Sellout: The Major-Label Feeding Frenzy That Swept Punk, Emo, and Hardcore

by Dan Ozzi

NATIONAL BESTSELLER AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR "Ozzi's reporting is strong, balanced and well told...a worthy successor to its obvious inspiration, Michael Azerrad's 2001 examination of the '80s indie underground, 'Our Band Could Be Your Life.'"--New York Times Book ReviewA raucous history of punk, emo, and hardcore’s growing pains during the commercial boom of the early 90s and mid-aughts, following eleven bands as they “sell out” and find mainstream fame, or break beneath the weight of it all   Punk rock found itself at a crossroads in the mid-90’s. After indie favorite Nirvana catapulted into the mainstream with its unexpected phenomenon, Nevermind, rebellion was suddenly en vogue. Looking to replicate the band’s success, major record labels set their sights on the underground, and began courting punk’s rising stars. But the DIY punk scene, which had long prided itself on its trademark authenticity and anti-establishment ethos, wasn’t quite ready to let their homegrown acts go without a fight. The result was a those who accepted the cash flow of the majors, and those who defiantly clung to their indie cred.   In Sellout, seasoned music writer Dan Ozzi chronicles this embattled era in punk. Focusing on eleven prominent bands who made the jump from indie to major, Sellout charts the twists and turns of the last “gold rush” of the music industry, where some groups “sold out” and rose to surprise super stardom, while others buckled under mounting pressures. Sellout is both a gripping history of the music industry’s evolution, and a punk rock lover’s guide to the chaotic darlings of the post-grunge era, featuring original interviews and personal stories from members of modern punk’s most (in)famous Green DayJawbreakerJimmy Eat WorldBlink-182At the Drive-InThe DonnasThursdayThe DistillersMy Chemical RomanceRise AgainstAgainst Me!

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, History, Audiobook, Punk, Pop Culture, Biography

464 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 26, 2021

Reviews

[mina reads™️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I totally recommend listening to all the albums mentioned while you read. 10/10 experience

[Jacob Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Mr. Ozzi for convincing me to check out bands I’ve hated forever without any good reason.

[Rachael Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a product of the early 2000s New Jersey punk rock scene, this book was like candy to me. Reading references to the Wayne Firehouse, TheNJScene, New Brunswick basement shows, and Vintage Vinyl (RIP) was like a trip back in time.

On the other hand, the format of the book focusing on a different band and pivotal album in each chapter allowed me to learn a lot more about parts of the scene I was less immersed in, and I completely enjoyed every little tidbit.

Even though parts of this book feel totally tailored to me (even though I don't know him, I'm utterly convinced Dan and I have been at some of the same shows), I'm confident that any music enthusiast could find something to love here. A great read.

[Gabrielle (Reading Rampage) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Little personal anecdote in lieu of introduction to the book review; feel free to skip if you aren’t interested.


Back in May, I was browsing at the record store when I stumbled upon something that made me squeak incredulously: a brand new record by… the Used. That took me back, as the Used’s record “In Love and Death” was the soundtrack to the worst heartbreak of my life, when I was twenty, but I had stopped keeping track of their new releases a long time ago. Also, at the time, I would have died rather than admitted listening to them, for fear of damaging my punk “cred”; now, at almost forty, I am – let’s say – unapologetic about listening to what I want, so I picked it up and brought it home. And. I. Freaking. Loved. It. Which felt so odd because it definitely had a time warp quality to it: their sound is still very much theirs, and Bert McCraken’s lyrics are still intense and deeply felt, but they are also clearly not twenty anymore either. After listening to it a few times, I started building a playlist that I called “Geriatric Emo”, because I guess that’s what bands like the Used and dweebs like me are now: geriatric millennials who still need music that can bring us to an emotional cathartic place in order not to go full bat-shit. And sometimes, we just want to bop our heads to some Paramore, and you can fuck off if you disapprove (whoever said my language would clean up as I got older was sadly mistaken).

