Poison in the Machine
The Sex Pistols reimagined as manager Malcolm McLaren’s explosive, world-shaking art experiment
The appearance of the Sex Pistols in 1976 seemed less like the arrival of a band than a warning from a nightmarish future. Sex Pistols: Poison in the Machine examines the group’s explosive impact by placing Malcolm McLaren’s audacious, self-sabotaging art project at its centre – a scheme forged from radical politics, cultural fatigue and a genius for provocation. John Scanlan traces how this volatile experiment collided with the Pistols’ own musical force and John Lydon’s uncompromising originality, reshaping its purpose and accelerating the band’s implosion. Moving between London and New York, Scanlan reveals the personalities, pressures and accidents that gave punk its charge and altered popular culture far beyond its brief, chaotic lifespan.