various artists - Let Them Eat Jellybeans!

This is the rare instance on this blog where what I'm sharing isn't a first generation copy from my personal archive. In this case, this is a rip of the CD-R that came complimentary with a copy of the 1981 Italian cassette I bought five years ago. A good dude, that anonymous punk who sold me one of the finest punk/HC comps of all time.

Everything about this has a timeless quality. The Fallout Productions cover. The Ed Colver photography. The fold-out poster. The roster of first wave North American punk, hardcore, and outsider music. More so than "Flex Your Head" or "Chunks" or "Charred Remains" or "Meathouse", this is representative of the true width of the scene in 1981. It served as a calling card for the bands contained within as they had reached a point to escape the New World and bring American sounds to Europe and beyond.

This record is 45 years old. It's been out of print nearly 40 years. And yet it's a still a pretty incredible listen, whether you're blasting Flipper, the Subhumans, Half Japanese, or the Offs. The variety present along with the artwork make it a stone cold classic.

Discogs

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various artists - Swami Sound System Vol. 1: 2003 Sales Conference

There are certain labels that I can always count on to deliver the goods. Dischord, 625 Thrashcore, 12XU; if their logo is on the record, it's probably going to be a good one. Swami also makes that list for me. This 2003 sampler isn't a sampler so much as a gathering of unreleased (at that time) tracks from a range of the San Diego label's groups. You get three servings of John Reis, with songs from RFTC, Hot Snakes, and the Sultans. Dan Sartain, who I've written about before here, makes his Swami debut. The Loincloth track is a big ol' ball-swingin' metal instrumental that'll scare your mama. And Sonny Vincent, whether with Testors or by himself, was a revelation in 2003, and a must-listen in 2026. Discogs sez there's a vinyl version of this, but I don't recall ever seeing it stocked. I've been tooling around with the windows down, blasting this one, and even the kids with the wrapped Geo Metros agree; this is a good'un.

Discogs

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various artists - Dim Mak Records Sampler, "I'm like a stepping razor don't you watch me i'm dangerous

Long before Steve Aoki became a famed cake thrower, but after he booked HC & emo bands to play shows in his dorm room at the Pickle Patch at UCSB, he was a purveyor of some renown for the cutting edge of indie rock. This 23-year-old relic comes from just before he linked up with Bloc Party and helped break them here in the States. So it has sprinklings of fun stuff from Pretty Girls Make Graves, Panthers, the Gossip, Die Monitr Bats, and the Von Bondies. I'm partial to the contribution from post-Huggy Bear outfit the Phantom Pregnancies, as well as a live Soledad Brothers cut. It's a fun reminder of the time when the hardcore kids were playing house records alongside riot grrrl, and coke mirrors with the logo of your band were a crucial element of your show merch. 

Discogs

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various artists - Working Holiday

Merry Xmas, friends! Let's keep it short and sweet today with this two-disc compilation of (most of) Simple Machines Records' "Working Holiday" 7" series. As per the notes, it's missing the original Bratmobile, Swirlies, and Jonny Cohen tracks, but adds a second disc of live tracks from the Working Holiday festival. There's plenty of good mid-90s indie rock to be found here in the form of Tsunami, Superchunk, Jawbox, Lungfish, Codeine, Versus, and Scrawl. The live disc adds Archers Of Loaf, Rodan, and Crain. I'm a sucker for anything Simple Machines put together, which is why I hope received the requested copy of Tsunami's "Loud As Is" from Santa this year.

Now, get back to your family, your homies, your feasting, your gift opening, a crackling fire, and/or a bottle of brown liquor. As the saying goes, however you keep Christmas is between you and the Lord. I'm taking a few weeks off to enjoy California's Central Coast and my in-laws' famous hospitality. See you sometime in January 2026.

Discogs

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various artists - Spin This V

I've been laying pretty low on purchases since the first of the year. But I broke edge a few days ago; a record nerd can't stay out of the thrift store for long. I stumbled across this now-31-year-old sampler from Spin Magazine, and immediately flashed back to seeing the video for "Undone (The Sweater Song" in my neighbor's den for the first time. His folks kept the shades well drawn, so what natural light made it in had this yellow tinge to it. We stopped what we doing at the first beats from Patrick Wilson; it was unlike anything we'd ever heard up 'til then. Fuckin' Weezer, man. Always brings a smile to my face.

