L.A. punk pioneer Alice Bag tells the raw, feminist memoir of survival, music, and the birth of West Coast punk.
Violence Girl is the memoir of Alicia Armendariz—better known as Alice
Bag—frontwoman of The Bags and one of the earliest voices of the Los Angeles
punk scene. Raised in East L.A. by Mexican-born parents and shaped by a
turbulent, often violent home life, Armendariz crossed cultural and geographic
boundaries to become part of the 1970s underground movement that transformed
American music and youth culture.
From early performances at the Masque to appearances in Penelope Spheeris’ landmark film The Decline of Western Civilization, Alice Bag helped define the sound and spirit of West Coast punk. In this candid memoir, she traces her journey from barrio life and family trauma to feminist awakening, artistic community, and creative survival. The book documents not only the emergence of Los Angeles punk but also the experiences of women and Chicana artists within a male-dominated music scene.
Combining personal history with cultural documentation, Violence Girl explores themes of identity, resilience, music, and self-invention. Nearly one hundred photographs capture the era’s clubs, bands, and personalities, placing Armendariz’s story within the broader evolution of punk and alternative culture. The memoir stands as both a personal narrative and an important record of the early L.A. punk movement.
A core title for readers of punk history, feminist memoir, Chicana literature, and music biography.
“It’s rare that someone at the real beginning of something so monumentally
influential is around long enough to put it down in writing.” — Henry Rollins, LA
Weekly
“A riveting autobiographical reflection…equal parts Chicana lit and punk rock.”
— OC Weekly
“Fierce and funny, feminist and political, and punk as f___.” — Bitch
“Absolutely inspiring…a thoroughly moving story of personal triumph.” — The
Stranger
"The book’s slices of punk life from thirty-five years ago also document a flashpoint for a city rich with talent and anger, erupting into something completely oppositional to the feel-good, pastoral, and often saccharine Laurel Canyon melodies and glistening surf music of the preceding decade." - City Watch LA
"Now 52 years old and a lot less angry, Alice is an author. Last year she published her first book Violence Girl: East L.A. Rage to Hollywood Stage, A Chicana Punk Story (Feral House) which spawned from a blog she started for fun. Violence Girl details stories of the 70s punk scene, her complicated relationship with her parents, her father’s rage, her nationality, drugs, growing up poor in East LA and rising into a punk icon." -Vice
"After decades of dudes telling their stories of punk's formative years in memoir, we finally get one of L.A. punk's most crucial figures—Alice Bag, frontwoman of The Bags—telling her tale. Unsentimental and tough, she gets out from under her patriarchal family and finds her place among a crew of motley, misfit kids as they accidentally invented the American West Coast punk in bands like X, Black Flag, Germs and her own band, The Bags." --Jessica Hopper, Rookie
Alice and her Bags band was featured in the notorious documentary, The Decline of Western Civilization. She is currently married, has children, and lives in Phoenix, Arizona.