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.
Read More…