The Used is only briefly mentioned in this book, but a lot of bands that they toured with and were contemporary to when they got started have a chapter dedicated to them (I actually saw them live once, opening for Rise Against, hence preserving my oh-so precious “cred”), and I have records by most of those bands, many of which I still listen to. This era was my early college years, and music was the glue to my mind. Against Me!, Rise Against and the Distillers were huge inspirations, making fun of My Chemical Romance was mandatory and begrudgingly listening to At The Drive In was… a thing. And obviously, as mentioned, there were bands you simply had to sneer at if you wanted to be seen as a real punk, and that is very much what Green Day and Blink 182 were: the sellouts. The bands that had made it big and were, somehow, too “pop” for some people’s sensibilities, and were considered to have traded their authenticity for a sound that would mean more commercial success (I am happy to admit that once I relaxed a bit, I ended up enjoying Green Day and Blink exactly for what they were without feeling weird about it).

The concept of selling out is about an ideological purity that has its limitation: no one wants to compromise their artistic vision and turn their work into just a product, which is why the punk scene was (rightfully) very skeptical of what major labels could and would do for them. On the other hand, bills need to be paid, musicians need to eat, and the buying power behind larger labels has created records of amazing quality that would simply not have been as good had they been done on the cheaper and smaller scale. It’s easy to throw the words “sellout” as a slur when you are part of an anti-corporation subculture, but what’s behind it is often pettiness and jealousy – and not simply concerns about artistic integrity. This was something that was such a huge concern in the 90s and the 2000s, but I feel like it’s no longer the raw nerve it used to be, given how different the landscape of the music industry is from what it was then. It’s also ridiculous to expect an artist’s work to never change or evolve: how would that keep the work interesting? Not to rip on Rancid forever, but spending two decades trying to recapture the glory of “… And Out Come the Wolves” has not made them more interesting musicians.

So of course I enjoyed it: I love nerding out about music, and a lot of the music mentioned in this book is stuff that is very dear to my little heart. Some of the stories I knew, but I also learned a lot of new info, that re-contextualized some of what I knew about bands I love, and what they went through to make art. Like, I knew Rancid were total assholes, but they are even worst than I thought. I’ve had direct experience of the sexism that goes with being a girl in a band, so the stories from the Donnas were no surprise, I just wished they had been able to enjoy themselves a bit more. I went to listen to some Thursday, out of curiosity, and I still don’t like them, sorry – but they had a weirdly unique experience of a major actually believing in them and getting screwed over by an indie label! I still rolled my eyes at My Chemical Romance’s song titles; while “Famous Last Words” remains a guilty pleasure of mine, pretty much all their other work makes me want to bash my head on a wall - but their story is still an interesting case of appealing to a broad demographic and knowing how to work the online aspect of their work.

I appreciate that the chapters are laid out chronologically, with regards to when the major label album came out for each band: you can see a certain evolution in the marketing methods, the way the audience connects with the bands, as you go from the mid-90s to the early 2000s, and things become a lot more about social media presence and a band’s capacity to navigate that intelligently. It also illustrates very well that there is no magic formula for a band to make it: Green Day and Jawbreaker were on the same label, same producer, same music video director, and one had insane success while the other one imploded. Art and success is not a muffin recipe!

I wish they had done a full chapter on Anti-Flag, because I love them and because they have an interesting tale of making an (arguably) iconic record on RCA and then taking the big label money to go on and start their own label to support their local scenes, and that is fucking awesome.

But over all, a very interesting book about a special time in the history of rock in general, punk rock specifically - and if you are in the throes of nostalgia like I have been recently, you will love this!



Also, this is my 1000th review on Goodreads! HOLY SHIT!

[Gretchen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever wished there were a book about one of your super niche interests, only to have one suddenly land on your radar? That was this book for me. Having grown up in the NJ scene, it was so cool to hear about all my favorites. Ozzi does a great job of keeping the focus on each band’s rise to commercial success without ever getting gossipy or critical. I’m so sad that it’s over!

[Bryan Cebulski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn, it's nice to read a book on occasion about a topic I'm interested in that's written in an approachable, conversational style. I must remember this for the future. And I want a book like this for like twelve more bands at least.

