This 7-inch was released on Calvin Johnson's own K Records, though both songs appear on Beat Happening's Dreamy LP. The handdrawn heel on the cover captures the flashy attitude Johnson exudes on "Nancy Sin," bellowing, "Good girl, bad girl / Won't you be my mentor tonight?" - DH
Date Played: April 3 on The Morning Show with John Richards
Fred Cole is a Northwest punk legend. Full stop. The Portland-via-Las Vegas transplant passed away last year, but left us with a prolific discography filled with beaming punk romps and fiery performances from an array of groups and solo projects. Chief among his numerous groups is Dead Moon. And you can feel the spirit of the PNW in the group's Sub Pop Singles Club 7-inch, shouting out Seattle, Bellingham, Portland, Eugene, and Tacoma on the a-side "Dirty Noise." Perhaps no one could speak to the sound of our region better than Cole, as he does in the song's second verse: ""Critics call it anger / Some say it's deranged / But it's the sound, the sound of the great northwest / It's gonna eat away your brain / Ah, dirty noise" - DH
Date Played: April 3 by Reeves
Drummer Bob Bert spent the '80s off-and-on drumming for Sonic Youth, performing on several of their albums and quitting the band after completing work on the group's seminal Bad Moon Rising. He'd contine to drum for groups like Pussy Galore, Chrome Cranks, and Knoxville Girls but also found time to start his own project – Bewitched. The noise outfit released two LPs and a number of singles in their tenure before dissolving in 1993. On their Sub Pop single "Hey White Homey," Bert takes aim at white men appropriating hip-hop culture with a blodding bassline, jittery drums, and stoic vocals. - DH
Date Played: April 3 by Reeves
Oh Canada, it was only a matter of time befor your nation's artists landed on the countdown. The cheekily-named Never Mind The Molluscs double-single compilation features contributions from Sloan, Eric's Trip, Jale, and Idée du Nord. Unlike most comps where artists record and submit their songs separately, all four bands recorded their tracks over three days at the Solar Audio Recording studio in Nova Scotia. On the back cover of the single, you can see a blurry black and white photo of all the bands piled up on top of each other. Decades later, this would be called a "selfie." - DH
Date Played: April 3 by Reeves
Of all the crude, vulgar, violent, sexist things Dwarves have done throughout their career, this is what ended their relationship with Sub Pop Records. As a prank, the band announced that their guitarist, who goes under the moniker He Who Cannot Be Named, had been stabbed to death during a bar fight in Philadelphia. The album was dedicated to his memory, and frontman Blag Dahlia even gave an address to Sub Pop to send flowers and condolensces to his "surviving family members." Sub Pop sent out a press release announcing the "sad news," and were incensed to learn He Who Cannot Be Named was actually fine and they had been duped. So, this is what got the band kicked off the label. - JH
Date Played: April 3 by Reeves
Following a slew of singles, it was only a matter of time before Sub Pop released a full-length from the east coast noisemakers. And the buzz wasn't just part of Bob Weston's production: at the time, Copacetic was said to be the second-highest seller in Sub Pop history behind Nirvana’s Bleach. The full-length continued to develop the unique sound the band had been building with EPs and singles: a static-y blast of shoegaze combined with the melodic pop of the UK's C86 scene, all sweetened by the crystalline soprano of vocalist Sarah Shannon. In the book Capitol Contingency: Post-Punk, Indie Rock, and Noise Pop in Washington, D.C., 1991-99, guitarist/bassist Kelly Young says of the label, "To their credit, Sub Pop never told us, or even suggested, what we should do. I think Copacetic bears witness to that." - JH
Date Played: April 2 by DJ Riz
A tease to their forthcoming full-length Sugarfix which would be released mere months later, this single shows a surprising sensitivity, the likes we've never seen from the Dwarves. I mean, never. Against their trademark garage-y guitars, a gloomy Blag Dahlia bellows, "Is there anybody out there? / Well I'm so lonely, so lonely." Sure, he sneaks in a "I'm so horny" mid-track, but that's lyrically 6:1 in favor of "lonely." - JH
Date Played: April 2 on The Afternoon Show with Troy Nelson
It is indeed a wonderful world that would bring together these two idiosyncratic musical icons: the brooding Nick Cave and the slurring Shane MacGowan of The Pogues. (On this release, they're backed by Cave's band The Bad Seeds.) Side A features the two dueting on the Louis Armstrong standard, and (like the album cover smooch here), it's strangely sweet. Side B has the guys covering the other -- Cave brings a menacing touch to 1986 Pogues love song "Rainy Night in Soho," and MacGowan transforms Cave's murder ballad "Lucy" into an eerie Irish folk song. - JH
Date Played: April 2 on The Midday Show with Cheryl Waters
It's a long distance from Seattle to Sydney but the scenes overlapped in the early '90s. Formed in 1986 by multi-instrumentalist Stu Spasm (real name Stuart Gray), Australian noise band Lubricated Goat created a sound as intriguing and disturbing as their band name. After their confrontational frontman got stabbed during their 1990 European tour, the 'Goats went on hiatus, and drummer Martin Bland relocated to Seattle and teamed up with Monkeywrench (see #SP129). But 1993 saw one last Sub Pop single with his old band. Pressed, appropriately, on blood red vinyl. - JH
Date Played: April 2 on The Morning Show with John Richards
Though Sebadoh officially made their Sub Pop debut the year before with the LP Smash Your Head on the Punk Rock, that album was a compilation of two early EPs, Rocking the Forest and Sebadoh vs Helmet. So, Bubble & Scrape was the first album of new material from the despondant songwriting duo of Eric Gaffney and Lou Barlow, and the last album of songs from Gaffney who left the band shortly thereafter. Bubble & Scrape also marked the first time the band would record in an actual recording studio, a marked departure from their lo-fi four-track days. - JH
Date Played: April 2 on The Morning Show with John Richards
While their energetic punk-pop sound wasn't revolutionary at the time, what made Portland band Hazel stand out at the time was band member, dancer Fred Nemo. Not just a stage gimmick, Nemo was regarded as a founding band member, even there to bust a move during recording sessions. In an interview with The Oregonian, frontman Pete Krebs explains, "[Fred] was considered a novelty when the band got written about, but it was cool on different levels: multigenerational, adding the dimension of a new art form onstage and a note of havoc that's hard to generate musically, his artistry and aggression feeding into the mix. It made sense on a cosmic level to do it." Hazel made their Sub Pop debut with this single. Sadly, it is dedicated to the memory of Crystal Bullitt, a Portland woman who passed away at 22-years-old. - JH
