It was 1991, and the first time I ever looked up to Jennifer Finch of L7, she was standing right in front of me, slamming on her bass guitar. Bright red hair, an American flag tank top, and a flannel tied around her waist over a pair of jeans. L7 was performing on the steps of City Hall at a war protest. “There is always enough money for war,” Casey Kasem said moments before they hit the stage.
Fast forward to 2026. I’m no longer the bright-eyed twelve-year-old who ditched school that day to be there. I’m 47 now, a mother to 24-year-old twin sons, with a whole lot of life behind me. And what a ride it’s been.
When I was asked by Da Capo Publishing if I wanted to review Shooting Up & Making Out, the book Jennifer Finch wrote with Jeff Alulis, I jumped at the opportunity. How could I not? Jennifer had been someone I looked up to since I was a kid, and now I had the chance to spend some time with her story.
More than a memoir
Little did I know just how much I would relate to this book. Shooting Up & Making Out is a powerful read, and honestly, I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone, so I’ll stick to a few things that really stood out to me.
Aside from being nearly impossible to put down, this book stayed with me long after I closed its pages during reading breaks. I was hooked from the first sentence. By the end of the first couple of paragraphs, I knew I was in for something phenomenal, and I hadn’t even finished the first chapter.
You ever read a book so good that you start getting sad with every page you turn because you know you’re that much closer to the end? That was Shooting Up & Making Out for me.
Punk Rock, Photography, and The Ramones
There were so many parallels between Jennifer’s story and my own. Finding punk through photography. Buying records based on the photos on the album covers. Discovering The Ramones at a young age, a band she would later encounter backstage almost by chance. And learning that sometimes, all you needed to get into places you otherwise couldn’t was a film camera in your hand.
Photography was her passion, and she kept at it. Her petite stature often meant security would bring her to the side of the stage, or she would find herself right up front. Even in these incredible spaces with some of the most influential artists of the era, she struggled at times with the feeling that some of the rolls of film she kept shooting were becoming less and less impressive.
But that didn’t stop her. She kept going, and thank God for that.
Not just behind the camera, either. She took guitars to the face, ended up covered in blood, and even needed stitches once, but the show always went on.
Jennifer Finch would go on to become not only a remarkable photographer, capturing some of the most iconic images of the punk scene in the 80s and 90s, but also an influential bass player who helped lead the way for women in punk rock.
She had her demons, for sure. She dealt with drugs from a very early age, along with experiences and struggles that you’ll have to read the book to learn more about. But her story also touches on recovery and finding a way to move forward. As someone who has had her own struggles with substance use, I connected with the parts of Jennifer’s story in recovery and sobriety. There is something powerful about seeing someone find hope in a place where you, too, have looked for it.
Behind the Book: Three Questions for Jeff Alulis
I also wanted to hear more from Jeff Alulis, so I reached out to him for a few words about the book.
I asked Jeff how the book came about.
“We started doing interviews and planning it out in 2017, but we both got distracted by other projects, and it sat in a virtual drawer until 2024, when I reapproached her, and we finally got it going. I’ve basically been waiting almost ten years to see this book in print!”
I asked him which parts of the book Jennifer loved the most.
“I think the stories about creating art. Her first bands, Uh and Sugar Babylon, where there were no rules, and she was just young and figuring things out. The story about her massive “14 and Shooting” photo show in Hollywood. Those were fond memories for her.
The stories about overdoses and violence and illness and death were, unsurprisingly, much harder to talk about, but she pushed through it all with genuine courage.”
Finally, I asked Jeff what he hoped readers would take away from Shooting Up & Making Out.
“I hope readers are entertained, that they laugh and cry along the way. But I hope, as Jennifer did, that the book will also serve as a historical document for anyone who wants to know what it was like to be a young girl in the ’80s LA punk scene, and what it was like to watch the musical and cultural shift of the 1990s from the inside.
Jennifer’s friends all have fond memories of the wisdom she shared with them. I hope this book finally allows that wisdom to reach the rest of the world.”
A Legacy That Lives On
It broke my heart and put it back together. I reminisced, and I remembered the decades I’ve lived through. Shooting Up & Making Out is one of the greatest books I’ve ever read. It’s a personal story, a piece of punk history, and a reminder of just how much one person can leave behind.
The book comes out January 19, 2027, and you can pre-order it today.
As far as the ending, that’s hard to talk about without giving too much away. All I can say is that, like so much of this book, it reached me personally. After reading the book and getting to know Jennifer through her memories, her music, her photography, and her struggles, just like any great artist, she left me wanting more. More time, and more Jennifer. For all her imperfections, courage, and the person she was.
And now, even though she is no longer here to walk among us, she’s still someone to look up to. This book, and the wisdom she shared, will keep reaching people long after she’s gone. Maybe that’s its own kind of immortality. Now we look up to her as an angel who left a little more light behind than she knew
If you want to know Jennifer’s story, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of Shooting Up & Making Out: A Memoir of My Life in LA and L7. You won’t regret it.
Rest easy, Jennifer. You are missed.
Book Review and Photos: Maggie St.Thomas
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