Hey Suburbia, We're In Love With You
Welcome to another edition of Radio Unfriendly. It is time for another top 5 albums ranking. On this one, I will be covering Chicago pop punk band Screeching Weasel!
Here is a little bit of history of the band:
Screeching Weasel was formed by Ben Foster (aka Ben Weasel) and John Pierson (aka John Jughead) in 1986 in Prospect Heights, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Originally, the name of the band was All Night Garage Sale. As of this writing, the band has had over 20 members due to a constant rotation of lineups. The only constant of the band is Ben Weasel himself. In my own personal and humble opinion, I feel like the best lineup is Ben, Jughead, Dan Vapid, and Dan Panic. Their debut album was the self-titled album which was recorded in one night for $200 in 1987. It was recorded at Solid State Studio in Hoffman Estates, Illinois and originally released in September 1987 by Underdog Records. To date, the band has released 15 studio albums, 5 compilation albums, and a crap ton of EPs. These recorded have been released on a bunch of different labels, most notably Lookout Records, Fat Wreck Chords, and Asian Man.
Personally, I have never seen the band live. I discovered this band while I was at the Wax Trax record store in Chicago. I was rummaging through their local bands bins and came across them. I wound up buying a 7” and a CD. Screeching Weasel is a band that although I would count as one of my favorites, to be honest, I kind of stopped listening to them on a regular basis after Jughead left the band. His last album with them was 2000s Teen Punks in Heat. Actually, to be perfectly honest, I think I kind of checked out on them after the 1999 album Emo.
But anyway, without further ado, here are my top 5 favorite Screeching Weasel albums…
#5. Wiggle
Wiggle was released in 1993 by Lookout Records. It was recorded from June to August 1992 at Sonic Iguana in Lafayette, Indiana and produced by Mass Giorgini. The band lineup for this record was Ben, Dan Vapid, Jughead, Johnny Personality on bass, and Dan Panic on drums. It was reissued by Asian Man Records in 2005. The single “Radio Blast” was recorded during the sessions for this album. “Radio Blast” was the 7” that I bought while at Wax Trax. This album has what I think is the coolest album cover of any Screeching Weasel album. My favorite tunes from this one include “I Was a High School Psychopath” and “Automatic Rejector.”
This one was released in December 1988 by Roadkill Records and recorded in October at Solid Sound in Hoffman Estates. It was produced by Ben and Jughead. The lineup on this one was Ben, Jughead, Fish on bass, and Steve Cheese on drums. Boogadaboogadaboogada! was the band’s second album and was originally only released on vinyl. It was re-released by Lookout Records on CD, vinyl, and cassette in 1992. My favorites from this one include “Dingbat,” “I Hate Led Zeppelin,” “My Right,” “Hey Suburbia,” and “Stupid Over You.”
Anthem For A New Tomorrow was released on Lookout Records in October 1993. It was produced by Andy Ernst, Mass Giorgini, and Ben and recorded from February through May 1993 at Sonic Iguana. This one had my favorite SW lineup of Ben, Jughead, Dan Vapid, and Dan Panic. This was a concept album of sorts, touching on themes of paranoia and isolation in modern society. This was the CD that I bought at the same time as the “Radio Blast” 7 inch so it was actually the first full length SW album that I heard. It was remastered and re-released by Asian Man Records in 2005. Favorite songs of mine from Anthem include “A New Tomorrow,” “I’m Gonna Strangle You,” “Inside Out,” “I Robot,” “Every Night,” and “Totally.”
#2. Bark Like a Dog
Released by Fat Wreck Chords in November 1996, Bark Like a Dog is the only SW album to have ever appeared on the Billboard charts. It reached #34 on the US Top Heatseekers chart. It was recorded between May and July 1996 at Uberstudio in Chicago and produced by Mass Giorgini and Ben. It contains that favorite lineup of mine. This album came out while I was living in Alaska during my stint in the military. My friend and I played the shit out of this album after it came out. Favorite songs from this one of mine include “Cool Kids,” “First Day of Summer,” “You Blister My Paint,” “Your Name is Tattooed on My Heart,” and “You’ll Be In My Dreams Today.”
And now my absolute favorite Screeching Weasel song….
#1. My Brain Hurts
My Brain Hurts was the band’s third album and is usually held in high regard by both critics and fans. It is the band’s best selling release. It was released in September 1991 by Lookout Records and recorded in San Francisco, California at Art of Ears Studio in July 1991. It was produced by Andy Ernst and Larry Livermore. The band’s lineup on this album was Ben, Jughead, Dan Vapid, Dave Naked on bass, and Dan Panic on drums. It was re-released by Asian Man in 2005. A good chunk of the songs on this record were co-written by Dan Vapid, most notably “Guest List,” “Teenage Freakshow,” and “Kamala’s Too Nice.” The song “The Science of Myth,” according to Ben, was inspired by a PBC documentary about professor/writer Joseph Campbell which got him interested in the ideas of spiritual beliefs. My favorite songs from My Brain Hurts include “Making You Cry,” “Guest List,” “Veronica Hates Me,” “Cindy’s on Methadone,” “The Science of Myth,” and the title track.
If you liked to learn more about Screeching Weasel, here are some links for you:
Also, you can check out the podcast version of this on Apple Podcasts here.
That’s it for now. Hope you enjoyed it. See you next time.
And don’t forget to follow these awesome podcasts:
My Brain Hurts is fantastic.