Date Played: April 2 on The Morning Show with John Richards
A reissue of the 1980 classic debut full-length from Portland's Wipers -- a truly outstanding band with the disadvantage of being way too far ahead of their time -- Is This Real? showcased the magnanimous guitar work of Greg Sage and his supernatural gift for songwriting, evidenced by songs like "Tragedy," opener "Return of the Rat," "Window Shop For Love," and "D-7." As an added bonus, this release includes the band's Alien Boy EP, as dark and penetrative as anything the band has ever recorded. - MD
Date Played: April 1 by DJ Evie
Fastbacks followed-up their Zucker LP with the quick Gone to the Moon EP. Produced by the band's own Kurt Bloch, the record features a cover Eric Carmen of the Raspberries' "Go All The Way" (with The Posies' Ken Stringfellow on backing vocals) as well as a song written by Kurt's younger brother, Al. - DH
Date Played: April 1 by DJ Stevie Zoom
Coming off the runaway success of House of Pain's "Jump Around" single, the L.A. outfit also became the first hip-hop group to grace the Sub Pop catalog. As they became famous for, "Shamrocks and Shenanigans" plays up the band's Irish heritage. MC Everlast would go on to have a successful solo career with the radio hit "What It's Like" in 1998. - DH
Date Played: April 1 by DJ Mike Ramos
In 1989, Sub Pop famously paid for a flight for Melody Maker journalist Everett True (a pen name of Jeremy Thackray) to come to Seattle and report on the label and the scene happening in the city. It was an expensive gamble for Sub Pop to make, but one that would pay off as it turned on listeners overseas to acts like Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Tad. Four years later, Sub Pop would put out an obscure single by True under the moniker "The Legend!" featuring weird a capella diddies like "Do Nuts" which is about...donuts. The back cover of this release also includes a tour diary from 1990 in which he opened for Screaming Trees, Tad, and Nirvana. - DH
Date Played: April 1 on by DJ Mike Ramos
Portland's Pond make their full-length debut with their self-titled LP. The band recorded the album with Jon Auer, a co-founder of The Posies and a member of the reunited Big Star. So if you're feeling some power-pop vibes on this record, you might have an inkling as to why. Pond's melodies were some of the strongest of the era, placing their soaring vocals higher in the mix and turning down the sludgy tones of their contemporaries. - DH
Date Played: March 31 on Audioasis by DJ Sharlese
There's a fair share of influential albums in the Sub Pop catalog, but few have the distinction of coining an entire genre. With Earth's Earth 2 they did just that and created the term "ambient metal." Seemingly two different genres came together in one of the most expansive and droning records ever put to tape. And that "tape" part proved to be one of the biggest issues in the recording. As the band's Dylan Clarkson told The Stranger in 2013, each reel of tape could only record 30 minutes of music at a time while the band sought to fill up the entire 75-minutes allowed on a CD which is particularly hard when you're recording what would be on giant musical piece. In the same interview, Bruce Pavitt says of the album: "In the grand scheme of rock music, I think it stands next to Metal Machine Music by Lou Reed. Conceptual, ambient, challenging." - DH
Date Played: March 31 on Audioasis by DJ Sharlese
Fastbacks have already appeared a couple times on the countdown, but surprisingly Zucker is their first non-compilation release for the label. The record beams with enthusiastic hooks, both in the vocals and in Kurt Bloch's shimmering guitar work. If the other grunge bands of the day were steeping their music in muddy aesthetics, Fastbacks were offering up a much needed sugar rush. - DH
Date Played: March 31 on Audioasis by DJ Sharlese
As we've gone through the Sub Pop catalog, we've seen a fair share of 7-inch singles and even some 12-inch maxi singles as well. Dwarves' Underworld / Lies has the remarkable distinction of being one of the only 5-inch singles in the Sub Pop canon. - DH
Date Played: March 31 by DJ Troy
The "Salem" single saw some changes happening within Tad. Drummer Steve Weid left the group and was replaced by The Accused 's Josh Snider. Snider didn't just bring his skills on the kit with him – the cover of the single features Snider's brother covered in mud while he allegedly had the mumps. - DH
Date Played: March 31 by DJ Morgan
Cincinnati's own Wolverton Brothers always skirted the line between country and what was being labeled as "alternative music." The band had embraced roots music in their early days, stretching out beyond just traditional country as they went along. However, their My Assasin / Max Gomez Love Singles Club 7-inch caused some confusion for the band as they began touring. Being the only release the band put out on the label, they found they were constantly referred to as a "Sub Pop band" whenever they toured outside their hometown. In a 2010 interview with City Beat, bassist Jay Mccubbin says that Sub Pop's Jonathan Poneman referred to the band as "cerebral" in an early phone call. - DH
Date Played: March 30 by DJ Michelle
If you don't count Tad's 8-Way Santa, John Spencer Blues Explosion's Singles Club 7-inch is the first Christmas release in the Sub Pop catalog. As you might expect from the punk rock bluesman, Spencer offers up two original holiday tracks that range from a flaming tinsil scorchers to a blue Christmas lament. - DH
Date Played: March 30 by DJ Mike Fuller
As a precursor to their 1993 debut full-length, Velocity Girl shared an early single featuring one of the highlight tracks, "Crazy Town." While the band had been damned with the "shoegaze" label on earlier releases, the swirls of static come down on this song, revealing a dreamy strum and melancholic melody that hint at their love of the C86 indiepop scene. The b-side offers the best of both. - JH
Date Played: March 30 on The Afternoon Show with Kevin Cole
No, this isn't the Australian psych-act you've been hearing buzz about lately. The original Pond was a grunge trio based out of Portland, Ore. – although guitarist Charlie Campbell and bassist Chris Brady were originally from Juneau, Alaska and the band would derive their name from Brady having a pond in the back of his childhood home. Sub Pop caught the band early, putting out their second ever single, Wheel / Cinders, and later their first two LPs. - DH
Date Played: March 30 on The Afternoon Show with Kevin Cole
This entry in the Sub Pop catalog is a re-release of the same record from SP022, Blood Circus' Primal Rock Therapy, with five additional tracks. - DH
Date Played: March 30 on The Midday Show with Cheryl Waters
