This week, Drag City is releasing a rad book of American punk rock ephemera entitled, White Glove Test: Louisville Punk Flyers, 1978-1994. This 288-page hardback is jam-packed with what David Grubbs (Squirrel Bait, Bastro, Gastr del Sol) calls “teenage folk art.” The book documents a bygone era—pre-Photoshop and before the rise of the Web—when flyers were hand-assembled and often the only means bands had to promote their shows.

“Ephemera—the most beautiful kind of refuse. Created in a moment without thought of legacy, but standing as a pure record of time, place, and without any Rashomon spin or Zapruder eye. When we were stenciling, chopping, and recombining days before a show, I barely had a thought about anyone not standing on Bardstown Road or near Iroquois Park ever giving these broadsheets another glance. There was a need to leave a breadcrumb trail for the freaks. The newspaper of record saw us as a fringe element not worthy of bulletins. It was the only way to broadcast—to cast broadly. Now they have gained an emotional sheen. The punk rock mayfly (genus Ephemera) is gone, but any of these posters is a microchip bursting with memories.” (Tara Key, a member of a number of Louisville outfits, including No Fun, now considered the scene’s first punk band)

There are over 700 flyers in White Glove Test; here are some of our favorites:
 

1978
 

1979
 

1990
 

1991
 

1989
 

1988
 

1983
 

1984
 

1990
 

1988
 

1992
 
Order White Glove Test: Louisville Punk Flyers, 1978-1994 via Drag City or get it on Amazon.

The book is named after a song by local legends, the Endtables. Below are two clips of the band tearing it up at the Louisville School of Art on October 20th, 1979. The group’s transgender front-person, Steve “Chili” Rigot, passed away on March 20th.