The Importance Of SST Records

Founded by Greg Ginn in 1978 SST went on to be the most important record label of the 80's. Originally called Solid State Transmitters Ginn shortened the name to SST when he went from selling electrical equipment to selling records by his band Black Flag. During it's heyday the label released classic albums by Husker Du, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Black Flag, The Descendants, The Minutemen and the Meat Puppets. What made SST's roster so great was the diversity of the records that were coming out. Although all the bands could loosely be placed under "Punk" they sounded very different from each other. Black Flag created a sped up version of punk that would be known as Hardcore. Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr. featured two of the most innovative guitarists in music with Thurston Moore and J. Mascis. The Descendents balanced classic pop and punks raw aggression while The Meat Puppets mixed punk with the psychedelic sounds of the 60's. Meanwhile Husker Du and The Minutemen both went on to release classic double albums, a risky move from a genre that started in response to the lengthy prog-rock albums of the 70's. Eventually SST's bands would leave the label or break up causing Ginn to sign and release lesser talent. Still you can put the labels early releases up against any other label before or since.

R.I.P. Frank Navetta

Last week the founding member of the Descendants passed away after being ill for several days. No band except maybe The Cure meant as much to me in high school than the Descendants did. They wrote songs about things I cared about like girls and food. Wikipedia says:

Descendants were formed in 1978 by guitarist Frank Navetta, bassist Tony Lombardo and drummer Bill Stevenson. Their first release -- the only one with this lineup -- was "Ride the Wild"/"It's a Hectic World", a double A-side of melodic surf-pop.

In 1980 they enlisted Stevenson's old schoolfriend Milo Aukerman as a singer, and reappeared as a punk band, becoming a major player in the hardcore scene developing in Los Angeles at the time. Their first release with Aukerman, 1981's Fat EP, was a furious six-minute barrage of teen angst and goofball humour, featuring such songs as "My Dad Sucks" and the eleven-second "Wienerschnitzel".

Their debut album the following year, Milo Goes to College, introduced an element of melody and sensitivity that set them apart from most other hardcore bands. They sang about being (and wanting to be) rejected ("I'm Not A Loser", "I Wanna Be A Bear", "Parents"), girls ("Hope", "Myage", "Marriage", "Kabuki Girl"), fishing ("Catalina"), and other subjects not normally discussed by their peers. Songwriting was shared among the band members, and Stevenson's songs in particular were to greatly influence the melodic punk-pop bands of the 1990's.