Sebadoh's first release on Sub Pop comes with a compilation of songs from two of the band's previous EPs, Rocking The Forest and Sebadoh vs Helmet. Much like the brightly colored collage on the cover, the comp is a brilliantly brash collection of the band's wide ranging style and even includes a particularly chaotic cover of Nick Drake's blissful "Pink Moon." - DH
Date Played: March 30 on The Morning Show with John Richards
The Afghan Whigs were steeping themselves in their soul and R&B influences on Congregation and pay an even more direct homage with their Uptown Avondale EP. Four of the five tracks are covers of works by Al Green, The Supremes, Elvis Presley, and Freda Payne. The fifth track is a rework of their Miles Davis tribute, "Milez Is Ded," renamed to "Rebirth of The Cool" to play off of Davis' Birth of the Cool LP. - DH
Date Played: March 30 by DJ Atticus
Antiseen are, to put it bluntly, anti "the scene." The North Carolina punks positioned themselves as outsiders of a genre made for outsiders. In the grand spectrum of the over 100 releases in their catalog, their Singles Club 7-inch does a pretty great job of encapsulating the rawness they so coveted. Just prior to this release, Antiseen served as GG Alin's backing band for the Murder Junkies album. It's hard to get more punk than that. - DH
Date Played: March 29 by DJ Shannon
Big Damn Crazyweight is the perfect name to describe this band's music. Everything about the New Mexico noise rock outfit's sound is heavy, as evidenced on the ear drum rattliny Might As Well / Off That Cow Singles Club 7-inch. Throughout their brief tenure, the band only released singles (most of which on drummer Keith Herrera's own Resin Records) but still managed to play over 1,000 shows. - DH
Date Played: March 29 on The Afternoon Show with Kevin Cole
With the Declaration of Technological Independence double-split 7-inch, Six Finger Satellite began to reveal some of their synthesizer heavy ambitions. While they were still making the post-hardcore sounds that they'd sold Sub Pop on when they first got signed, songs like "Sex Transistor" blended in ambient, electronic sounds into the mix. Green Magnet School's contributions complemented the work nicely, indluging in heavy atonal squalls and a devlish cover of Neil Young's "Don't Cry." - DH
Date Played: March 29 on The Afternoon Show with Kevin Cole
Sassy Magazine is easily the best teen magazine ever produced. (Hyperbole? I don't think so.) Aside from the makeup tips and (awesome) fashion editorials, the magazine became a cultural touchstone for the alt-rock '90s, and Sub Pop Records provided an excellent soundtrack to that. This four-song single was a limited edition printing, 3,000 copies on green vinyl, and all you had to do to get a copy was ask. (I can't remember how the requests were processed; I think you had to send in a postcard with your mailing address?) The single features songs from Codeine, Velocity Girl, Beat Happening and Sebadoh. There's a kitten on it. Sub Pop knew its demographic. - JH
Date Played: March 29 on The Afternoon Show with Kevin Cole
The a-side for this 7-inch single, "Hell City, Hell," also appears on Supersuckers' The Smoke Of Hell, but it's the b-side that's the real surprise. A cover of Ice Cube's "Dead Homiez," it's one of the rare occasions where you get to hear Eddie Spaghetti rap... sort of. - DH
Date Played: March 29 on The Midday Show with Cheryl Waters
After the demise of Portland's Calamity Jane, drummer Lisa Koenig moved to Olympia where she formed the ban Creep with Heliotroupe's Danny Kelly and Colm Meek and Chris Pugh of Swallow. The project was short-lived, surviving only three 7-inch singles before dissolving. Koenig didn't play music professionally again until Calamity Jane briefly reunited in 2010. - DH
Date Played: March 29 on The Midday Show with Cheryl Waters
Seaweed recorded the Measure / Turn Out at guitarist Clint Werner's parents' home. It's a great fit because you can feel that rebellious energy in the track creeping through the floorboards, no doubt annoying the neighbors. The 12-inch version (only available in Germany) also included a demo version of the Weak track "Taxing." - DH
Date Played: March 29 on The Midday Show with Cheryl Waters
It's long been said Beat Happening's final studio album is undoubtedly their most refined and arguably their best. The majesty in their writing comes out in spades on songs like "Sleepy Head" (maybe the strongest bridge between their past albums and this), "Godsend" (a minimalist epic and the band's first foray into multitracking), and sublime opener "Tiger Trap." Just as You Turn Me On seemed like it served like a bold new direction for the band, they broke up. So it goes. - MD
Date Played: March 29 on The Morning Show with John Richards
Codeine is often heralded for their seminal work in the "slowcore" genre, but with The White Birch the group – whether intentionally or not – would find themselves becoming an influence to post-rock bands yet-to-come. The album is often compared to Slint's Spiderland as a genre defining moment, reveling in the slower tempos while creating lush melodic layers for the vocals to bury themselves into. As the band's final album, it's a fully realized version of the sweeping sounds the band explored in its all too brief tenure. - DH
Date Played: March 29 on The Morning Show with John Richards
As the official Sub Pop website puts it, Portland's Sprinkler "formed from the ashes of Death Midget, which was formed from the ashes of Rawhead Rex." You may not be able to judge a book by it's cover, but those names give you a good idea of the world Sprinkler was coming from. Their sole full-length, More Boy, Less Friend, portrays this grimey feeling as well with bursts of surging riffs clamoring against one another. The band would break-up in 1994, but the band members would remain active in Portland music. Guitarist Steven Birch would serve a stint as a touring member of Everclear while Chris and Nate Slusarenko would help start the Jackpot record store. - DH
Date Played: March 29 by Sean
With vibrant art designed by soon-to-be-acclaimed graphic novelist Daniel Clowes, Supersuckers made their introduction to the world on their debut The Smoke Of Hell. As you might guess from the giant devil man on the cover, the band loved to delve into hellish and fiendish narratives within their music. It matched the brutal onslaught of guitars and walloping punk vocals. - DH
Date Played: March 29 by Sean
Formed in Seattle in 1989, Gas Huffer shared guitarist Tom Price with both The U-Men and The Monkeywrench (see SP129). The band were known for creating comic books for each album with the lyrics, drawn by all band memers, including drummer Joe Newton, who went on to serve as the Design Director at Seattle's The Stranger and Deputy Art Director for Rolling Stone. After a robust career and releases on alliterative labels Epitaph Records, Empty Records, and Estrus Records, the band took their last inhale in 2006 with a farewell concert at The Crocodile. Price had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, and found it challenging to keep up with the fast-paced songs he and the band wrote in the '90s. (A portion of the proceeds from the show were donated to Northwest Parkinson’s Foundation.) “I figure I will keep playing until I can’t play anymore,” he told the Seattle Times back then. And thankfully, he is still playing, with his new project, the Tom Price Desert Classic. - JH
