Livin' In The '90s Vols. 1-3

I go in and out of phases of nostalgia on a monthly basis it seems. Some months it's '70s biker flicks while other months it's horror comics of the '50s. Of course music is no exception, and for the past few weeks i've immersed myself in '90s punk.

I made these comps of some of my favorite punk/indie/emo/hardcore/ whatever songs of the '90s. I mastered all the tracks to the same volume, all from 320kbps mp3s, 90% of them ripped from my personal CD collection. As for the songs i needed help getting, thanks to snoro, hellyesicheated, Gen Ruido, dblwhiskeycoke and Grant.

Enjoy!

 Livin' In The '90s Vol. 1

I discovered punk/HC at the tail end of the '80s. It was the perfect time as the NYHC scene was exploding at that time. It seemed to peak in 1987-88, then a year later, as quickly as it all started, it just kinda faded away. To me, the New Breed comp seemed to wrap up the end of the '80s in NYC and marked the end of an era.

Then the '90s came along and wasted no time. Seminal records of the time were popping up almost immediately on the East Coast in 1990. The first Citizens Arrest and Born Against 7"s, the Rorschach LP, the Burn ep, the Turning Point LP, the second GO! 7", the Nausea LP, as well as records by Supertouch and Quicksand that brought NY Hardcore in a new direction. During the next few years the floodgates opened, and the city had a scene again. Great, energetic, and at times very interesting music, and all without the meatheads who think every show is the setting for a scene from Raging Bull.

 Livin' In The '90s Vol. 2

As much as i love the hardcore, punk and crossover of the '80s, i think the 1990s may be my favorite era for punk music (that's how i feel this month anyway). It was such a diverse and interesting time in the scene. There was the new wave of NY bands that emerged from the ABC No Rio scene (CxAx, Born Against, GO!, Merel, Los Crudos, The Manacled etc.), the powerful sounds (that would be come to be known as "powerviolence") coming from the West Coast (Neanderthal, Crossed Out, No Comment, MITB, Spazz, Capitalist Casualties etc.), bands like Native Nod, Heroin, Moss Icon, Indian Summer, Current, Inkwell, Hoover, and dozens more, who took inspiration from bands like Rites of Spring, Husker Du and Dag Nasty, and seemed to fuse it with the sounds of bands like Slint and Rodan, creating a unique sound that would be known as '90s emo. There were also the guitar driven indie rock punk (for lack of a better term) of bands like Superchunk and Seaweed. Then there were those bands that seemed to merge indie rock, emo and punk into a sound that is still influencing bands 20 years later. Jawbreaker, Samiam, Garden Variety, Jawbox, Greyhouse and Hot Water Music come to mind. There were also lots of great bands lumped into this scene that would be hard to categorize. Bands like Fugazi, Chisel, Unwound, 1.6 Band, and Phleg Camp. All great stuff.

Livin' In The '90s Vol. 3

The '90s was the decade of Assuck. Enough said.


My top ten U.S. punk-related records of the 1990s:

hardcore
01. Citizens Arrest - A Light In The Darkness 7"
02. Rorschach - Remain Sedate LP
03. Neanderthal - Fighting Music 7"
04. Infest - Mankind 7"
05. Capitalist Casualties - Raised Ignorant 7"
06. Assuck - Anticapital LP / Blindspot 7"
07. Born Against - 9 Patriotic Hymns For Children LP
08. Econochrist - Trained To Serve LP
09. Man Is The Bastard / Crossed Out split 7"
10. Burn - s/t 7"

non-hardcore
01. Moss Icon - Lyburnum Wit's End Liberation Fly LP
02. Jawbreaker - Bivouac LP
03. Garden Variety - s/t LP
04. Chisel - 8 A.M. All Day LP
05. Leatherface - Mush LP
06. New Bomb Turks - Destroy-Oh-Boy!!
07. Superchunk - No Pocky For Kitty LP
08. Samiam - Soar LP
09. The Nation of Ulysses - Plays Pretty For Baby
10. Fugazi - Repeater LP
Feel free to use the comments section to post your own top 10 lists. I'd love to see what everyone else's faves are.

Oops - turns out "Hate In Me" by Moss Icon was released in 1988. Oh well, that song is too damn good to not be on there.
Oh yeah, keep an eye out for those Easter Eggs.