Sub Pop: The Confused Little Label That Still Can

by Gordon Moore

In this article... Sub Pop Records Arlo The Red House Painters More Zine Fun Table of Contents Introduction & Credits More Issues Index (all issues) WRCU Home Listen: high speed

It seems that most indie labels tend to focus on one goal in their releases. Some labels concentrate on one genre such as Drive-Thru and its roster of emo bands. Others tend to concentrate on their geographical area such as Dischord's documentation of the DC scene and formerly Sub Pop's concentration on Seattle "grunge." When one thinks about it the geographical focus really makes sense, I mean what independent label really has the money to sign acts across the country? Well to name one, Sub Pop.      The "grunge explosion" as media likes to call it treated the label well. Nirvana's success led to Sub Pop actually having a platinum album with Bleach. However, after having been on top of the game during the early 90s with releases by Nirvana, Mudhoney, and Soundgarden, the label seemed to have been lost in recent years with the breakup of Mudhoney and the loss of Sunny Day Real Estate to another label.      Sub Pop's roster became increasingly diverse, and as much as people say that diversity is a good thing, Sub Pop's diversity showed a lack of focus. It seemed more like a number of desperate grasps that yielded only small handfuls of success in such dissimilar genres buying CDs based solely on the Sub Pop name would simply be hit or miss. The label's biggest mistake, as far as I am concerned, is the signing of a variety of "indie cock-rock" bands. These include Nebula, The Hellacopters, and all the way from Norway, Gluecifer. To give you an idea of how butt-rock these bands are, Gluecifer toured with Motorhead and Nashville Pussy. That's pretty damn butt-rockish!      Indie cock-rock isn't all that Sub Pop focused on in the past years, however. Alongside the butt-rock releases were those of Beachwood Sparks, Saint Etienne, and Trembling Blue Stars, which are decidedly more fitting with the "indie" genre. However, these Sub Pop releases have not managed to gain the same amount of attention from the college radio community as other indie labels like Matador, who's releases regularly chart high on the CMJ Top 200 sometimes reaching the top spot.      This isn't to say that all Sub Pop releases have done poorly on the CMJ charts. Two names on the recent Sub Pop roster have been well received by the college radio community, The Murder City Devils and Looper. Looper, however, is no longer on the Sub Pop label, leaving The Murder City Devils, who's dynamic live show and solid albums have gained them much respect, as the sole largely popular Sub Pop band. This brief analysis is of course incomplete and ignores such acts as Mark Lanegan and Damien Jurado, but I'm here to only offer limited information in such a way that it proves my point. Besides, this whole scenario pretends that we're still in the year 2000... Enter 2001      The new millennium is looking up for Sub Pop. Spending the latter part of 2000 signing an incredible number of new acts, Sub Pop has come out strong in the spring of 2001. Thus far there have been releases from Saint Etienne, The Black Halos, Steve Fisk, Nebula, as well as debuts from two of the most recent additions to the Sub Pop roster, Arlo and Red House Painters. Also, in the near future the Sub Pop debut of The Shins, an Albuquerque band, will also be released.      It is these most recently signed bands that give me renewed faith in the Sub Pop name. First, and most importantly, none of these bands can be considered as being butt-rock. The three bands, while each maintaining a sound unique when compared to the others, all fit within the college radio format and general "indie" sound.      I'll cover these bands beginning with the most rocking band, Arlo. Hailing from Los Angeles, Arlo's sound shares much with fellow Los Angeles artists, Weezer. The songs are upbeat with pumping bass lines that drive the songs forward with their catchy hooks. The subject matter covers a wide range of topics including one based on the true story of a friend getting run over ("Kenji") as well as a song that is about the recording process itself ("Botched"). Although Arlo recently replaced their original drummer, Soup, their live shows are as alive as ever. The band is currently in the process of a US tour, which included a stop at Colgate that included much jumping around on the rickety pub stage.      I honestly can't tell you too much about The Shins, especially since their album has not come out yet. I did, however, have the pleasure of seeing this band perform at SXSW at the Sub Pop showcase. The band offers music more along the lines of Beachwood Sparks. Sort of an indie-pop thing going on with a bit of western twang tossed in to make things a bit more interesting. Robert Pollard of Guided By Voices actually cited them as one of the better recent bands in a recent interview. What more endorsement do you need?      Despite all the things Arlo and The Shins have going for them, the remaining Sub Pop band, Red House Painters, shadows them all. With an album recorded in 1998, Red House Painters were dropped by their label in the midst of large industry mergers. Prior to being released by Sub Pop this year, their album Old Ramon lay in that odd space filled with records recorded, but never released, no matter how glorious the music may be.      The buzz about this record has existed for quite sometime and for Sub Pop to be the label that releases it does amazing things for their credibility as a producer of indie gems. The album has been so well received that within 3 weeks of its release it is already in the top 5 of the CMJ charts. Sub Pop knew just how big Red House Painters were going to be and that was shown in their showcase at SXSW where instead of setting aside a 30 minute set for them, Red House Painters played for an uninterrupted 90 minutes, a length unprecedented at a festival where most acts play for no more than 45 minutes.      With a recent string of signings of strong bands, it seems that Sub Pop is chugging its way back up the hill that once seemed to steep. The only challenge for the label will be to keep these bands for a long period of time. It seems that Sub Pop does a great job of developing artists such as Sunny Day Real Estate and Looper only to lose them to other labels. Only time will tell what is to happen with the Seattle label that is now "celebrating several years of record making."

© 2001 (insert title here) - Just because we don't have a title doesn't mean we don't have rights.