Date Played: March 28 by DJ Hans
Another release from eccentric, prolific UK artist Billy Childish, this time joined by a backing band called The Black Hands. While his garage rock leanings are still in place -- they cover the 1963 single "Louie Louie" with revamped lyrics, retitling it "Louis Riel" -- there are also hints of zydeco, calypso, and the blues, all performed in his characteristic ramshackle style. - JH
Date Played: March 28 by DJ Hans
Mariposa may have been the band's last release on Sub Pop, but the Gentry brothers would continue to make music over the next couple decades. In 1996 they released what's commonly referred to as their "blue album," billed under the name Mark Gentry & Rein Sanction. Mark would later record an album backed by computer generated drum loopscalled Good One that puts the Gentry brothers' religious convictions in the foreground (the album is sometimes mistakenly credited to Rein Sanction). The most recent recordings of the band together came in 2006 with the Should Have Known 7-inch released by Flotation Records. - DH
Date Played: March 28 on The Afternoon Show with Kevin Cole
Just ahead of their final release for Sub Pop, Rein Sanction gave a quick preview of what was to come with the Deeper Road / R.K. 7-inch. While the band had alluded to a more acoustic heavy record in an interview with the Orlando Sentinel, "Deeper Road" foreshadowed the swampier, grittier tones that the band would end up embracing on the LP. - DH
Date Played: March 28 on The Afternoon Show with Kevin Cole
"Three chords, will travel" -- that was the motto for Bellingham-based rockers the Mono Men, who clearly wore their '60s Northwest garage rock influences on their sleeve. Though the band called it quits in 1998, they reunited in 2006 for an abbreviated tour in Spain, and then regrouped in 2013 for West Seattle Summerfest and a friend's 40th birthday party. They only made one appearance on the Sub Pop discography with the September 1992 installment of the Singles Club. Limited edition pressing of 2,746 copies on bright blue vinyl, and a cover of Link Wray's 1959 single "Comanche" on the b-side - JH
Date Played: March 28 on The Afternoon Show with Kevin Cole
The August 1992 installment of the Sub Pop Singles Club featured a little-known Portland power-punk trio, who had the chance to be better-known. They turned down a spot on the Lollapalooza tour, and apparently also turned down an offer to audition for MTV's The Real World. On the verge of breaking through, they instead broke up. This single was limited to 2,752 copies on lavender marbled vinyl. The B-side is a cover of another Portland Sub Pop band, Spinanes. - JH
Date Played: March 28 on The Afternoon Show with Kevin Cole
"I Need You" is a love song. It sounds obvious on the face of it, but you wouldn't be faulted for needing a lyric sheet to make certain of this fact. The A-side of their Sub Pop seven-inch -- so good it helped land the Muffs a major-label deal -- its message of yearning made coarse and caustic by its din of whirring and distorted guitars and Kim Shattuck's unmistakable growl. The B-side is a faithful cover of West Coast punk pioneers the Zeros. - MD
Date Played: March 28 on The Midday Show with Cheryl Waters
Seattle punks Sick & Wrong might not seem like ones to give practical party hosting advice, but they do just that with "Wesson Oil." Have you ever tried cleaning up spilled oil all over the floor? Not only is it a safety issue for slipping, water only makes it worse! Such is the plight of the band's friend detailed in the song who spills Wesson Oil at a party. It's a wonder this album wasn't given a write-up in Good House Keeping. The 7-inch was one of the few releases from the band. They followed it up with two singles in 1994 before releasing their only LP, Hot Beef Injection, in 1999. - DH
Date Played: March 28 on The Midday Show with Cheryl Waters
While the back cover for this single promises a "full-length release, autumn '92," the band's next release would actually be the Barely Real EP (though it did come out that November). The a-side to their Singles Club 7-inch would later serve as the opener for Barely Real, utilizing the slow tempo to highlight the emotive resolve between the spacious chords. The single's artwork would later be repurposed as the cover for When I See The Sun, a meticulously curated boxset by Numero Group detailing the band's entire catalog – including rarities and b-sides like "Broken-Hearted Wine." - DH
Date Played: March 28 on The Midday Show with Cheryl Waters
Where would San Diego punk be without John Reis? After playing guitar in post-hardcore outfit Pitchfork, he'd go on to help form both Drive Like Jehu and Rocket From The Crypyt (and later Hot Snakes). Performing under the moniker "Speedo" in Rocket From The Crypyt, he and his punk cohorts would gain traction by releasing singles in rapid succession, putting out five within 1992 alone – one of which being their Singles Club 7-nch lead by "Normal Carpet Ride." The band kept it up with lineup and label changes all the way through 2005 before calling it quits. The band reunited in 2011 for the Nickelodeon children's show Yo Gabba Gabba. - DH
Date Played: March 28 on The Morning Show with John Richards
This compilation is subtitled "Love Songs from Your Favorite Label", and that pretty much sums it up. Thirteen tracks from an array of their artists: Sebadoh, Seaweed, Vaselines, and more. Only two songs are exclusive: Reverend Horton Heat's "Where in the Hell Did You Go With My Toothbrush?" and Billy Childish & Kyra's "Why Can't You See." - JH
Date Played: March 28 on The Morning Show with John Richards
You might be asking yourself, who are The Fuckers? There was a long standing rumor that they were actually Seaweed in-disguise, but the band has denied this claim. There a minimal leads to go off of and the project only ever released two singles, one of which being this Sub Pop 7-inch. It's about as devious and loud as you'd expect from a band with their name. Plus, they might win the most descriptive song name in the entire Sub Pop catalog with "A Goddamn Anthem About Man, The General Of The Motherfucking Global Forces Of Fucker Chaos." All and all, a good one to listen to with the whole family. - DH
Date Played: March 28 by DJ Sean
Billy Childish takes on a Bob Dylan classic with his cover of "The Ballad of Hollis Brown." In Childish's hands, the song becomes steeped in the delta blues that inspired Dylan and his idols, sounding more like a Muddy Waters demo than a folk ballad. The song itself was penned as one of Dylan's famous protest songs, telling the story of a South Dakota whose poverty drives him to kill himself and his family. - DH
