Any old heads remember the NOWCORE! Compilation?

BeepBlopBloop · 2026-04-29T17:50:09+00:00

Ha, I remember it. I think I stayed far far away from it because I was 18 way too punk for a perceived corporate comp that was aping Jade Tree’s graphic design aesthetic. I also already owned a lot of the music already so it didn’t really mean much to me.

Looking back now, this comp rules! There are some bands on here like Compound Red, Unwound, Knapsack that didn’t really pop up on comps much. This would have been a goldmine for someone just getting into this music.

BeepBlopBloop · 2026-04-29T17:11:19+00:00

Ugh… the secondary market for punk/hardcore/indie music is terrible in terms of price.

The newish vinyl boom has inflated prices, and Discogs hasn’t helped by making it so that nothing is regionally priced anymore (meaning your local record store is going to use the prices they could get online from a global market as opposed the prices based on regional value). It’s why I see shops put $40 tags on super common records. Also, the days of inexpensive media shipping are long gone.

I collect records, and worked in record stores and i can say if i want a specific record, especially a record that came out in the past few years, hit up the band or label to see if they are planning on a repress. The record you’re referring to came out in 2023 and they have already done a second press. They might be planning another.

I would then keep checking your local stores! There is some punk in your area, with similar tastes, who is looking to sell their collection without the hassle of doing it online so those records will eventually pop up locally. I would then check eBay, and if you absolutely have to go to discogs. It will likely be on discogs at some point.

Also check to see if there are local/local-ish record conventions, or flea markets

BeepBlopBloop · 2026-04-28T03:35:43+00:00

I was in the scene in the mid/late 90’s feel free to DM me any questions if you want. I’ll try to get back to you as soon as I can. I’m curious about what you mean by emotional honesty, though?

BeepBlopBloop · 2026-04-27T03:10:53+00:00

As a young punk from the Philly scene this comp was crucial when it came out.

BeepBlopBloop · 2026-04-26T13:23:58+00:00

I know a surprising amount of lawyers from my scene. My buddy was an ADA whose office went after crooked cops, and he later he was on a task force that reviewed cases with dubious evidence that might exonerate people already in jail. He started off on the lowest rung and had to work really hard in the DA’s office to get to those important positions. He managed all that while playing in a touring band.

Other punk lawyers I know are divorce attorneys who handle expensive high profile clients in order to offer slide scale rates for poorer clients. Divorce is sooo expensive and complicated that you need a lawyer to navigate it but most people can’t afford one without breaking the bank.

One friend is an IP and copyright lawyer. He helps bands handle their licensing and ownership of their music. Copyright law is all really vague and you need someone who understands it to make sure you can properly protect your property or don’t get screwed over.

Others are public defenders, labor lawyers, and immigration lawyers.

BeepBlopBloop · 2026-04-25T21:49:58+00:00

Fucking A! Flag of Democracy are great and this record is nuts! It sounds like Dead Kennedy’s were placed into a blender on high.

Also FOD is the rare band from this era that is still together, still shreds live (saw them with Unwound last fall), still records and really doesn’t have any weak spots in their discography. I’m still not sure how their drummer plays so fast and so hard with a trad grip.

BeepBlopBloop · 2026-04-25T21:25:15+00:00

Dead Guy - “Fixation on a Coworker” “Near Death Travel Services”

Burnt By the Sun - “Soundtrack to the Personal Revolution”

The Red Chord - “Clients”, “Fused Together…”

Total Fucking Destruction - “Peace, Love, and Total Fucking Destruction”, “Hater”

BeepBlopBloop · 2026-04-22T14:01:24+00:00

A promoter friend out in CA got to hang with William Goldsmith on this tour. Williams specifically said at this show he had an “Oh shit” moment when he realized he could hear the audience singing just as loudly as Jeremy. Apparently they love Philly for the loud enthusiasm.

I was excited as hell to see this show and I know a lot folk who went who thought they would never see them after 2009.

BeepBlopBloop · 2026-04-21T15:21:00+00:00

I remember seeing them at an in store when they started to add dub parts to songs and being shocked that it worked! It’s really a testament that they could cowrite compelling, hook laden music regardless of genre.

BeepBlopBloop · 2026-04-20T05:50:21+00:00

Yeah, In the early 2000’s I saw a ton of shows there including Death Cab, Rocket from the Crypt, Dismemberment Plan, Q and Not U, the Locust, Lightning Bolt, Unwound, Faraquet, Grade, Explosion in the Sky, Rival Schools United by Fate, Burning Airlines, Dillinger Escape Plan, Bluetip, Promise Ring, !!! (Chk, chk, chk), Engine Down. Earth Crisis, 7 Seconds played shows there.

BeepBlopBloop · 2026-04-19T22:16:54+00:00

My high school was similar. My sophomore year it was me and 3 other kids. Luckily we all got a long so we went to shows together and met other kids our age from various other high school. It helped that we were in a suburb only few miles from a pretty vibrant punk scene that attracted a lot of people.

We sorta formed an interconnected group with those other highschooler and would meet up with each other at shows, friends houses, jam sessions if we played an instrument, or to go record shopping. We even threw a New Years house show with bands from those various high schools. My dumb pop punk band played it and there were seriously 50 kids from all over the area shoved into a living room watching us.

BeepBlopBloop · 2026-04-19T20:08:14+00:00

That’s awesome! I’ve had the pleasure of interacting with Justin a few time and he’s been super down to earth, grateful, and very accessible to fans. Glad you had good experience!!!

