The Humorless Ladies of Border Control
![](https://thenewpress.com/sites/default/files/covers/humorless_ladies_of_border_control_final_rev.jpg)
In 2009, musician Franz Nicolay left his job in the Hold Steady, aka “the world’s greatest bar band.” Over the next five years, he crossed the world with a guitar in one hand, a banjo in the other, and an accordion on his back, playing the anarcho-leftist squats and DIY spaces of the punk rock diaspora. He meets Polish artists nostalgic for their revolutionary days, Mongolian neo-Nazis in full SS regalia, and a gay expat in Ulaanbaatar who needs an armed escort between his home and his job.
![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/35kC4raC_JY/maxresdefault.jpg)
Franz Nicolay, The Hold Steady - The Keyboard Chronicles
![](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41WG3u24dVL._SR600%2C315_PIWhiteStrip%2CBottomLeft%2C0%2C35_PIStarRatingFOURANDHALF%2CBottomLeft%2C360%2C-6_SR600%2C315_ZA40%2C445%2C290%2C400%2C400%2CAmazonEmberBold%2C12%2C4%2C0%2C0%2C5_SCLZZZZZZZ_FMpng_BG255%2C255%2C255.jpg)
The Humorless Ladies of Border Control: Touring the Punk Underground from Belgrade to Ulaanbaatar: Nicolay, Franz: 9781620971796: Books
The Humorless Ladies of Border Control: Touring the Punk Underground from Belgrade to Ulaanbaatar
![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2016/12/04/books/review/1204-BKS-Travel/1204-BKS-Travel-superJumbo.jpg)
Itineraries Await in the Season's Best Travel Books - The New York Times
![](https://thetinmusicandarts.org.uk/site-v2/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/FranzNicolay.jpeg)
Sink or Swim Promotions presents Franz Nicolay + Aaron Cometbus + Nowhere Club + King of The Alps – The Tin Music and Arts
![](https://franznicolay.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/newpresscatalog-300x300.jpg)
Franz Nicolay : News Archive
![](https://cdn.kobo.com/book-images/fefc3400-b8b5-4a41-8523-ae8e34bd27e6/1200/1200/False/singing-jeremiah-1.jpg)
Singing Jeremiah eBook by Robert L. Kendrick - EPUB Book
![](https://powerhousearena.com/arena/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/9781948721134-2.jpg)
Book Launch: Someone Should Pay for Your Pain by Franz Nicolay in conversation with Darcey Steinke - POWERHOUSE Arena
The Hold Steady: We Can Get Together Weekend at Mississippi Studios in Portland, OR - Thursday, April 27, 2023 - EverOut Portland
![](https://assets.podomatic.net/ts/c5/00/f0/mike-malone-940/600x600_10964090.jpg)
Podomatic Books & Beer, Vol. 32, with guest Franz Nicolay, author of The Humorless Ladies of Border Control
![](https://img2.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/6852-1/%7BA52D220F-B944-44D6-A7C6-57632262CB83%7DImg100.jpg)
Along the Amber Route - National Library Board Singapore - OverDrive
![](https://i0.wp.com/longreads-newspack.newspackstaging.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/victory_day_kharkov_2010.jpg?resize=3264%2C2448&ssl=1)
A Stranger in the World: The Memoir of a Musician on Tour - Longreads
![](https://www.villagebooks.com/sites/villagebooks.com/files/field/image/VB%20franz%20nicolay_0.jpg)
Franz Nicolay, The Humorless Ladies of Border Control: Touring the Punk Underground from Belgrade to Ulaanbaatar
![](https://media-uploads.razorcake.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/23160121/razorcake_logo_with_icon_in_it.png)
Humorless Ladies of Border Control, The: Touring the Punk Underground from Belgrade to Ulaanbaatar By Franz Nicolay, 359 pgs. - Razorcake