Date Played: March 28 by DJ Sean
When talking about noise rock, it's easy to put focus on the frenzied sounds of the guitar and pedals. Houston's Pain Teens proved that there's more than one way to incite sonic chaos. Utilizing tape loops, violins, marimbas, sampling, and an array of other methods, the group created some of the most innovative and wild sounds of the era. Their contribution to the Sub Pop Singles Club, Death Row Eyes / The Smell, gives a sample of the mayhem they'd concoct in the studio. - DH
Date Played: March 27 on The Afternoon Show with DJ Kevin Cole
Ann Arbor, Michigan's Big Chief made their full-length debut with Face, a noisey and funky record saw the band embracing the same guttural dirge that would soon take over the airwaves as grunge hit the mainstream. The band supported the record with an opening slot on The Beastie Boys' Check Your Head tour. - DH
Date Played: March 27 on The Afternoon Show with DJ Kevin Cole
It says a lot about the Fastbacks prolificness that by 1992, they already needed a singles compilation. The Question Is No covers 12 years of punk-pop goodness, spanning singles, b-sides, and even a few unreleased tracks -- including one with a young Duff McKagan on the kit. - JH
Date Played: March 27 on The Afternoon Show with DJ Kevin Cole
Call it the power of influence. When the Scottish band's career-spanning compilation was released in 1992, they had already been broken up for almost three years. Then came along a musician you may have heard of named Kurt Cobain, who famously gushed over the Vaselines and covered "Molly Lips" with Nirvana. The Way of the Vaselines is an exemplary showcase of the songwriting talents of Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee; a rambunctious sexual energy courses throughout the lion's share of its songs. - MD
Date Played: March 27 on The Midday Show with Cheryl Waters
Fun fact: the cover for Seaweed's second record, Weak, was taken at The Capitol Theater in Olympia when the band was opening for Dough Martsch's early project Tree People (who recently reunited). As you may have guessed from his numerous other contributions to the artwork on this catalog, the photo was taken by Charles Peterson. - DH
Date Played: March 27 on The Midday Show with Cheryl Waters
An early project of guitarist John MacLean (better known to us now as The Juan MacLean), Six Finger Satellite's infamous Weapon EP has garnered a mythology. When the guys first submitted their demo, their sound was, as frontman J. Ryan puts it, "part Aerosmith, part Sonic Youth, part pot and Jack, [but] mostly long nights in the rehearsal space not paying attention to the rules of rock." Those four songs were released as Weapon. But, their follow up releases had a very different sound, more of an electro-punk pre-cursor to bands on the DFA Records roster, which led people to think the band did a "bait n' switch" to get signed to the generally rock-friendly label. But, let's put that rumor to rest right now. As Ryan told Skyscraper Magazine, "To call the EP a Trojan Horse is inaccurate. We practiced like hell and wrote these insane rock songs." MacLean added, "Those were very different times in the indie rock world. It was not uncommon for bands in that scene to deviate massively in sound or approach from album to album." - JH
Date Played: March 27 on The Midday Show with Cheryl Waters
Afghan Whigs have been open about their influence from traditionally African-American genres on their second record, Congregation, going as far include an image of a black mother and a white child on the cover to symbolize the culture they were borrowing from. You can feel the influences on the a-side to this single, "Conjure Me," which appears on Congregation. On the b-side, however, they take things a step further by offering up a sweltering cover of The Supremes classic, "My World Is Empty With You." - DH
Date Played: March 27 on The Morning Show with John Richards
Before Seaweed would release their sophomore LP, Weak, the band teased what was to com with this single featuring the album track "Bill." On the b-side, the band covers Merge Records' act Wwax – an early project of Mac McCaughan's dating before the formation of Superchunk. - DH
Date Played: March 27 on The Morning Show with John Richards
Both the 40th and 41st entries in the Sub Pop Singles Club comes from a dual 7-inch comp highlighting bands from the Amphetamine Reptile Records, including acts like Tar and Helmet. Not everyone can smell like teen spirit, but smoked sausages are pretty decent alternative. - DH
Date Played: March 26 by DJ Reeves
Released alongside Clean As A Broke-Dick Dog, this 7-inch included two songs from the record as well as the exclusive b-side "Out Of Focus." The song is actually a cover of San Francisco's Blue Cheer – considered by some to be the "first heavy metal band." - DH
Date Played: March 26 on The Afternoon Show with DJ Evie
Green Magnet School's debut album, Blood Music, shares its name with a science fiction novel by Greg Bear. The book delves deep into dystopian themes of nanotechnology being used to improve physical ailments of people when inserted into the blood stream with some "infected" even mentioning that the microscopic bots "sing" to them. This same existential dread looms over Green Magnet School's own Blood Music, embracing harsh mechanical sounds against the humanity of the band's melodic screams. - DH
Date Played: March 26 on The Afternoon Show with DJ Evie
While things were a little more testosterone-fueled in the Northwest, over on the other coast, a different music scene was coalescing in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area. This split 7" single (#39 in the Sub Pop Singles Club) boasted two of the tri-states' best. Jenny Toomey and Kristin Thomson not only led the band Tsunami, but they also ran the fiercely-DIY indie label Simple Machines. (They didn't just talk the talk; they printed 8,000 copies of the Simple Machines Mechanic's Guide, a 20+ page zine on how you could start your own record label, too.) Velocity Girl were just taking off at the time of this release. Formed in 1989, they soon swapped vocalist Bridget Cross (of Unrest; see #SP103) for current-Seattleite Sarah Shannon, who now fronts "kindiependent" local band The Not-Its -- and this single led to the band releasing their debut full-length with Sub Pop. More on that later. Limited edition pressing of 4,000 copies on strawberry pink vinyl. - JH
Date Played: March 26 on The Afternoon Show with DJ Evie
Dinosaur Jr. weren't the only noise makers out of Massachusetts to catch Sub Pop's ears. Green Magnet School were an experimental outfit spearheading genre crossover with their blend of noise rock and industrial music. Their first 7-inch for Sub Pop for the Singles Club showcases just how raucous they could get with the frentic mashing of static and guitar pedal wizardry. - DH
