Okay here we are, for those of you who actually took this journey with me. Now we're gonna jump into my Punk/Indie/Alt vinyl. Most of it is from the late 90s/early 00s. I don't really collect anymore. I would love to, but most of our spending money goes to DVDs, and my current record player kinda blows. Most of these bands are long gone now, swimming in an ocean of obscurity. A lot of Florida bands, some Chicago bands, and stuff like that. A few popular acts, a few that are still together, and a lot that never made it further than playing house shows for a living room full of sweaty kids who smell like chicken noodle soup. Those were the best kind of shows, if you ask me. I've been to a ton of great shows at arenas and at clubs, and nothing beats that feel of a house show. A band on your level, playing right in front of you, the music surging up through you from the wooden floor beneath your feet. Best fucking feeling ever. Of course, I'm 35 now. If I were to show up at a house show now kids would go running.
Also, I am looking for song links as I write this. I may not be able to find a decent version of a song from some of these releases, or I may not even be able to find one at all. In that event, I will post a song from another release so you can get the gist of it. Okay...
- I Hate Myself & Strikeforce Diablo
Man, I used to love I Hate Myself. They were one of the first bands I remember hearing that had more of a melodic, almost pop sound, but with vocals like that of a pterodactyl in heat or a dude who just gargled broken glass. That sound has been so overdone and overproduced now by glam-emo bands that I can't fucking stand it. But I still got shit like this to listen to.
Strikeforce Diablo consisted of members of Asshole Parade and Floor (FUCKING GREAT BAND). Like I Hate Myself, Strikeforce were from Gainseville, aka the best fucking city for indie music back in the day. Apart from this split 7 inch, they have a fucking incredible album called 'The Albatross and the Architect'. You can buy the cd for $4 from No Idea Records, or get it from Itunes. There's a couple of live performances on Youtube, but the audio quality doesn't really give the band proper justice. So here is a link to the first song from 'The Albatross and the Architect'.
click→Sharp Tongue, No Teeth
- The Hal al Shedad & Inkwell
The Hal al Shedad- 3 piece band from Atlanta that mixed indie rock and hardcore and sounded fucking awesome doing it.
click→That One
Inkwell- Another Atlanta band, not to be confused with the Winter Park Florida band. These guys were fucking awesome. I couldn't find links to the tracks I wanted to, but I did find a 15 minute live performance. The sound isn't fantastic, but dammit, it really just fucking rules that this shit is available online at all.
The other bands on the 4-way split with Inkwell are Prevail, Order of Importance, and Reversal of Man, who were pretty fucking big in the scene.
- The Promise Ring & Texas is the Reason
The Promise Ring is one of my favorite bands of all time. They changed their sound many times over the years and I appreciate a band that can sound completely different on each album. Singer/songwriter Davey Von Bohlen and drummer Dan Didier are in a band now called Maritime, which is equally fucking awesome. However, TPR is doing the reunion thing this year and I really hope they hit up Florida. An old band I was in called Slip Then Stumble had our first show in a coffee shop playing with The Promise Ring and Hot Water Music. It was good times.
Texas is the Reason was extremely short lived but were hugely important to this scene. Formed by members of Shelter and 108. Reason for breaking up is rumored to be gaining popularity from major label attention. I'm sorry, but that's fucking ridiculous. You can disagree, but I don't get it. I can understand wanting to do the DIY thing and not even seeking out popularity, but if popularity finds you and you decided to break up based off of whether one of your last shows on a tour is awesome.... that's just fucking stupid. I've also heard that there were some rising tensions with members, but was it really so bad that it couldn't be worked out? Guess so.
From album 'Do You Know Who You Are?' My favorite jam from them.
- Traluma & The Jazz June
Traluma- Illinois band with members of Gauge, one of the most important bands from the Chicago punk/hardcore scene. The bass player passed away from cystic fibrosis in 1999. I did not know that until just now, sadly. I couldn't find a link from this 7 inch, but the one I did find is good, too.
