Grade 9 was a great year... For a while. I am only going to talk about the good aspects of it though, mainly about getting more and more immersed with alternative rock and punk. My friend Robbie and I had been listening to a lot of Green Day and Offspring and we had at this point now bought their back catalogue and I had also bought the Dead Milkmen's first record Big Lizard In My Backyard. We knew that what we were listening to was mainstream but it was also new and we had never heard music that was fast and aggressive like this basically we didn't know what punk was and we didn't know we were listening to it. All I knew was that punks had Mohawks but I didn't know what they listened to. So we started finding other punk bands like Bad Religion and Rancid to listen to but at the same time I was listening to new bands like Blur, Oasis, Bush, Nine Inch Nails and Eric's Trip. Then one day I got a big order from Columbia House and a band called Weezer came in the box with a bunch of assorted junk. I wore this record out. I started with the single Buddy Holly and then listened to the back half of the record over and over again for about a week, then I decided to listen to the first four songs and they were incredible too. Once I started listening to the record in a linear entirety I was completely sold.
Never had I heard such a well built album that mixed a sort of alternative pop punk with the feedback of Sonic Youth (even though I didn't know Sonic Youth at the time but I had to describe the record using them) and perfect three part harmonies. But it rocked too, the songs had a fantastic pop sensibility and were fun and big, there were great hooks and it was new. Although I have listened to thousands of bands since then and have had great loves in music for some reason that band has followed me through my entire life since then I have never gotten tired of their music and especially their eponymous debut record.
I listened to the entire record everyday for years afterward occasionally finding unreleased tracks to keep me occupied until the new record was released which I kept praying for. In the meantime I found other interesting bands to listen to like Ween which would also stay in my interest through out my highschool years and even until now. I was dating a girl named Jenna Robins who lived in a big house on the edge of my neighbourhood. I can't remember how I met her but I do remember she liked the Beastie Boys a lot and so did I so we became friends and eventually started dating. Before the end of our month or so long relationship she showed me an album her sister had bought called Chocolate and Cheese by a band called Ween. This was different stuff, I didn't even know what genre it was because every song was different on the album, songs about HIV, spinal meningitis, a sick pony, lots of songs about food. I went out right away and bought it and I remember having fights at Jess' going away party about whether we should listen to "Baby Bitch" or "Mr. Would You Please Help My Pony" first.
Next up grade 11 and Steve Webster's punk collection and I buy hear Weezer Pinkerton.
Grade 9 was a great year... For a while. I am only going to talk about the good aspects of it though, mainly about getting more and more immersed with alternative rock and punk. My friend Robbie and I had been listening to a lot of Green Day and Offspring and we had at this point now bought their back catalogue and I had also bought the Dead Milkmen's first record Big Lizard In My Backyard. We knew that what we were listening to was mainstream but it was also new and we had never heard music that was fast and aggressive like this basically we didn't know what punk was and we didn't know we were listening to it. All I knew was that punks had Mohawks but I didn't know what they listened to. So we started finding other punk bands like Bad Religion and Rancid to listen to but at the same time I was listening to new bands like Blur, Oasis, Bush, Nine Inch Nails and Eric's Trip. Then one day I got a big order from Columbia House and a band called Weezer came in the box with a bunch of assorted junk. I wore this record out. I started with the single Buddy Holly and then listened to the back half of the record over and over again for about a week, then I decided to listen to the first four songs and they were incredible too. Once I started listening to the record in a linear entirety I was completely sold. 
Never had I heard such a well built album that mixed a sort of alternative pop punk with the feedback of Sonic Youth (even though I didn't know Sonic Youth at the time but I had to describe the record using them) and perfect three part harmonies. But it rocked too, the songs had a fantastic pop sensibility and were fun and big, there were great hooks and it was new. Although I have listened to thousands of bands since then and have had great loves in music for some reason that band has followed me through my entire life since then I have never gotten tired of their music and especially their eponymous debut record. 
I listened to the entire record everyday for years afterward occasionally finding unreleased tracks to keep me occupied until the new record was released which I kept praying for. In the meantime I found other interesting bands to listen to like Ween which would also stay in my interest through out my highschool years and even until now. I was dating a girl named Jenna Robins who lived in a big house on the edge of my neighbourhood. I can't remember how I met her but I do remember she liked the Beastie Boys a lot and so did I so we became friends and eventually started dating. Before the end of our month or so long relationship she showed me an album her sister had bought called Chocolate and Cheese by a band called Ween. This was different stuff, I didn't even know what genre it was because every song was different on the album, songs about HIV, spinal meningitis, a sick pony, lots of songs about food. I went out right away and bought it and I remember having fights at Jess' going away party about whether we should listen to "Baby Bitch" or "Mr. Would You Please Help My Pony" first.
Next up grade 11 and Steve Webster's punk collection and I buy hear Weezer Pinkerton.
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