Date Played: March 26 on The Midday Show with Cheryl Waters
Alongside an alternate version of "Foot" from Dayglo, Love Battery's entry into the Sub Pop Singles Club also includes a cover of Neil Young's "Mr. Soul." It's a remarkable fit for the band, paying homage to the "godfather of grunge" himself." Much like how Young is known for turning his own songs into expansive jams, Love Battery pushes "Mr. Soul" into a howling, electric trip with copious guitar solos and bewitching feedback. - DH
Date Played: March 26 on The Midday Show with Cheryl Waters
For the A-side of their contribution to the Sub Pop Singles Club, the Detroit garage-rock heroes recorded a standout tune you may be familiar with if you've given This is Spinal Tap a whirl (while hopefully not getting lost backstage). The Gories' cover of "Give Me Some Money" fits their style like a pair of sneakers worn in on the beer-soaked floor of a punk basement: A gloriously thudding, bluesy rock tune, borrowing liberally from the earliest days of the genre and caked in dirt and a sense of humor ("Your face is okay, but your purse is too tight") for good measure. Few songs have ever made the harmonica as punk rock as the single's B-side, "You Don't Love Me." - MD
Date Played: March 26 on The Midday Show with Cheryl Waters
The Turn On The Water single featured two tracks from Afghan Whigs' second LP, Congregation, as well as one new track called "Delta Kong." The b-side gives a peek into some of the bands most deliate tendencies before erupting into a fervor of clamoring guitars. - DH
Date Played: March 26 on The Morning Show with John Richards
Mark Lanegan continued to establish his solo career with the second LP to his name, Whiskey for the Holy Ghost. And while it was a solo release, he did bring some friends along to flesh out the lush Americana he was steeping himself in. Dinosaur Jr.'s J. Mascis, Mudhoney's Dan Peters, Screaming Trees' Mark Pickerel, and Tad's Tad Doyle both drum on the record, with Doyle also providing engineering work. Jack Endino, Bob Ludwig, and Mike Johnson also helped on the technical end as well. In a review, Rolling Stone said the album "goes a long way toward making a case for these musicians as more than one-trick grunge ponies." - DH
Date Played: March 26 on The Morning Show with John Richards
Love Battery's sophomore album, Dayglo, was listed by the label as "Blotter not included" – a reference to LSD. You can feel the that psychic energy throughout the record as well, with hypnotic elements of flanger and slide guitar mixing with the rugged, hard rock energy. In 1999, The Rocket listed Dayglo as one of the Top 300 Northwest Records of All Time. - DH
Date Played: March 26 on The Morning Show with John Richards
When you're discussing the Afghan Whigs discography, Congregation will inevitably come up as the record that changed the course of the band – and nearly Sub Pop as well. Ahead of the album, the label gave the band a $15,000 advance to pay for the recording and studio time. However, financial woes were beginning to hit the label mid-production of the album and the fate of Congregation and Sub Pop both seemed to be in jeopardy while lead vocalist Greg Dulli worked another job to help front the bill. In impeccable timing, Nirvana's Nevermind became a chart-topping success. While that LP wasn't on Sub Pop, the Seattle label had it in their contract to receive royalties from all future Nirvana recordings. With the cashflow back in, Congregation was able to be finished and cement a new era for the band. The album itself infused a variety of influences for the band, including elements of free jazz, R&B, and hip-hop. It was a critical darling, receiving high marks from the likes of Rolling Stone and Spin.- DH
Date Played: March 26 on The Morning Show with John Richards
Just look at that line-up: Mark Arm and Steve Turner of Mudhoney, Tim Kerr of Poison 13 (among others), Tom Price of The U-Men, and Martin Bland, former drummer for Lubricated Goat (among others). The guys get blues-y on this release, as alluded to by the album artwork, an homage to the long-running jazz label Blue Note Records. There are also three different cover songs on here: a take on Buffy Sainte-Marie's cautionary tale "Cod'ine", Mose Allison's "Stop This World", and Redd Kross' "Notes and Chords Mean Nothing to Me." The album was recorded in a quick two weeks, and then everyone went back to their other projects. The first 2000 LPs were pressed on gold vinyl. - JH
Date Played: March 25 by DJ Evie
The band members of The Derelicts met just by hanging out at Fallout Records, a record shop co-founded by noneother than Bruce Pavitt, who left the business to focus on Sub Pop. They lived up to their name, gaining a reputation for their intense hardcore punk shows with unpredictable on-stage fights among band members. Sadly, the band fell apart shortly around the time this EP was released, but they reunited in 2016, releasing Bleed Me Out, their first new music in 25 years. The CD version has the bonus track “Born to Kill.” - JH
Date Played: March 25 by DJ Evie
Founding member/frontman Rob Vasquez had been active in the local music scene since the late '70s, infusing the classic NW garage rock sound with the newfound genre of punk. He boasts a long resume of bands: The Feelings, The Look, Egor, Ape Lost, The Chintz Devils, Gorls, Man Tee Mans, Right On, Nice Smile, Nights and Days, and then this one, Night Kings. (Let's call him the "Ty Segall of '80s Seattle.") When Mudhoney guitarist Steve Turner launched his own record label, Super Electro, their third release was a full-length from the Night Kings. Vasquez has been named as one of Seattle most overlooked musical treasures, and as this well-researched blog post states: it's high-time for some kind of retrospective compilation. - JH
Date Played: March 25 by DJ Evie
Don't let the angelic little girl on the cover fool you. The fourth full-length from the notorious Chicago punk band featured the tracks "Fuck 'Em All," "Fuck Around," and "Who's Fucking Who", just to name a few. - JH
Date Played: March 25 by Stevie Zoom
This was the very first of many Supersuckers Sub Pop singles to come. The self-proclaimed "Greatest Rock-n-Roll Band in the World™" had formed in Tucson, Arizona in 1988, but a relocation to Seattle the next year caught Sub Pop's attention. In the book We Never Learn: The Gunk Punk Undergut, 1988-2001, frontman Eddie Spaghetti says, "That Like A Big Fuckin’ Train EP was when we really started to click." The initial pressing was on purple vinyl, but a teal blue second pressing is also floating out there. - JH
Date Played: March 25 by Stevie Zoom