The Jazz June- 5 piece band from Pennsylvania. 3 guitarists. Sometimes it sounded messy, but it was a good kind of messy if that makes any sense. I got to see them one time live with Sunday's Best and it was pretty damn awesome. Mid Carson July is also on this split 7 inch. They are pretty good too, but I mainly wanted to bring up Jazz June because I listened to them religiously for a long while. I couldn't find a link to the track on this album, so here is one of my favorites.
- Sweater Weather & Days in December.
Sweater Weather- Another band with members of Gauge. More mellowed out jazzy shit. Pretty damn awesome.
Days in December- Original drummer for Braid was in this band. This is the only link I could find.
click→main. in. vine.
- Modest Mouse
I want to say this is Modest Mouse's very first 7 inch, but I could be wrong. I love the shit out of this band, even more so now. All of these songs ended up on 'Sad Sappy Sucker'.
- 400 Years, Cave In & Piebald
Members of Groundwork. I always liked 400 Years more. Like a heavier mathrock or some shit. This song is not actually on the 7 inch above, but it's damn good.
Cave In- aka best fucking band on the planet. Their sound is all over the place. This is some of their older fucking nuts stuff, which they have kinda mixed back in with their alt sound now. The link is from the version on the 'Beyond Hypothermia' release. Different singer on this split 7 inch.
Piebald- another great band that went from a more hardcore sound to post hardcore to indie rock.
- Jawbox & The City on Film
I pretty much love any band J Robbins has been a part of, and he is one hell of a engineer and producer. I think his best shit comes from Jawbox and Burning Airlines, though. Caught on to them through 120 Minutes when the video for 'Savory' aired. Saw them live with the Meatpuppets and STP of all bands. 'For Your Own Special Sweetheart' is still my favorite release from them, a different version of this song can also be found on that album.
The City on Film- Bob Nanna from Braid and Hey Mercedes solo project. Good shit. I couldn't find a link to the tunes off of this 7 inch, so here is one of my favorites.
- Corm
Insanely energetic D.C. band. Only one full length (Audio Flame Kit), but you can get a collection of all their eps and compilation songs under the title 'Everything Streamlined'.
Frodus
Another insanely balls off the wall energetic D.C. band. The singer used to literally come out of his fucking shoes live. Here's one of my favorite jams from them.
- Archers of Loaf & Monsterland
Archers of Loaf- Chapel Hill masters of indie rock. My long time friend Ryan saw a video of these guys on 120 Minutes and fell the hell in love. Turned me on to them and I fell in love, too. Awesome story; we saw them at an Orlando venue called The Edge when their ep 'Vs. the Greatest of All Time' was out. The Edge had 3 locations for shows. 1) an inside grimy club type setting 2) a barn outside for lesser known bands 3) an outdoor stage and big field for fucking huge bands. Archers played in the barn on a night Candlebox had played in the field that day. Hearing the lead singer come out on stage and say "We'd like to thank Candlebox for opening for us" was fucking priceless. This song can also be found on the 'Speed of Cattle' album. One of my favorite Archers songs.
Monsterland- another band Ryan and I caught on to from 120 Minutes. Man, that show used to OWN. These dudes were from Connecticut, and honestly deserved just as much recognition as bands like Archers and even Pavement. They were fucking great, and I have a cool story about them, too. It was a school night, and Ryan and I were young. I think I had maybe just turned 17. Anyway, Monsterland was in town playing at a club called The Station in Orlando. We were ECSTATIC. Then we got there and it was just us, the bartender and the band. Fucking sad, I couldn't believe it. I was at the age where I thought "Hey if these guys have a video they must have a following!" Guess not. The cool thing about this? Ryan and I got to talk to them literally for hours before they played. It is seriously one of my favorite memories and I recall it well. We even had them autograph an album. I don't think they understood, as they were really down to Earth. But at the time, they were like gods to us. At least they were cool about it. Anyway, they hit the stage really late, and as I said it was a school night. Maybe 3 songs in, my Mom comes through the door of the club and ushers us out. FUCKING EMBARRASSING. They never came to town again and soon fell into obscurity. But talking to them was still a freaking awesome moment.
