WaterCoolerGossip

(AFI @ Berkeley Square in 1996; photo by Chris Bellew)

Growing up in the SF/Berkeley punk scene, I always heard about the mystique of ’77 and the year punk rock was born. I wasn’t around for the birth of punk, but I was around for the mid ‘90s punk revival. And as time has passed, I've grown to think of ’94 in the way I used to hear about ‘77. What I loved about punk rock was that every band played with a sense of purpose. Every show at Gilman Street/Berkeley Square - regardless of how good/sloppy the band was - was a satisfying experience. Cause it wasn't only about the music, it was just as much about the spirit...

So splash that hairspray onto your spikes, clip those safety pins to your bomber jackets, lace up those military boots, fix the broken needle to play those scratchy 7”s, play some hedgecore in the front yard, hop on that mini bike, stop by Streetlight to dig for out-of-print Lookout! releases, pick up the latest issue of Flipside, don’t forget to look up shows on The List, fill up some water bottles so we don’t dehydrate at Berkeley Square. And let’s travel back to Berkeley circa 1994 – 1995…

The Bands That Started It All

Operation Ivy – Vulnerability (mp3)
You know how some kids grow up playing baseball in their backyard, and they pretend to be Roger Clemens and Ken Griffey, Jr? For the past fifteen years, Berkeley kids forming punk bands in garages imagine they could be Jesse. Lint. Matt. Dave.

Screeching Weasel – Falling Apart (mp3)
Screeching Weasel are really from Chi-town. But their influence is threaded throughout East Bay pop-punk and has carried onto the emo bands of today. Before Screeching Weasel, punk songs were mostly limited to two topics: (1) politics; (2) angst. It took a fanzine writing kid to make it punk to sing about girl problems.

Essential SF/Berkeley Punk (’94 – ’95)

Rancid – Radio (mp3)
For me, this was the song. The song where music became more than just sound. One month after I first heard “Radio” in ‘94, I started digging for Op Ivy bootlegs. And the rest is history…

Jawbreaker – Want (mp3)
24 Hour Revenge Therapy pretty much ruled the Gilman Street scene in ’94 – I’ve already shared three tracks. “Want” is from Jawbreaker’s 1990 debut Unfun. Blake Schwarzenbach’s vocals sound so painful here – so painful it led to throat surgery two years later.

Swingin’ Utters – Storybook Disease (mp3)
When pop-punk, skate punk, even ska-punk were the sounds of the moment, Swingin’ Utters were a throwback with their working class ’77 style punk. The Streets of San Francisco is one of the best albums from this era.

AFI – I Wanna Get A Mohawk (But Mom Won’t Let Me Get One) (mp3)
AFI sounded like a mess when they first arrived in ’95. It was the presence of a 19 year old Davey Havok that kept them from being dismissed as another mindlessly thrashing hardcore band. “I Wanna Get A Mohawk” became a local anthem, pretty much telling the story of every suburban punk kid’s life.

The Mr. T Experience – Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba (mp3)
MTX took the Screeching Weasel pop-punk formula a step further, daring to be silly at a time when being punk and being silly were mutually exclusive.

J Church – Analysis, Yes, Very Nice (mp3)
J Church was the hardest working SF punk band of the ‘90s, pumping out 15 or so LPs and EPs, plus countless 7”s and compilation appearances. Their archives have aged surprisingly well, with their indie-tinged pop-punk style.

Face To Face – Disconnected (mp3)
Face To Face played this style of melodic alterna-punk that I’m surprised didn’t catch on with more bands. “Disconnected” was a crossover radio hit in ’95, driven by an anthemic, universal chorus: “You don’t know what you want/It may take you years to find out”

Merry Punk Rock X-Mas (Op Ivy Rarities)

Operation Ivy – Hedgecore (mp3)
Various live recordings of "Hedgecore" are floating around. This version is from the Seedy compilation and the best quality recording I've been able to dig up. Hedgecore was our local punk rock sport, involving intentionally jumping into/over bushes, sometimes with skateboards and bikes.

Downfall – North Berkeley (mp3)
Downfall was a short-lived ska-punk project formed by Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman in between their Op Ivy and Rancid stints. Here’s their only official release, from the awesome Can of Pork compilation.