On their fourth full-length, Seattle's Walkabouts continued to hone their beautifully-haunting folk/punk sound. It was the group's first experience working with a bona-fide producer, Boston's Gary Smith, whose previous credits included Throwing Muses and Pixies. Smith's involvement also resulted in guest appearances from Natalie Merchant, Brian Eno, and strings by the Bravura String Quartet. Despite their developing sound, the band found themselves buried beneath the grunge explosion. They parted ways with Sub Pop, but in a stroke of good fortune, the European branch of the label had evolved into Glitterhouse Records, which became their long-time home. In an interview with Penny Black Music, guitarist and co-founder Chris Eckman reflects, "I am not saying that Jonathan and Bruce and Sub Pop America had given up on us, but they had become overwhelmingly swamped by the grunge thing. In a way they didn’t really have to work those records. Those records worked themselves. I am not saying that they didn’t do a lot. They were busy all the time, but when people are calling you up and demanding stuff time after time you tend to go in that direction. With the Walkabouts you had to prod. You had to find a hole to fit us in. We were more of a thing that you had to kind of work on. For whatever reason the Sub Pop Europe people seemed to have the time to do that, and it just worked a lot better." - JH
Date Played: March 25 by Stevie Zoom
Extra-Capsular Extraction is the first release in what would become a prolific discogarphy from Olympia-based drone act Earth and established their expansive, mind-bending sound. There's a bounty of easter eggs on these first recordings as well. "A Bureaucratic Desire for Revenge, part 2" features vocals from both Nirvana's Kurt Cobain (credited as Kurt Kobain) and Dickless' Kelly Canary. The album is also billed as "Postgraduate Seminars: Eye Surgery-Concepts and Problems." As such, the back cover of the LP, the band includes a list of optical surgery instruments and anesthetics. - DH
Date Played: March 24 by DJ Mike
We can't verify if Best Kissers In The World were actually the best kissers in the world, but they're at least . contender for best power-pop in Seattle. From a lineage that trickles down from Big Star to The Replacements, BKITW infused their lavish melodies with equally as catchy instrumentation without losing the grit of the era with just a hint of country twang thrown in. Fun fact: the first song from their self-titled debut EP, "Workin' On Donita," was written about L7'z own Donita Sparks. - DH
Date Played: March 24 by DJ Mike
For the June/July edition of their Sub Pop Singles Club series, the label paid tribute to the Godfather of Shock Rock with this 2XLP set. Limited to 5,500 copies with some on blue-gray vinyl. (Apparently, some copies read on the A-side label "Limited Edition Black Vinyl," with the Side D label reporting, "they're all black, sucker.") These Immortal Souls, Gumball, Sonic Youth, and Laughing Hyenas dig deep into Cooper's discography for some interesting covers (no "School's Out" for Sub Pop). - JH
Date Played: March 24 on Sonic Reducer
What do you get when you team up a doctor, a boat builder, a graphic artist, and a Muzak producer? The answer is obviously Seattle's simian-named Sub Pop band Gorilla. Inspired by Northwest garage rockers like The Sonics, these guys don't monkey around (sorry) with their '60s-infused brand of punk. This 7" was the September 1991 installment of the Sub Pop Singles Club. Limited to 4,500 copies on gray vinyl. - JH
Date Played: March 24 on Audioasis
If Truly were to release an album today, they’d be called a “supergroup”: Hiro Yamamoto of Soundgarden on bass, Mark Pickerell of Screaming Trees on drums, Chris Quinn on guitar, and Robert Roth of Storybook Krooks on vocals. But back in 1990 when this debut EP was released they were just… y’know... this band. Originally a limited edition release at 100 copies for radio only, it was later released under the title Heart and Lungs. The title track was originally slated to appear in the movie Singles, but as they explain on Facebook, was bumped ""due to pressure from various managers to add (sic) more songs from the other major label artist.” (Um, power of deduction points to Soundgarden...) However the track was a favorite of director Cameron Crowe and appears on the Singles soundtrack reissue that came out in 2015 on Sony Legacy Recordings. - JH
Date Played: March 24 on Audioasis
One of the first ever bands in the "Gothic Americana” vein didn’t creep out from the shadowy South, but right here in equally-somber Seattle. Formed in 1984, the band had already built up an impressive discography before signing with Sub Pop, which some people have called the label’s first “non-grunge” band. This four song EP features two album tracks from 1990’s LP Cataract, as well as two covers: Big Star's "Big Black Car" and Neil Young's "On the Beach.” Fun fact: that’s 10,000 Maniacs front woman Natalie Merchant harmonizing on the title track. - JH
Date Played: March 24 on Audioasis
Subtitled "50 Songs from 50 Records”, I Am the Billy Childish was Sub Pop’s way of introducing the idiosyncratic UK icon to a U.S. audience. This two-CD anthology covers fourteen years of his career, with a myriad of his former bands represented: tracks from Pop Rivets, The Del Monas, Jack Ketch & The Crowmen, The Milkshakes, Thee Mighty Caesars, and his most well known project, Thee Headcoats. (It will come as no surprise that John Dwyer is a big fan, ahem.) There’s varying reports on just how limited edition this was — some say 2,500 pressed, some say 1,500 — but ultimately, it doesn’t matter ‘cause this thing is long gone out of print. - JH
Date Played: March 24 by Troy Nelson
Not only was this the first and only Sub Pop appearance from the brooding Boston-based band, it was also their very first release ever. Formed in 1990, the band spent a year jamming before they contributed the tracks “Car” and “Last Mistake” to the August 1991 installment of the Singles Club. Fronted by the formidable Thalia Zedek and featuring the trademark ominous guitar tones of future-Seattleite Chris Brokaw, the band made a big impression with just these two dark, sludgy tracks, resulting in a deal with Matador Records who released their debut, 11:11, in 1992. Limited to 4,500 copies on white vinyl. - JH
Date Played: March 24 by Troy Nelson
Two tracks from UK industrial metal band Godflesh -- "Wound '91" is a heavier take of the song "Wound" from the unreleased Tiny Tears EP, which was later appended as bonus tracks to the end of the CD version of Streetcleaner (1989). The single's cover photograph was taken during a 1991 gig in London where the band opened for Nirvana. - JH
Date Played: March 24 by Troy Nelson
Phew. Finally, a Dwarves album artwork that's SFW. The three-song single featured all original material, two of which re-appeared on the full-length Thank Heaven for Little Girls, with "Dairy Queen" -- a serenade to the sweetheart of soft serve -- being added as a bonus CD track. - JH
Date Played: March 24 by DJ Morgan
