The house was packed Saturday night on the Sunset Strip as punk fans young and old gathered to greet a legend: Greg Graffin, lead singer of “Bad Religion,” swaggered up to the microphone, leaned in, and in a lilting voice so familiar to the crowd joked, “uh, is this thing on?”

But the scene was unlike any his fans had witnessed before. Dressed in khakis and a crisp dress shirt, the punk singer delivered his fight-the-power message in prose this time—quoting his new book at indie bookstore “Book Soup” in West Hollywood.

Titled “Anarchy Evolution: Faith, Science, and Bad Religion in a World Without God,” Graffin’s story covers his struggle to find meaning in a world overrun by disorder and how studying evolution and the scientific method helped a teenaged punk from the valley in Los Angeles question the world around him and make sense of life. 

He opened the talk recalling what people used to say to him: “How can you be a punk rock singer and a scientist? You’re obviously nuts.”

But Graffin asserted that “there is some unification in these two worlds,” and that the writing of this book has been part of his journey in “trying to make sense of both disparate passions.” The bright-haired audience clad in band shirts listened attentively as he explained the importance of inquiry, discovery through experimentation, “and above all verification” in challenging authority and overturning established belief systems in science and society. 

“It’s funny,” noted Ted Nava, who organizes publicity events at “Book Soup,” “you get a bunch of literary nerds in here for a signing and it’s chaos; he punks are the most orderly as far as getting in lines and stuff.” 

Steve Olson, co-author of the book, acted as moderator for the talk and expressed his pleasure in working with Graffin, explaining that “scientists get asked all the time to write with people,” and that usually it goes horribly wrong. 

After praising the lead singer as being “incredibly easy to work with,” Olson passed the mic back to his collaborator, who drew more laughs from the crowd, saying, “thank you for that…I think so too.”

Fans were delighted to watch Graffin, who taught courses in evolution at UCLA in the past, switch hats between front man and PhD, fielding questions about lyric meanings and offering thoughts on the state of science education in America today.

When asked by Neon Tommy what he considered the most effective ways to challenge the establishment, the lyricist and author quipped: “You do realize that’s like a dissertation question, right?”

Graffin and his co-author seem to make a great team. The ideas presented from the book were both thought-provoking and accessible. Anyone who has ever questioned authority and the societal constraints imposed on us—and really, who hasn’t?—will find something meaningful in this new book.