Seaweed...

Hot on the heals of the somewhat recent news of a Seaweed reunion, I figure now is as good of time to throw some tracks up from one of the bands that found themselves as a big part of my listening habits during the mid to late 90’s. Sadly I don’t get much of a chance to listen to a lot of their records much anymore. It’s the cold hard reality of what happens when you’re constantly on the search for new and exciting things to listen too. However, with the announcement I’ve found myself busting out their records here and there and they are pretty much as great as I remember them being from when I was in high school and before. Most likely if you were listening to a lot of post-hardcore/punk related stuff during the nineties, then Seaweed was probably somewhere in there. It’s good to see them back together, and it seems that they will be releasing a completely new album somewhere down the line, which is pretty exciting news. For those that may have missed out on the band during their first stint together, here is a quick summary which I’ve nabbed from their MySpace page…

“Seaweed is an aggressive, melodic, and powerful unit originally formed in mighty Tacoma, WA. Formed in 1989 by high school friends Clint Werner, Aaron Stauffer, Wade Neal, John Atkins, and Bob Bulgrien, Seaweed quickly earned a reputation as a powerful and energetic live band. Seaweed joined the 7” revolution and put out several cuts on local fave Leopard Gecko. The kids seemed to love them dearly, so Sub Pop records took a mild interest and signed the band. At Sub Pop, Seaweed produced an EP and two albums: the middling, yet endearing Despised, followed by hardcore-emo classics Weak and Four. As a result of incessant domestic and international touring, the band inexplicably attracted the attention of several major labels. Seaweed decided to brass ring it on Hollywood Records in 1995. Later, as a result of many recording sessions gently steered by producer Adam Kaspar, the majestic, yet understated Spanaway was released. The band earned slots on the first Warped Tour and opened for Bad Religion and Green Day on several of many nationwide excursions. Although artistic visions were realized, album sales did not accrue as quickly as the suits had hoped. Suddenly finding themselves too indie for the majors due to cruel corporate cost-cutting measures, they signed with beloved Merge Records for 1999’s Actions and Indications, a raw and clever set of melodic and punkish tracks. The band was also joined for the project by the great Alan Cage of Quicksand on drums, Bob Bulgrien having left the group in 1996. Despite lovely tours to Brazil and the US, the band found itself broken up by the end of the millennium.”

Despised:
Seaweed – Stale [MP3]

Weak:
Seaweed – Stagger [MP3]
Seaweed – Squint [MP3]

Four:
Seaweed – Wait for the Fade [MP3]

Spanaway:
Seaweed – Crush Us All [MP3]
Seaweed – Not Saying Anything [MP3]

Actions & Indications:
Seaweed – Antilyrical [MP3]

Most of the bands albums can be found on Amazon. For more information on reunion head on over to the bands MySpace page.