In this episode, S.W. Lauden returns to the show with a really compelling project and a really cool friend. Generation Blue is both a book and a compilation album, covering the Hollywood “Geek Rock” scene of the 1990s-early 2000s.
Now I always knew I was a geek, and I’ve always loved rock, but had I known there was a scene just for me and my ilk, I’d have used that term liberally when it came out! But thankfully, S.W. puts it all together for us. What was that scene? Well, think of alternative rock from the ’90s–the sound was just different, lots of distorted guitars and clever lyrics. Kind of one of those times when the music was a response to what came before it. Geek Rock was a sub-sub-sub genre (as described in our conversation). I know it’s a little thing, but it was even cool to wear glasses in this scene!
The flagship band of that scene was Weezer, who blazed a trail for many of these other bands, much like Nirvana was the flagship band of the Seattle scene, or Smashing Pumpkins was the flagship band of the Chicago scene, or Cake was Sacramento’s flagship band (have to put in a plug for my town). But I digress. Guess who S.W. brought along? Jason Cropper was a founding member of Weezer, the band’s original guitarist! He was also in Chopper One, a great band which came a little later. So between the two of them, we heard some testimony about what really went down during that time, and what the principals were thinking. It was a vivid scene–great bands springing up everywhere around the greater Los Angeles area, with ground zero being somewhere between Los Feliz and the west side of L.A. And yes, those of us outside the area were influenced by this music as well.
The whole Generation Blue project was released on Big Stir Records, who wanted to get this historical multimedia document out there for posterity. An oral history, by those who were there, and some rare tracks selected for your listening enjoyment. The music is dang good too! More info at https://bigstirrecords.com/the-generation-blue-project.
Enjoy the show!
Artist | Title | Album
Rachel Taylor Brown | city of angels | songs without a home
Blake Jones & The Trike Shop | Sun Up | The Underground Garden
Nolan Voide | Indie-Rock Superstar | The Forever Endeavor
Charlie Cheney | She’s Made For Sunshine | Giant Chicken
Sparklejet | At Prince & Elizabeth | Kola
Crooked Flower | Too Broke To Fix | Single release
Star Collector | Beat It To Death | Attack, Sustain, Decay… Repeat
Charming Disaster | Disembodied Head | Super Natural History
S.W. Lauden and Jason Cropper interview
Cockeyed Ghost | Cockeyed Ghost: Keep The Sun (Demo) | Generation Blue
Chopper One | Chopper One: Touch My Fuzz (2024) | Generation Blue
Nerf Herder | Nerf Herder: We Opened For Weezer | Generation Blue
Ridel High | Ridel High: Self Destructive (Demo) | Generation Blue
Sex 66 | Pennies | Grew Up Down
Natalie Cortez & the Ultra Violets | You Dear | Stupid Fresh Or Stupid Bad
The Who | Success Story | The Who By Numbers
Easy Love | Blue Eyes | Wander Feeler
Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3 | Underground Sun | Ole! Tarantula
50ft Woman | CATTV | Single release
Sunshine Boys | Only A Million Miles | Blue Music
sparkle*jets u.k. | Today Will Be Yesterday Tomorrow | Best Of Friends
Lisa Mychols | Better Than Nothing | Above, Beyond & in Between
Vegas With Randolph | What If_Mastered | The Future Store
Felsen | BFF OMG | Breaking Up With Loneliness
Tommy James & The Shondells | Draggin’ The Line | The Essentials
Kat Jones | Those Expensive Eyes | La Rosa, La Calavera
Mark Bacino | Middle Town | Queens English
Gail George | On the Avenue | Follow Your Bliss
Bill Lloyd | We Can Drive | Look Into It
Wormstew | Lifetime Achievement Award | Single release
Jet Electro | I Thought We Were A Soul Band | Like So
The Jack Rubies | Heaven Shook Me | Clocks Are Out Of Time
Petrified Max | Tomorrow | Everything’s Beautiful Now
The Cynz | Room Without A View | Little Miss Lost
Don Hawkins | Show Up 2b | Introvert
The Imperial Sound | Six To A Room | The New AM
Alex Jimenez | The Mighty Battlecat | Another Day
Spygenius | Watch Your Back | Man On The Sea
Chris Church | Bad Summer | Darling Please
Suburban Urchins | Squalor At 59 | Born In The Suburbs
Paul Collins | I’m The Only One For You | Stand Back And Take A Good Look
Dolph Chaney | Californiagain | Mug
The Amplifier Heads | They Came To Rock | Songs From They Came To Rock
The Clutter Family | Artist In the Office | The Clutter Family
TRIP WIRE | Come ‘Round | Go
Terminal Dogma | That Guy | Single release
Brent Seavers | The Noble Cause | Exhibit B
Pointed Sticks | Trails of the Picayune | Beautiful Future
Bruce Moody | I Can’t Hurt For The World | PopCycle
Kyro (with Lindy LaFontaine) | This Too, In Time, Shall Pass | Single release
Lannie Flowers | It’s All Over | Home
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