Unorganized comments/takeaways:
- Rancid sounds like a cult.
- Jawbreaker got a raw deal. Can't get over how negative the initial reaction to Dear You was. Such a good album, and yet!
- Surprised by what a negative light Against Me! is depicted in (not that they didn't deserve it tho)
- NOFX did NOT respect the straightedge punks!
- Punks in general are fickle and mean and ideologically inconsistent
- I don't get the punk ethos of "We love you but we will hate you if you are offered even a modicum of success," although it does explain why so much punk is bad, because if you're good then you risk being successful.
- I love how often people interviewed in the book go out of their way to trash Limp Bizkit
- The Jimmy Eat World chapter closes out with a groanworthy but laudable pun about how the band hoped that, between major and indie labels, they could find success in the middle
- Kinda fun that the first mention of trans people in the book is in the MCR chapter.
- Rise Against once considered calling themselves the Jimmy Crack Corn and I Don't Cares.
- It's really cute that Kurt Cobain wore a Jawbreaker t-shirt on stage even after Jawbreaker ended their stretch of the tour opening for Nirvana
- The Donnas seem like they're the most normal human beings of the bunch
- Rise Against is good! Why did no one tell me this? Listening to them makes me feel like I'm in a tony hawk pro skater
- I knew there was a connection between At the Drive In and the Mars Volta but I did not realize it's literally the same guys lmao

To sum up:
- Green Day: Unbridled success
- Jawbreaker: Failure, too much infighting and punk scene vitriol despite putting out a great album
- Jimmy Eat World: Slow, arduous start with ups and downs that eventually resulted in success
- Blink-182: skyrocketed because they were charismatic, had no qualms about wanting to be commercial, and they had the Warped Tour and acts like Pennywise to bolster them
- At the Drive-in: Skyrocketed then came crashing down from personal troubles spurred on by disillusionment with the increasing violence and white supremacy in the punk/hardcore scene. Definitely comes off as the most humane band. Surprisingly heartwarming Bono cameo.
- The Donnas: Success hampered by sexism, but also the way sexism isolated them from the rest of the punk/metal scene solidified their solidarity with one another as a group
- Thursday: An unexpected tale of a major label's steadfast belief in a band suffering under an exploitative indie label; band crashed due to a changing music landscape and burnout from relentless touring and recording sessions.
- The Distillers: Ambitious, acclaimed album ended up being their only major label release due to industry exploitation (in terms of "relentless touring," "not giving the band enough creative control," and "literally screwing over their finances because they were all like 25 and couldn't budget for shit.") and drugs that caused the band members to go insane.
- My Chemical Romance: Outrageous success fueled by finally tapping into the market of "hot topic goths," appealing to girls, and knowing how take advantage of the rising online market / social media environment, unlike other bands who let plummeting physical CD sales drown them.
- Rise Against: Success after an initially dodgy major label debut turned an uncharacteristic acoustic single into a hit.
- Against Me!: Label they were signed to stopped caring about them and the band crashed; started their own label and caught a second wind after releasing Transgender Dysphoria Blues.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Selling out” is a phrase whose significance depends on the decade into which you were born. Thirty years ago, when Nirvana broke down the barriers between the mainstream and the underground, the stigma of selling out — at least among certain groups and certain fans — was severe. The decision to sign with a major label broke up bands, split scenes and made a handful of people very, very rich.

To those who came of age during a great recession, a Trump presidency or a pandemic, selling out is as operative a concept as an eight-track tape. At a time when Metallica is cozying up with Mercedes-Benz and Megan Thee Stallion is collaborating with Popeyes on her signature brand of Hottie Sauce, the notion of a band pledging to stay indie forever seems prudishly strange, like a TikTok video of a pilgrim churning butter.

In between then and now came the last great wave of major-label acquisitions — the twilight era of the sellouts. Fans of Jawbreaker, Jimmy Eat World, My Chemical Romance and other latter-day indie bands read about their struggles in the places where they’d found them: in fanzines or on the internet. Dan Ozzi’s “Sellout: The Major-Label Feeding Frenzy That Swept Punk, Emo, and Hardcore (1994-2007),” published recently by Mariner Books, offers a corrective, exploring how 11 bands emerged from obscurity to become major-label artists.

