Besides Asides

Carbondale, Illinois' have been busy cranking out some of the darn catchiest pop punk in the Lookout! records vein for the past half decade. They have recorded quite a bit of music in that time so I thought I'd make it easier to find all their 7", split and compilation tracks by putting them in as the next installment in my b-side series. It is 18 fun songs about despair, that includes everything except their split with The Methadones since I consider it a major work. Enjoy Make Noise:

From 2004 to 2007 Toronto, Ontario's Bayonettes made some of the best punk rock/power pop (think the Avengers) of the 2000's for the Art of The Underground and Deranged labels. Fast-forward to 2010 and the band has finally released their long promised curtain call 7", Guilty Pleasure on Deranged Records. Sadly, that 7" is only their fouth release, and fifth if you include their demo. The Bayonettes never released a bad song but they only had a dozen or so of them. So I collected all of them here, along with a song they recorded live in studio for the Life During Wartime radio show on KBOO in Portland. Enjoy:

Operation Ivy were a huge gateway band for me but unlike a lot of the very first punk bands I got into their discography still stands the test of time as something I can still put on and enjoy. It's blend of hardcore punk, ska and the slightest bit of pop sensibility was often imitated but never duplicated. My one beef with their so called discography is that is only includes their Energy LP, Hectic EP and a few comp tracks, leaving out much of the band's fantastic unreleased/barely released songs. Over the years these songs have surfaced in varying quality on bootlegs and the internet. In 2007 the guys took back their masters from Lookout! Records and re-released Energy on Tim Armstrong's own Hellcat Records. I had hoped we'd finally see proper fully remastered versions of songs like "Plea For Peace" or "Hedgecore" but again they were left off the album. I went through various different bootleg sources cutting out the poorly recorded live songs, and the unlistenable demos to 12 studio tracks in the best quality and bitrate you are likely to find anywhere to make Unity: B-Sides & Rarities. Enjoy:

In 2008 Lansing Michigan's Cheap Girls released their debut LP Find Me A Drink Home and it quickly has become one of my favourite releases in recent memory. They mine similar power pop territory that the Smoking Popes and Gin Blossoms did before them exploring life, love cigarettes and mistakes. Anywho, sometime possibly before the release of that LP they recorded the entire thing acoustically and I got my greedy little hands on it. Here it is:

Hüsker Dü are one of the most important bands to my own personal musical journey. Every single one of their full-length albums is essential for anyone that considers themselves a fan of hardcore/punk/indie/alternative/listening to things that are played instruments. Sadly, over their decade long career the band didn't have that much non-LP material for me to collect but here I have gathered 23 non-album singles, compilation appearances, promos, and studio outtakes. While not as fantastic as any of their LPs or the Metal Circus EP, most of this is no less worthy of recognition. Enjoy:

I think when all is said and done Tegan and Sara will be seen as one of the best pop duos to have emerged in the last 20 years. The two have come a long way from their punk and folk roots to write some really sophisticated songs that include elements of electronic music as well as 80's pop. I've collected all their b-sides and unreleased material from their last four full-lengths as those albums really represent the girls songwriting maturation. The covers here give great insight into their writing process with renditions of material from Bowie, Springsteen, Prince and The Rentals. Enjoy: