I Wouldn’t Say It if It Wasn’t True: A Memoir of Life, Music, and the Dream Syndicate

Wynn, the singer and guitarist for the Dream Syndicate, recounts the band’s rise, breakup, and reunion in his hit-or-miss debut memoir. He begins the narrative with his latchkey childhood in Los Angeles, recounting how he rode his bike to the local record store, discovered such influences as the Beatles, Cream, and James Brown on his transistor radio, and formed an early band called Purple Passion (later renamed Sudden Death Overtime). While DJing at his college radio station and clerking at the record store, Wynn played with a series of local bands before forming the Dream Syndicate in 1981. He recounts headlining tours through the U.S. and Europe, and opening for such big-time acts as U2 and R.E.M. Disappointing record sales and the strains of life on the road eventually led to their 1989 breakup, but they’d go on to reunite in 2012. Wynn’s life as a rocker makes for rich material, though his workaday prose style is sometimes at odds with the debauchery he describes (including a flirtation with crystal meth), and major developments pertaining to his bandmates’ departures and his own romantic relationships go underexplored. This is best suited to the rock group’s most ardent fans. (Sept.)