Ozzi begins with the moment when the shifting sands of alternative rock made it possible for musicians to consider a career. After Nirvana, independent artists realized that not only could their band be their life, it could be their livelihood as well.

No one benefited more from this frenzy than Green Day, who rose to acclaim at the all-ages punk club 924 Gilman Street, the epicenter of the East Bay scene, where major-label bands were regarded as literal scum. When Green Day signed to Reprise Records, a subsidiary of what was then Warner Bros., the chart-topping singles, multiplatinum records and dozens of awards that followed set a new standard of success for punk bands. These accolades came at a price: Green Day was banned from performing at Gilman Street and shunned by its original fans.

What makes “Sellout” so engrossing is that it profiles both the artists and the suits — the label heads and their A&R reps. Ozzi not only provides a rigorously researched look at how labels targeted bands and fought to sign them; he also amasses an impressive number of firsthand accounts of major-label talent scouts acting like major league sleazeballs.

Tales of steak dinners, helicopter rides and strip club outings on the company dime make it clear the bands and suits came from different worlds. Loren Israel, who doggedly pursued Jimmy Eat World for Capitol Records, recalled his early struggles to get the media to pay attention to the band. “We couldn’t get them any press, so you know what I did. I wrote their press reviews and sent them to Maximum Rocknroll and Razorcake or whatever their f— fanzines were called.”

Israel couldn’t have sent reviews to Razorcake in 1996 because it didn’t exist until 2001. He likely meant Flipside, a zine that Jimmy Eat World and its fans would have read from cover to cover. (Full disclosure: I wrote for Flipside and still write for Razorcake.) To Israel, these were interchangeable rags with a limited reach, stepping stones to bigger and better things. But to fans, they meant (and mean) so much more.

Each chapter in “Sellout” follows a different band, but they share a similar structure: Indie band forms, establishes modest popularity, considers offers from A&R reps and wrestles with the decision to sign. This gives the book a predictable rhythm, but it’s in the aftermath of the signings that the chapters diverge.

It isn’t exactly a spoiler to say that none of the bands featured in “Sellout” became as big as Green Day. Part of the book’s appeal lies in rooting for bands to beat the odds — even when you know they won’t. As a result, the bulk of the stories in “Sellout” are cautionary tales.

Not surprisingly, the bands that were the least worried about selling out became the most successful. The boys in Blink-182 were wannabe rock stars who happened to play poppy punk rock. No hang-ups there. But Jawbreaker, who repeatedly assured its fans it would never sell out and agonized over the decision, was practically pilloried for signing a deal with DGC. Not only did Jawbreaker not hit the big time, the band broke up.

Another factor in weathering the sellout storm was location. Bands from culturally remote places, like Jimmy Eat World of Mesa, Ariz., faced a much weaker backlash. “The very local scene in Arizona was more concerned that we don’t get screwed over rather than selling out,” says singer Jim Adkins. “It was a supportive skepticism rather than thinking we’d abandon our creative ideals.”

As the stories progress, patterns emerge. There’s a fascinating parallel between the labels’ struggles to convince bands of their street cred and the bands’ struggles to convince fans they hadn’t lost it. Who was kidding whom? That’s not a question Ozzi examines.

At the intersection of punk and commerce is a great deal of denial, useful self-deception on both sides. The artists maintain they’ll stay true to their roots, meaning they’ll never change — which is a strange relationship for an artist to have with their art. The labels, meanwhile, convince themselves they can bend the bands to their will and make hits — a strange relationship to have with an artist you’re pursuing for their art. These incompatible positions drive much of the conflict in “Sellout.”

The bands come and go but they don’t get any wiser, while the suits keep moving up the corporate ladder. Ben Lazar, a former A&R rep for Island Def Jam, believes the concept of selling out is a bogus construct that does more harm than good. “For a scene that prides itself on authenticity, it’s such a bunch of f— bull—.”

Of course, there are plenty of indie artists who have never sold out and never will, but for Ozzi, an artist holding a label at arm’s length is like an alcoholic telling themselves they’ll have just one more. “No band ever thinks they’re ever going to sell out,” he writes. “Until, one day, they do.”

