Luke Bainbridge - The True Story Of Acid House

In some circles, the explosion of Acid House in 1980s Britain was regarded as the musical equivalent to the ‘video nasties’ scandal. Here was a genre that birthed the nation’s “second summer of love”, uniting an adolescent generation while repelling the stuffy status quo. Guardian scribe Luke Bainbridge’s tome is effective in gathering intriguing first-person accounts of the scene, but falls down in its scope, rarely stretching beyond London and Manchester. In this regard, the Acid House boom and other noteworthy scenes come across as a little small-time, where purists would argue that Britain was a hotbed of cultural expression up and down the land. There’s also an unfortunate ‘heard it all before’ vibe to the book, given the sheer amount of information already out there. Still, Bainbridge tackles the subject with respect prioritised over sensationalism. The “true story” may be a little misleading, though.