Sleepless In Seattle

Livewire Recordings is currently undergoing a 20-track, various artists compilation project that surveys the beginnings of Seattle’s underground rock movement in the late ‘80s-early 90’s due out on February 7, 2006.



Two decades ago, a noise came out of a second-tier US city, far from the Meccas of music production. It was big. It was loud. It demanded your attention. It usually sang not of good fun rockin’ times, but of despair, frustration, and anger. That noise continues to reverberate today, all around the world.



The sound came from (a) rigorously aping what the "rebels" in the media Meccas were doing, (b) failing, and (c) turning back to incorporate one's own musical roots, which in this case, included healthy (unhealthy?) portions of dirt metal. The result combined the populism and expansiveness of metal with the intimacy and immediacy of punk.



Some used this sound to make neo-psychedelic garage anthems (the early Screaming Trees). Some made unabashed wall-o-sound noise (The Melvins). Some made aggressive pop anthems (the Supersuckers). Some made assertive calls to action (The Gits).



Some became world famous. Most didn't. This disc is mostly about the unsung heroes, the ones who didn't get the marketing push, who didn't become multi-platinum megastars. Their sounds are both of their time and timeless, unsullied by constant repetition.



When it began, nobody expected – and few even hoped – that the guitar-and-drum bangings of a few outcast kids would explode into a global fad, encompassing even silly designer fashions (none of which were designed in Seattle—believe me).