various artists - 1999 Teen-Beat Sampler (A Compilation Album)

It seems strange to me that I haven't written more about being a big dork for Arlington, VA's Teen-Beat Records. After all, it's not like I just got into them last week. The Mark Robinson-led label has been a part of my life ever since I moved to Baltimore in '94, having copped Unrest's "Perfect Teeth" shortly after landing there. Here was a sonically different fellow traveler to my beloved Dischord, a place that melded pop influences with DIY ethics and a postmodern visual aesthetic. Along with what was coming out of K Records in the PNW, it was a place where Madonna and Enya could meld with Crispy Ambulance and Cath Carroll into something that was distinct and familiar to this 17-year-old boy.

This is the fourth in the Teen-Beat Annual Sampler Series, and it's a pretty good one, a proper sampling of both the current label roster as well as a smattering of some super deep cuts from the catalog. The Rondells' record was one that I listened to nearly to death in 1999, and their cover of "Like A Prayer" got played a lot on my radio show. There was something familiar about True Love Always' "Faust"; it would be years later that I'd connect that it originated from de Palma's "Phantom Of The Paradise". Versus, Flin Flon, Tel Aviv: their songs from their then-current records laid out a indie pop present very different from what was playing on the radio at the end of the millenium, but just as danceable and worthy of singing along.

Discogs / Teen-Beat

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various artists - Teen-Beat 50

This record will turn 30 years old in a few weeks. This millenial of a compilation is still paying off its student loans, has probably delayed getting married, might have moved back into their mom's place.

A split release between DC's Teen-Beat and NYC's Matador, Teen-Beat 50, as the story goes, was originally scheduled to come out in 1990. which would have made this one of the first ten recordings on the now-indie titan. I'd guess it'd slot into that same space now filled by New York Eye And Ear Control. Teen-Beat was well known for split releases, working with Homstead, No. 6, Ajax, and a host of others; all to get some of the best bedroom indie of the late 80s and early 90s off of cassette and onto wax/CD.

Your listening experience runs the gamut, from Dischord contemporaries Circus Lupus and Autoclave, to goof-assin' from Sexual Milkshake, to an early Carl Newman track from his pre-New Pornographers band Superconductor. A shitton of Teen-Beat luminaries perform: Unrest with 3 appearances, Butch Willis, Jonny Cohen, Andrew Beaujon (on four tracks). This here's the CD release, which has 11 more recordings than the LP version.

I'd held off writing about this b/c I wanted to talk a bit about what Teen-Beat means to me as a counterpoint to Dischord in DC music history, but I never could pull my shit together well enough to make a solid enough essay. Let me say that I feel very lucky haven't been turned onto Fugazi and Unrest almost simultaneously, and to become aware of both frontperson's labels. To discover that sense of possibility, that you could follow your own path and have folks glom onto it...it stuck with me. Clearly.

Discogs / Teen-Beat

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Tsunami - World Tour and Other Destinations

I wrote some words about Tsunami very early on in the revival of this here blog, so I don't think I'll retread that ground. Instead, let's briefly review what appears on this, a collection of the D.C. band's various singles and comp releases.

-Tracks 1-5 were originally released as the "Headringer" 7" in 1991 by Simple Machines.
-Tracks 6 & 7 were originally released as the "Geniuses of Crack" 7" in 1992 by Homestead.
-Track 8 was originally released the January 1992 Sub Pop Singles Club split 7" with Velocity Girl by Sub Pop.
-Track 9 was originally released on "Teriyaki Asthma VII" in 1992 by C/Z.
-Track 10 was originally released on the "Season's Greetings" split 7" with Velocity Girl in 1992 by Simple Machines.
-Tracks 11 & 12 were originally released on the "Diner" 7" in 1993 by Simple Machines.
-Track 13 was originally released on the "Inclined Plane" 7" in 1993 by Simple Machines. This was the sixth and final release in "The Machines" series.
-Track 14 was originally released on the "Teenbeat 100" 7" in 1993 by Teenbeat.
-Tracks 15 & 16 were originally released on the "Souvenir Folder of Beautiful Arlington, VA" 7"/CDEP in 1993 by Insipid Vinyl. Track 8 also appeared on this release.
-Track 17 was originally released on the "Echos From the Nation's Capital" compilation in 1993 by Third World Underground.
-Tracks 18 & 19 were originally released on the "Matchbook" 7" in 1993 by Simple Machines. "In A Name" from "Deep End" also appeared on "Matchbook".
-Track 20 was originally released on the August Working Holiday split 7" with Small Factory in 1993 by Simple Machines. This was the eighth release in the "Working Holiday" series.
-Track 21 was originally released on the "Be Like That" 7" in 1994 by Simple Machines. "Be Like That" from "The Heart's Tremelo" also appeared on "Be Like That".
-Track 22 was originally released on the "Our Band Could Be Your Life - A Tribute to D Boon and the Minutemen" compilation in 1994 by Little Brother Records.

That leaves but a few releases uncollected: the collaborative song with Velocity Girl on the "Season's Greetings" split, their "Monster of Rock II" tour split with Rodan and Eggs, their split with Superchunk on Honey Bear, and their "Poodle b/w Old City" 7" that released prior to "A Brilliant Mistake".

There are so many things that listening to and reviewing "World Tour..." conjures up for me. The songs are tuneful revolutions; the outcome of a upbringing in DIY punk, third-wave feminism, and 70s/80s pop songwriting. Look at the list of collaborator list: Velocity Girl, Unrest, Superchunk, Bratmobile. It's a who's who of fellow travelers from the early 90s. The labels remain known for how they curated the sounds of this time: Homestead, Sub Pop, C/Z, Teenbeat. Most of all, I think of how hopeful that time was, which was probably just a function of my age at the time. But I honestly felt like we were going to take the world by the balls and do something great with it.

Discogs

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Tsunami - Deep End

Maybe it's because they were too punk for indie rock, and they were too indie for punks. Maybe it's because their label hasn't been open for over 20 years. Maybe they were the band that inspired the bands to come. In my humble opinion, Arlington, VA's Tsunami remains one of the most underrated bands of the 90s, with a catalog well worth re-appraising.

I'd heard about them around 1993 via the college radio station in Blacksburg, VA. One night, one of the DJs played the entire B-side of "Teriyaki Asthma VII", my first exposure to both Superchunk and Tsunami. "Punk Means Cuddle" became a through-line for me and my girlfriend; she didn't want to listen to Bad Brains or Fugazi, but we could listen to the mix with Tsunami and Tiger Trap on it over and over again. It wouldn't be until the next year when I'd finally come across a physical copy of any of their records. I found the CD of "Deep End" during my first visit to the Sound Garden in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. It remained on steady rotation for me over the next couple of years, mystifying my friends who couldn't understand why I'd listen to this AND Youth of Today. "Deep End" is tuneful, emotive, noisy, powerful. I think it foreshadows the kind of music that would make Sleater-Kinney famous over the next 10 years.

I could wax poetic over the entire Simple Machines catalog. Their nine-year run from 1990 to 1998 would make anyone envious. With Tsunami leading the way, it offered a true alternative to both punk orthodoxy and major label co-opting. I'd love to see someone like Numero Group release a comprehensive reissue of Tsunami's back catalog. Until then, we'll settle for opportunities like this to take another look.

Discogs

Click here to download.