Plus: Mazzy Star! Frente! covering New Order! Major label Meat Puppets! Morphine! Guided By Voices! Plus a bunch of stuff that 30 years on I still don't recognize outside of a radio station giveaway bin. Kinda perfect for this space. I can never resist throwing a buck to a animal rescue or a job's program in return for something like this.

Discogs

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various artists - Mojo Presents: This Is A Call! (15 Brainmelting Dispatches From The Golden Age Of U.S. Alt-Rock)

This is a just a front-to-back KILLER collection of what, indeed, was the Golden Age of U.S. alt-rock. Sure, maybe it kicks off with a lessor Sugar song (if you can deem any Sugar song as a "lesser" effort). But things spring right back in with a run of Superchunk/Sebadoh/Shudder To Think/Lotion/GvsB. That's a Murderer's Row of boys and guitars (apologies to Ms. Ballance). Things take a relative break with contributions from Pond and Madder Rose, a pair of bands I definitely vaguely remember from issues of CMJ and Option, but otherwise own nothing by. Then things pick back up with my favorite Built To Spill song, Bob Pollard, Sunny Day Real Estate, and the god-damn Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. It's all capped off with the Grifters, who I only discovered and appreciated in the last few years, and the Jesus Lizard, who I discovered first of all these, and have loved the longest.

I'm not ignoring Red Red Meat for any good reason; I just typically skip the track, the remnant of a poor impression they left me with when i saw them open for Smashing Pumpkins at the Salem Civic Center on the "Siamese Dream" tour. And remembering that reminds me that it took place 31 years ago, which is just...man, that is a terrible realization.

Discogs

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various artists - D.U.M.B. Rock: The Hollywood Tapes

Focusing one's attention on cheap comps allows one to take some risks and discover sounds you would have never encountered otherwise, Case in point: this 1993 compilation of NYC sounds, featuring liner notes from contemporary Maximum Rock 'n' Roll columnist George Tabb, whose writing I took a liking to in my first years of punk rock discovery.

This one came out on Celluloid, a label I've always found curious for the breadth of their releases. Their early US releases were a who's who of Downtown sounds: Bill Laswell, Alan Vega, Phase2, and Grandmixer D.ST. They put out a few Fela Kuti records in the 80s; I think the first things I owned on Celluloid were "Hustlers Convention" and "This Is Madness". By 1993, Celluloid was on its last legs, having been sold for a dollar in 1989, and mostly existing as a catalog label by this point. I can only speculate, but Vital Music, who'd released the other "Dumbrock" comps, probably piggybacked on Celluloid's transcontinental distribution reach in order to get this one in as many hands as possible.

"But is it any good?" you ask. Good question; you be the judge. I don't feel like it was a buck poorly spent on my part. And that's all the insight I'm willing to spend on this one.

Discogs

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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

Click here to download.

various artists - Seven Unlucky Sevens

Or as I like to call it, "500 Slampt Fans Can't Be Wrong!!!"

It's seven early 7" releases from Slampt, as true and honest a DIY enterprise as history has even seen. Run by two kids from the North-East of England as an arts umbrella, Slampt was known for awesome cover art and killer lo-fi records. They were like an Tyneside K Records, in kinship with New Jersey's Troubleman Records and responsible for some classic slabs.

Like the insert says, these represent the debut singles for six of the seven bands appearing. You want to hear what the dudes from Franz Ferdinand were doing in their youth? Well, there's a Yummy Fur 7" to check out. Label "owners" Pete & Rach show up with Avocado Baby and Pussycat Trash, the latter of which remains THE great under-heard riot grrrl group from the early 90s. Pete's long-running lo-fi group, Milky Wimpshake, not only had an all-time great name, but also debut here.

You should know by now; I like my punk rock recorded on a boom box and played as amateurly and heartfelt as possible. This one gets me right in my sweet spot.