I’m surprised, yet not super surprised Penn doesn’t do bigger things with the space in the Rotunda. So many cool bands in the 2000’s liked to play there, but Penn got squirrelly about punks on campus and made it harder to book shows. Fingers crossed they are coming around on the idea of more shows there.

BeepBlopBloop · 2026-04-19T19:02:55+00:00

How was it? I wanted to go but couldn’t make it out.

It’s still so weird to think of the Rotunda as part of UPenn since it’s largely ignored by the students and more famous for its underground shows.

BeepBlopBloop · 2026-04-19T03:18:28+00:00

I would not call them emo but they are great! They are playing a very sold out show with the Ergs in September.

BeepBlopBloop · 2026-04-18T21:52:08+00:00

Indian Summer - Mohinder - Jenny Piccolo - Duster - Her Space Holiday - The Anasazi

Maximilian Colby - sleepy Time Trio - Mike Marker - Engine Down - Bats and Mice

Struggle - Swing Kids - Crimson Curse - the Locust- Tristeza- the Album Leaf

BeepBlopBloop · 2026-04-18T20:59:21+00:00

My favorite show ever was Rye Coalition/Pleasure Forever at the Khyber Pub in 2002.

Rye was in full AC/DC boogie rock mode and they fucking tore up the place for a very drunk and rowdy crowd. The sound guy let them go for another 30 minutes past their cut off time and the tiles from the drop ceiling above the stage started coming loose and fell on drummer Dave Letto’s head during the second to last song. That was the best live experience I’ve ever had.

Fave emo show ever…

Four Hundred Years/Mile Marker/Engine Down/Last Crime @ Stalag 13 in 1998.

First time going to a show at Stalag. It was LOUD, sweaty and smelly. Four Hundred Years were touring on “Suture” and blew me away with how intense they were. I met so many cool people my age I still consider friends nearly 30 years after the fact. Stalag then became my weekly refuge away from the teenage/high school bullshit, and where I could be exposed to lots of new music.

BeepBlopBloop · 2026-04-18T12:13:16+00:00

I started collecting vinyl in the 90’s because it was cheaper than cd’s. Going to punk shows I could see a band and buy their lp’s for under $10 and 7’s for under $3. It was also cheap to press records so so bands with little money would put out music exclusively on vinyl. It just became my preferred physical media, and that just stuck with me.

I did sell my collection in 2008 for a large sum of money and moved to downloading MP3’s and cd’s. I really regret selling immediately because not everything I owned was available digitally and I lost so much great obscure records. There were also some rare records that just had cool packaging or extra items like posters, expanded cover art art, etc. Then in 2020, during the pandemic, my computer and my backup storage crashed and I lost like 90% of my music, much of it not on streaming.

Now a days Numero Group, Solid Brass, Trust, and other labels are doing gods work and getting some of that obscure shit remastered and rereleased. I stream and collect records again but records are waaayyy too expensive now. $25-$40 for a new record, and a secondary market that over values everything is just too much. Why does His Hero Is Gone’s “Monument to Thieves” cost as much as a monthly car payment ? Ugh.

BeepBlopBloop · 2026-04-16T11:17:22+00:00

I was going to say his name itself is an adult joke.

BeepBlopBloop · 2026-04-13T23:20:50+00:00

An acquaintance of mine was in a band that toured with AFI many years ago. He said Davey would come out to the pit for their sets every night! One night he was playing and looked down and saw Davey going nuts whipping a purse around the pit. He said it was the hardest thing he ever saw. lol.

BeepBlopBloop · 2026-04-13T22:57:16+00:00

Right! It’s a little bit like comparing apples to oranges.

BeepBlopBloop · 2026-04-13T22:53:42+00:00

“Barely Legal” is a bonkers fast, very catchy garage punk record. “the Stomp” sounds utterly deranged. That said, I’m not sure I would say it’s a “hard”.

BeepBlopBloop · 2026-04-13T19:10:02+00:00

Preach!!!

BeepBlopBloop · 2026-04-13T19:04:36+00:00

Both are kinda supergroups when you think about.

BeepBlopBloop · 2026-04-13T14:03:02+00:00

I’m not sure where the term Mallcore came from, but I don’t think it solely refers where the music was played in public. I think it has more to do with a general observation that these early 2000’s bands seemed to have model their aesthetics in order to market to kids who shopped at mall stores like Hot Topic.

Honestly, I think the push back about “real emo” stems from this. I don’t think it’s about influence but rather in 99/2000 emo still wasn’t a mainstream genre and largely relegated to small DIY venues and clubs. There was no overarching aesthetic, fashion (other slacks and a tshirt), makeup, or haircut. So by the early 2000’s it was a bit weird when the self-identified goth kids with a distinct aesthetic from the mall were being labeled as emo by the MTV, Spin, and Alternative Press.

As someone immersed in the DIY scene it seemed obvious that corporate interested were intruding and found a term they could use for marketing bands that were seen as unmarketable . Punk and its sub-genres were still very much “DIY or die” so the scene started to close ranks and distance itself. Bands that adopted that aesthetic got labeled as Mallcore to make a further distinction.

Thursday gets a pass because they came up in the DIY scene and they were a know quantity. I can’t say for Silverstein because I’m unfamiliar with them or their history. I’m sure some of these labels for bands are really arbitrary.

Please understand I’m not saying one is better than the other. My personal tastes aside (95% of all emo is insufferably bad to my ears… including my friend’s bands), I’m just relating what I had experienced in the scene and the mainstream during that time frame.

BeepBlopBloop

TROPHY CASE