‘90s L.A. bands inspired by Weezer: Vinyl LP and book
Ahead of November's 30th anniversary deluxe edition release of the Weezer's debut, known as the “Blue Album,” Big Stir/Spyderpop has released their own Weezer debut tribute, Generation Blue. Like Big Stir’s 2022 vinyl album and book package on the band Popsicko, the Southern California independent record label has assembled eleven original songs by ‘90s L.A. bands and an accompanying book detailing the scene.
VARIOUS ARTISTS album / book by S.W. Louden
Generation Blue
Big Stir Records / Spyderpop Records (vinyl album and book)
In 1994, Weezer’s self-titled debut album had a simple photograph of the quartet against a blue background. “In the Garage” mentioned KISS posters. “Surf Wax America” was up-tempo fun. The bouncy single, filled with feedback, “Buddy Holly,” reached the Top 20 in the U.S. and became a global hit.
The Big Stir/Spyderpop eleven-song compilation album Generation Blue opens with Shufflepuck’s intense “Where the Hell is She.” The quartet’s guitarist Justin Fisher stated in the accompanying book, “The music scene was changing so fast. In 1992, everyone in the L.A. music industry had their eyes laser-focused on bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Stone Temple Pilots. When Weezer played shows, following the grunge band of the day, people would just look confused and walk out the door while a dozen of us stayed to cheer them on. Two years later, Weezer’s songs were everywhere and suddenly the nerdy guy standing next to you at the club, who looked more like a calculus tutor than a rock star, might be the front man for the headlining band.” Shufflepuck played a couple of L.A. shows with Weezer.”
Bryan Ray Turcotte of Black Market Flowers described the early ‘90s L.A. music scene by stating, “It was pretty wild and amazing. There were tons of killer unsigned bands, but only a few good established clubs to play at, so there were lots of backyard parties, dive bar takeovers, coffee shops, and even a Del Taco.” Supersport 2000 were among the bands performing at the L.A. venues and featured male and female vocals on “Mooks.”
Turcotte continued, “All the L.A. bands seemed to intermingle easily and played shows together, even when it made no sense from a musical style point of view. I don’t remember ever having the feeling of competition from any of the bands at that time. It was more like, ‘You guys are good, maybe we can play a show together.’” Among the bands sharing L.A.’s stages were Baby Lemonade. On their song “Pop Tarte,” they referenced Cheap Trick’s breakthrough double-live album At Budokan.
Nerf Herder’s lead vocalist and guitarist Parry Gripp said, “The thing that really made me go bonkers was listening to Dr. Demento. It just tied into my personality perfectly. I thought that I could be a guy on his show. That’s where I first heard ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic in junior high school. ‘Weird Al’ did this thing where he was dead serious singing these ridiculous lyrics and that became the cornerstone of my schtick in Nerf Herder and my solo stuff, serious, but totally dumb.” In the true story of Nerf Herder’s 1997 tour experience, including snowy Pittsburgh, Gripp sang, “First time on the road. Some of us had never even been in the snow,” on “We Opened for Weezer.”
The book’s author, S.W. Lauren, who also compiled the interviews for Popsicko’s 2022 book, wrote in the introduction, “I called singer-songwriter Kevin Ridel and made plans to connect with him and his new guitarist Steve LeRoy. I soon became the trio’s drummer, changing our name to Ridel High. I’m not sure I realized in those early days with the group that Kevin had grown up playing music with Rivers Cuomo of Weezer, in fact Rivers even suggested the name Ridel High, a homophone of the high school in Grease.” Ridel High’s catchy, guitar driven “Self Destructive” is included in the compilation.
Generation Blue also includes songs from Campfire Girls, Cockeyed Ghost, Chopper One, Ozma, Psoma, and AM Radio.
Here is one more California related song from Big Stir, "Back to California" by 20/20, with a haunting sound, Dire Straits/Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers-like guitars, released today with more to come in 2025 from Ron Flynt and Steve Allen's group.
Related Links:
Goldmine 2024: The Armoires, sparkle*jets u.k., Blake Jones & the Trike Shop, Librarians with Hickeys
Goldmine 2024: The Half-Cubes 'Pop Treasures'
Goldmine 2024: Hungrytown 'Circus for Sale'
For related items that you may enjoy in our Goldmine store (see below):
Click here for the Goldmine store
