If you pinned me down and made me decide, I’d have to say that one of the best and most interesting independent record labels of the last 10 years is SS Records out of Sacramento, CA. It was way back in 2001 that SS Records released its first 7″ record by the mighty A Frames from Seattle. This weekend in San Francisco, SS Records is celebrating its 10-year anniversary of releasing great records, and you are invited.

Since that first A Frames record, I’ve been blown away again and again by the musical and geographic variety in the SS Records Discography. There are so many good records. Some of my favorites are the pre-Fear glam-ish reissue of the Cigarettes 7″(SSR21), Italian post punkers His Electro Blue Voice 7″(SSR24), the Monterey, Mexico based punk-as-**** XYX 7″(SSR31), and the A Frames s/t record(SSR3). But it is ridiculous making such a list. There are so many more: SS Records has ventured into free-punk Jazz (Geeks, Antenna’s Erupt), released three full length records by the analog guitar art rockers the Nothing People, two unbelievable compilation LPs that confirm that the true spirit of punk rock is healthy and strong (Babyhead, Tete Bebe), and have scoured France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, South Africa, and Australia for some of the weirdest and most interesting DIY/punk/killer tunes you’ll hear. Check out the discography, and know that any self-respecting, outside the norm record owner would be proud to have any one of these records in their collection.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzmUzelvmFk]

To celebrate a great 10-year run, SS Records is throwing a party and, like all their releases, it’s going to be awesome. If you’re anywhere near San Francisco on the weekend of May 20 – 22 head on over and check it out!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZmzZlMNYOc]

Friday May 20th @ The Bottom of the Hill:
The A Frames are headlining the first night of the weekend, and word is that this will be the last A Frames show ever. I’ve never seen a bad A Frames show and I’m bummed this will be their last. Liquorball, Hank IV, and Charles Albright start off the night.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAram_OVcb4]

Saturday May 21st @ The Bottom of the Hill:
feedtime! Wow! How SS Records got feedtime to leave the dirty underbelly of Australia and head to the States for a one off show I’ll never know. But chances are it will be epic. Lamps, Nothing People (awesome!), and Wounded Lion get things rolling.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhABvqEpA34]

Sunday May 22nd @ The Hemlock Tavern:
The San Francisco band, The Mantels, headline the last night. These psyche rockers have released some great records and crafted some fantastic fuzzy pop tunes. NAR, 3 Toed Sloth, and LENZ are opening, plus there’s a record swap to get it all started. Brown Paper Tickets is lucky enough to be providing tickets for the third night of the party, so go get your tickets here, and don’t forget to show up early for the pre-music record swap!

If you want to hear more by the great bands on the label, check out the player they included on their website.

http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http://api.soundcloud.com/users/3872507 Latest tracks by S. S. Records

Congratulations SS Records for 10 years of unbelievable music and hard work, and thanks for putting on such a great anniversary celebration.

Posted by Mike