The U.S. state of Washington has been home to many popular musicians and several major hotbeds of musical innovation throughout its history. The largest city in the state, Seattle, is known for being the birthplace of grunge as well as a major contributor to the evolution of punk rock, indie music, folk, and hip hop. Nearby Tacoma and Olympia have also been centers of influence on popular music.
The Sonics are an American garage rock band from Tacoma, Washington, that formed in 1960. Their aggressive, hard-edged sound has been a major influence on punk and garage music worldwide, and they have been named inspirations to the White Stripes, LCD Soundsystem, Nirvana and other musical artists.
Fastbacks are a Seattle, Washington, punk rock band. Formed in 1979 by songwriter/guitarist Kurt Bloch, and friends Lulu Gargiulo and Kim Warnick, they disbanded in 2001 but have reunited multiple times. Their sound mixes a generally punk rock approach to vocals and sound textures with poppy tunes and strong musicianship.
Scream is an American hardcore punk band from Washington, D.C.; they originally formed in the suburb of Bailey's Crossroads, Virginia. Scream originally formed in 1981 within the vanguard of the Washington Hardcore explosion. In 2009, the band reunited, and as of January 2012 were on tour in Europe. As of 2017, the band was still touring in both America and the United Kingdom.
Gas Huffer was an American garage rock band from Washington. They were known for their informal and comical lyrics and their antic-laden stage presence.
Teengenerate were a Japanese punk rock band from 1993 to 1996, known for their fun style of playing garage punk with a sense of humor and often incomprehensible English lyrics. After disbanding for a time, some of its members went on to start the band Firestarter. At the time of their split, Teengenerate consisted of Fink, Fifi, Sammy (bass) and Shoe (drums). Their original drummer was called Suck. In 2005, Teengenerate reformed for a series of shows worldwide, gaining new fans and gathering old ones back into the fold. Other past bands that featured Teengenerate members include: Fifi and the Mach III, the Raydios and the Tweezers. The Teengenerate song "My GTO" was used in the 2000 film, Wild Zero, directed by Tetsuro Takeuchi. The Teengenerate song "My Girl Dressed in Black" was also featured in the 2022 film, "Sam Now", directed by Reed Harkness.
The Makers are a garage rock band from Spokane, Washington, formed in 1991, with releases on Estrus Records, Sub Pop Records, and Kill Rock Stars Records.
The Posies were an American power pop group. The band was formed in 1986 in Bellingham, Washington, United States, by primary songwriters Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow.
Estrus Records is an independent record label from Bellingham, Washington that makes surf, garage and trash rock music.
Seaweed was an American band from Tacoma, Washington, who were active throughout the 1990s. Their style of music was a combination of different rock subgenres, including post-hardcore and punk rock. They were signed to various notable record labels, such as Sub Pop Records, Merge Records, and Hollywood Records. The band released six albums between 1989 and 1999, followed by a hiatus that lasted until 2007. They then disbanded a second time in 2014.
The Surf Trio was a surf rock band which formed in Eugene, Oregon, in 1984.
The Mummies are an American garage punk band formed in San Bruno, California, in 1988. Exhibiting a defiantly raw and lo-fi sound, dubbed "budget rock", the Mummies' rebellious attitude and distinctive performance costumes exerted a major influence on garage punk and garage rock revival acts later in the decade, as well as in the 1990s. Their recorded output was intentionally completed with poor, cheap equipment, including their first and only studio album Never Been Caught, which was released after the group's initial break-up. Since then, the Mummies have engaged in several positively-received reunion concerts and tours, including appearances in Europe and the US sporadically through to recent years. The band is currently working on a movie.
Girl Trouble is a garage rock band formed in 1983, composed of three musicians from Tacoma, Washington and one from Spokane, Washington.
Cheater Slicks is a three-man garage punk band formed in Boston in 1987. The members are Tom Shannon, Dave Shannon (guitar), and Dana Hatch. They toured with Jon Spencer Blues Explosion in 1995.
People Get Ready is the debut studio album by American garage rock band The Mooney Suzuki. Recorded at Sweatbox Studio in Austin, Texas, it was released on September 5, 2000, by Estrus Records. The album was later reissued by Estrus in July 2011.
Huevos Rancheros were a Canadian surf rock band from Calgary, Alberta, active from 1990 to 2000. Huevos Rancheros performed an instrumental blend of rockabilly, surf, garage and punk music.
The Trashwomen were an all-female American garage punk and surf punk trio from the San Francisco Bay Area signed to Estrus Records.
Swiz was an American hardcore punk band formed in 1987 in Washington, D.C., United States.
The Untamed Youth were a mid-1980s garage rock band from Columbia, Missouri, United States, led by Deke Dickerson, who is best known as the frontman for Deke Dickerson & the Eccofonics. Original members (1986) were Deke Dickerson, Steve Mace, Doug Walker and Joel Trueblood. The Untamed Youth first performed in Columbia at local club The Blue Note in January 1987, and quickly started playing locations throughout the United States between the years 1988–1993. The group disbanded in August 1993, but later reformed for a European tour in 1996 and to record two studio albums for both the Estrus and Norton labels in 1997 and 1998 respectively. The Youth were primarily a '60s-styled surf/frat rock band known for their wild stage antics such as spraying the audience with cans of beer and for their self-deprecating sense of humor. All this, while holding a true reverence for their influences… ”the gods whose grooves they hammer home are the stars on a hundred forgotten 45's, their sacred texts "Surfin' Hearse" and "Go Go Ferrari." They're best live, but their Nineties LPs "Some Kinda Fun" and "More Gone Gassers" (Norton) surge with power; do not run other appliances when playing these in your home”. While their live shows were generally hard-edged, their albums are notably well-produced and arranged particularly their early Norton work, which was produced by Billy Miller of Norton Records and Andy Shernoff of The Dictators. These early Norton albums “capture(d) the supercharged atmosphere created whenever the Untamed Youth filled a teen club or tavern”. Despite considerable local success and strong critical acclaim, the band followed many of their garage rock brethren into obscurity due to the limited appeal of 1960’s retro music. However, as has often been the case with bands of this genre, the Youth gradually acquired a cult status as is evidenced by their reuniting recently for festivals in both the U.S. and Europe. The band's first albums, "Some Kinda Fun" and "More Gone Gassers" are now highly sought after collector’s items on vinyl.
Stop Draggin Me Down is the debut album by the Bellingham, Washington-based garage rock group The Mono Men, released in 1990.