Discogs

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various artists - The Hope Machine

Here's a (at the time of this post) 23-year-old cross section of Long Island DIY, courtesy of a label that, sadly, seems to have not made it through COVID intact. Rok Lok put out an early Loma Prieta record, and did a tape release for my buddy Nick's project about 12 years later. It's a small world that felt a lot bigger back then.

Geez, a lot of these folks ended up playing CCAS back in the day: Latterman, Nakatomi Plaza, The Number Twelve Looks Like You, De La Hoya. A hundred fliers flicker through my mind's eye.

The way the memories have faded, it makes me wish I'd done more party drugs, so I'd have a better excuse for faulty recollections of hazy summer nights. It makes me wish I'd spent a few more weekends in vans on I-95, rather than working a straight job or going back to school. At the risk of wistfulness, I sometimes think of the paths not taken, and where they might have lead. Maybe I would have been in one of these bands, immortalized to be rediscovered nearly a quarter century later.

Discogs

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The Geraldine Fibbers - Live At The Bottom Of The Hill

I'm not sure how some 90s A&R at Virgin heard the Geraldine Fibbers and imagined a future where they'd top the charts, or even appeal to a larger audience. But I dig it...the same way I dig the Gun Club and Flesh Eaters. And maybe (almost definitely) that "cowpunk" tag is technically incorrect, but fiddle songs for us art-damaged weirdos should fit under that nebulous subgenre.

This here was an American promo-only release, coming on the heels of the G.F.'s 1996 album, Lost Somewhere Between The Earth And My Home. Recorded live at San Francisco's The Bottom Of The Hill, this never got a retail version, which is a shame, because while the recording feels flat at times, it was the recording that finally broke through to me on behalf of Ms. Bozulich and co.

It didn't help me avoid run-on sentences, though.

Discogs

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various artists - Oh, Merge: A Merge Records 10 Year Anniversary Compilation

I got this for the Rocket From The Crypt song (an outtake from "RFTC") (and it was cheap). I kept it because it has a bunch of unreleased and rare indie rock from the late 90s. It's a pretty good lineup: the Karl Hendricks Trio, Magnetic Fields, Neutral Milk Hotel, Rock*A*Teens, Seaweed, and Superchunk (of course). And that's all the insight I can offer here.

Sorry, they can't all be deep dives into my mediocre history. /emoji shrug

Discogs

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Viva Knieval - self-titled aka Boy Poison

I suppose we can always use a Kathleen Hanna rarity. Viva Knieval was her second band, after Amy Carter, and before Bikini Kill. Among her bandmates was Louise "Zeb" Olsen, who played in Go Team with Tobi Vail and Billy Karren, and self-released this under the Ultrasound Records. This has more in common musically with L7 and Babes in Toyland than you might expect, considering the band's home base and membership. Fun fact: Tim Mac of Halo of Flies recorded this four-song slab. 1,000 on black, 1,000 on red, gang. And that is the most amazing part to me: that a relatively unknown band would press 2,000 7"s.

Discogs

Click here to download.

Tiger Trap - Tiger Trap

Note: reposted from my sideblog. Originally written October 2018.

This may have been the best-selling K Records release at one time, but I'll be damned if I could find a  physical copy until I moved to the PNW and started hitting every Value Village between Bellingham and the U District. And why did I want a copy so bad? Mainly because I'd only ever owned a third-generation cassette version, then a download off some long-defunct blog.

And who gives a shit if one owns a physical copy in 2018? I'm a bet hedger, and I love dead media. I get sweaty palmed when I see some out-of-print indie CD that came out when I was 16. It still sounds just as vital as it did when my girlfriend in 1993 passed me a C-60 with this and some Bikini Kill singles on it. The big difference is I'm not some dumbo in southwestern Virginia; I'm in the stomping ground of this amazing four-piece. Kids making music will never not be awesome to me.

Anyway, here's Tiger Trap's self-titled LP. Ripped from the K Records CD at 320kbps. Enjoy. I found this for $2.

Get one on Discogs.

Download.