There's something audacious and brilliant about Sub Pop releasing a compilation called The Grunge Years in 1991. While most of the world was just getting introduced that year to the "genre" through Nirvana's Nevermind, Pearl Jam's Ten, and Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger; Sub Pop already had over 100 releases in their catalog that spanned the entire musical movement. The comp boasted a "limited" pressing of 500,000 and featured songs from Nirvana, Beat Happening, Mudhoney, Dickless, and all the other usual suspects. In the liner notes, Sub Pop co-founder Jonathan Poneman says, "Having conquered the world, I am now, too, a prisoner. A prisoner to the unwashed legions of youth who are crying out: 'More Grunge!'" - DH
Date Played: March 23 on by DJ Evie
The final release by New York's Das Damen, High Anxiety was co-released by Sub Pop and City Slang. Clocking in at just over 15-minutes, it's an adrenaline shot of some of the finer aspects of the band. Jim Walters' vocal melodies glow over Alex Totino's sizzling guitar riffs. Much like the wolf and kitten on the . cover, it's a brilliant mixture of bite and pop accessibility (who doesn't love a kitten?). - DH
Date Played: March 23 on The Midday Show with Cheryl Waters
Tacoma punk outfit Seaweed released their debut LP, Despised, with Sub Pop but it wasn't originally intended to be a full-length album at all. As lead vocalist Aaron Staufer told Noisey in 2015, the eventual tracklist was a result of advice and guidance through different Northwest tastemakers. Having released singles on K Records, Calvin Johnson encouraged the band to keep releasing singles and eventually they'd get signed by a label. And Johnson was right! The band was being courted by Twin/Tone when Sub Pop offered to put out a Seaweed single. The band pushed back, asking for an album, and eventually the two parties settled on doing an EP. But when the distributor came back saying they'd sell better if it was an album, the band added in a few of their singles to flesh it out and leaving us with the 10-track version many people know today (though six track EP versions were also pressed). - DH
Date Played: March 23 on The Midday Show with Cheryl Waters
Just before Chicago's Urge Overkill would jump from Touch and Go Records to David Geffen Company (one of the most proactive major labels sweeping up "alternative" bands from Sonic Youth to Nirvana), the trio would offer up a 7-inch for the Sub Pop Singles Club. The band would later achieve further fame when their cover of Neil Diamond's "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon" was used in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. - DH
Date Played: March 23 on The Midday Show with Cheryl Waters
When Kurt Cobain saw Shonen Knife live for the first time, he said, "I was transformed into a hysterical nine-year-old girl at a Beatles concert." Shambolic in the most charming way and possessing a gifted knack for earworm melody, it's a cinch to hear what Cobain liked about them so much. For their contribution to Sub Pop's Singles Club, the Osaka pop-punk legends deliver an undeniably catchy tune about a zebra being abducted by aliens and given a rainbow's array of colored stripes, eventually becoming famous, sounding like a children's tune mutated by a carnival mirror. - MD
Date Played: March 23 on The Morning Show with John Richards
Has there ever been a subgenre label as generic and limiting as slowcore? So many very inspiring bands have been stifled by this tag, including New York's Codeine, whose masterful debut album was bursting at the seams with intriguing guitar interplay ("Gravel Bed," "Cave-in"), trenchant lyrics ("D," "Old Things"), and, yes, heavy music being played at a very deliberate pace. - MD
Date Played: March 23
Look up the term "proto-grunge" and you're likely to stumble into Australian band Scientists. Before Seattle could claim the grunge sound, these swamp rock Aussies were already exploring the mashing of punk aesthetics with power-pop prowess. It's no surprise that they would be heralded as a major influence for bands like Mudhoney. Absolute is a compilation gathering some of the band's gnarliest and catchiest songs, resembling a "greatest hits" of sorts. - DH
Date Played: March 22 by DJ Shannon
Before releasing their sophomore album, Mudhoney found themselves at a crossroads. Would they jump to a major label like some of their peers or would they stick with their home label of Sub Pop? Thankfully, the opted for the latter and released another classic LP to their name. SPIN magazine included their record in their 20 Best Albums of the Year for 1991, saying, "Always sonically rich, now Mudhoney is just plain rich. Cheers to college-rock stardom." - DH
Date Played: March 22 on The Afternoon Show with Kevin Cole
Among the most locally beloved and widely overlooked bands ever from the Seattle area are Fastbacks, the latter concern all the more confusing and frustrating when you take into account their indelible brand of pop-punk. The title track to their 1991 7-inch, with its can't-miss songwriting structure and Kim Warnick's simple-yet-irresistible melody, would be playing along the end credits of a movie or steamrolling its way through heavy rotation playlists on commercial rock radio stations across the land in a fairer world. - Martin Douglas
Date Played: March 22 on The Midday Show with Cheryl Waters
An indie rock institution pays tribute to another with Unrest's A Factory Record 7-inch. The D.C. outfit covered artists from the Factory Records catalog for their Singles Club entry, putting their own raucous interpretations of songs by Crispy Ambulance, ESG, Crawling Chaos, and Miaow. — DH
Date Played: March 22 on The Morning Show with John Richards
Don Fleming might be most known these days for producing iconic records for Sonic Youth (Disappear, A Thousand Years, Rather Ripped), Teenage Fanclub (Bandwagonesque), and Hole (Pretty on the Inside), but he has a handful of his own musical projects to his name. Among those projects was Velvet Monkeys, who released the heavy Rock The Nation / Why Don't We Do It In The Road 7-inch as a part of Sub Pop's Singles Club series. — DH
Date Played: March 22 by DJ Sean Morrow
Throughout this catalog countdown, we've heard from plenty of legendary Seattle musicians who found their way into the Sub Pop canon. While he wasn't a gravely voiced grunge vocalist like others on this list, Steven Jesse Bernstein was a Seattle legend nonetheless. A poet, writer, and performance artist, Bernstein's work was embraced by local musicans and scribes alike. His performances were often unsettling to some, sometimes including self harm or throwing things at the audience (in at least one case, urinating on a heckler). Before he took his life in the fall of '91, Bernstein had planned to record a live album at the state penitentiary in Monroe, Wash. While most of the recordings were unusable, producer and musician Steve Fisk was asked to score some of Bernstein's readings in what would eventually become Prison. — DH
Date Played: March 21 by DJ Hans