- Christie Front Drive & Boy's Life
Not much to say here, except both of these bands were large parts of my late teens/early twenties, and I grabbed up every release I could from Crank! and Caufield records.
- Sleepytime Trio, Maximillian Colby & Rye Coalition
Sleepytime Trio- Virginia band that started as a side project for Maximillian Colby. Damn awesome. Kinda mathy post hardcore.
Maximillian Colby- Mellow to spastic awesomeness.
Rye Coalition- Pretty unique hardcore from Jersey, or, they were. According to Wikipedia, these dudes are still together but are way different now. This is the stuff I remember most from them, though.
- A Minor Forest & Sweep the Leg Johnny
There's a couple of other bands on the splits in the GIF above, but I mainly want to talk about A Minor Forest and Sweep the Leg Johnny.
A Minor Forest- San Fran math rock, one of the first bands I heard from this subgenre, and what a fucking awesome place to start. Flemish Altruism and Inindependence were both great albums.
Sweep the Leg Johnny- Chicago math rock band and these guys were motherfuckin' genius, too. One of the best band names ever and 'Sometimes My Balls Feel Like Tits' is one of the greatest song titles, too.
- Hot Water Music
One of the best Gainesville bands. I'll be honest, I used to not be a fan, and it was kind of premature. I owned a few of their records but just never really gave them a chance. I fucking love them to pieces now, and can't really understand what I was thinking back in the day. Their new album, 'Exister', is amazing. The split album is with a band called Tomorrow.
- Don Martin Three
St. Augustine band. So fucking good. I heard at their last show the drummer set his drums on fire. Would have loved to seen that shit. I was really surprised to find this on Youtube. So glad I did.
- Cursive & Silver Scooter
Yeah, Cursive has been around forever. I remember falling in love with them as soon as I heard 'Such Blinding Stars For Starving Eyes'. They are pretty different now, but still pretty good.
I wish Silver Scooter had been more known than they were. Fucking epic nerdy indie pop. The songs on this split are good but I'm gonna link my favorite jam from another release. Lead singer Scott Garred= Super XX Man, other good shit.
- The Get Up Kids
I fell in love with these dudes the second I heard 'Shorty' on a 7 inch, with a different drummer. After this album, they changed their sound up a bit, became radio friendly, or tried to at least. 'Something to Write Home About' is a great fucking album. I actually enjoy 'On a Wire' the most, but there's something about the raw sound of 'Four Minute Miles' that kills.
- Nirvana
I'm unashamed to admit that I like Nirvana, and I don't give a shit who knows it. So many people I know trash talk them. People who I know for a fact at one point loved them. Then, younger people who like all these bands of today that probably would not exist if not for Nirvana. If not for this band, I'd probably be listening to some really dumb shit. Many of you might think I do anyway, lol. Anyway, I got this picture disc on vacation in Florida before I moved here in 92. There's two of my favorite Nirvana songs on side b. Here's one of them.
- Sadistik
I have yet to talk about Hip Hop on here, which sucks. Well, it's because I don't (didn't) own any on vinyl. I am a fan. I love Del, Tribe Called Quest, Blackalicious, MF Doom and more. Tromeric from Guts and Grog turned me on to Sadistik. Even got a limited vinyl sent to me, autographed to "Brobocop". How fucking cool is that. This song kills.
Lastly...
- Happy Cynics
This is a band I was in when I was 18. Many fun times were had. Playing with bands like Discount, My Pal Trigger, Agent Orange, Horace Pinker, Zoinks! and more. We practiced in a house the size of my closet and it fucking ruled. And guess what.... I have a link to two songs! Plan B and Guts and Glory!
click→Plan B & Guts and Glory
That brings this to a close, folks. I have a few more I could gab about, but I think we're good. Thanks for hanging in there, if you did. :)
