various artists - Fear Of Smell

I'll keep this short because I got a new 9-5 job last week (work from home, benefits, the whole nine), which means I really shouldn't be writing at 1:30 in the morning any more. I guess we'll work that one out as time goes on, right? I'd better; it's the first grown-ass-man job I've had in over three years, and I really shouldn't fuck that up.

I sometimes feel like I was born just a few years too early. I missed out on the days of No Comment, Greyhouse, Native Nod...the heyday of weirdo, outsider hardcore, in a few cases just by months. I had just started exploring things when the last issue of No Answers came out, so while I was there as Ebullition kicked off, I felt more in common with Sam & Neil's Vermiform, a label firmly on the bleeding edge of things from its first release (the "Murders Among Us." 7") to the last (the Fast Forward CD). Some bright lad with a musicology degree will someday write a book about the Vermiform discography, and its impact of independent music throughout the 90s, and I'll be the ding-a-ling queued up to buy it.

Vermiform really nailed it with its compilations, which served as great snapshots for where the edge of the map was in a given year. Their first was 1992's "Fear Of Smell". It originally was a vinyl-only release, the first pressing of which featured distinct, hand-drawn covers, which is the exact sort of quixotic, money-losing scheme that I really appreciate. The collection of bands here is incredible: Nation of Ulysses, Moss Icon, Heroin, Infest, Rorschach, Man Is The Bastard, Tit Wrench, Native Nod, 1.6 Band, Merel, Sugar Shock and Hell No. This is ugly music for angry dorks who would rather make art than shoot up a school, the soundtrack to the last days before a band from 924 Gilman would turn up on MTV.

Plus, there's prank calls, which I think is always a nice touch, and is basically impossible nowadays, unless you're a genius like Longmont Potion Castle.

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