To a Gen Xer like me, the “sellout” label still carries the stench of shame. It was a lot easier to swear allegiance to an indie artist when a commercial path to success didn’t exist. Time marches on, and while hearing your favorite punk rock song during a car commercial may be easier to swallow when you’re considering your kid’s college tuition, it still hurts.

[Nev · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED THIS BOOK SO FUCKING MUCH. If you’re a fan of punk, emo, or hardcore bands from the mid 90s to mid 2000s then you need to read this. It’s a fun walk down memory lane and an insight into the behind the scenes of how different bands decided to move from indie labels to major labels. Even though I was pretty familiar with the origin stories of Green Day, blink-182, My Chemical Romance, and The Donnas there was still a lot of new information to learn. Also, the book profiled bands like Jimmy Eat World, At the Drive-In, Thursday, and more where I knew some of their music or knew of them vaguely but nothing super in depth.

When I initially saw the title of the book I was hesitant about reading it because I thought it was going to be negative towards all the bands who “sold out,” but that’s not the stance the book takes. It shows all the nuances of how the bands made their decisions and the hate that they would get from their communities because they wanted to spread their music as wide as they could.

I also loved how there was a wide variety of experiences represented in the book. Some of the bands released their major label debuts and blew up into the mainstream, some of them didn’t quite hit that highest level but still kept going, and with other bands the major label debut was also the last thing they released.

I had such a blast reading this book. I was constantly setting it down to listen to the songs that are mentioned. If you do read it then I recommend taking that approach because it adds so much to the overall experience.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Band said they are not going to sign to a major label, band signs to major label, band fails to crossover to prolonged mainstream success- with the exception of Green Day.

Also a lot of discussion of 'what' and 'who' was punk rock and how much.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dan Ozzi's Sellout is a stunning look back at the waning moments of the golden age of record labels and their attempts to woo the unwoo-able punk rock scene.

In the early 90s when Greenday was a band of local, Bay-area celebrities it had been decades since the first (and at the time only) era of punk had broken into the mainstream for a few short years. But with Nirvana having set new records for how much record labels were willing to pay to sign a rock band, it was only time until punk came back into favor. And did it come into favor: a litany of bands left their indie roots and signed with major record labels and each time fans lashed out, expressing valid concerns that the anti-corporation bands they loved are suddenly in bed with corporate record companies.

Ozzi does an incredible job tracing the beginnings of the second wave of punk from Green Day through Jawbreaker, My Chemical Romance, Rise Against, and ending with Against Me! (arguably the last punk band to get a million dollar signing offer). Sellout describes how the punk rock movement fought against the itch to sellout to the majors but how in the end selling out provided a way for punk to develop, meld, evolve, and continue to challenge and create new forms of anti-establishment pressure. Though I am still not clear on why Ozzi covered the bands he did while leaving out many, many more well-known groups, the ones he discusses in the book are discussed with a skill for narration and culture critique. Don't miss out on this important contribution to music history.

[Ian Hrabe · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one is right up my alley and is essentially Our Band Could Be Your Life for Millenials, but man, I just found it to be a slog. Ozzi essentially tells the same story 11 times. Sometimes things work out and the band is wildly successful (Green Day, My Chemical Romance) and sometimes things crash and burn (Jawbreaker, At the Drive-In). The big problem here is that unlike in Michael Azerrad's tome which was more biographical, Ozzi's main focus is each band's major label debut. This leads to lots and lots of stuff about A&R guys, producers, and label heads that frankly, just isn't that interesting. Every story is basically the same: The label wants the next Nirvana (or later, the next Green Day), their expectations are insanely high, and the band either gets screwed or miraculously prospers. On repeat. Sure there are little nuances between bands, but there just isn't enough separating the 11 experiences to warrant reading the whole thing.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book mentions “Steven’s Untitled Rock Show.” 5 stars

[Jason Koivu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This answered so many questions! I was a big fan of 90s hardcore and emo (the pre-make-up days), when you paid $5 to see 3-5 bands of sweaty musicians thrash and jangle through their set in a venue the size of a living room. In fact, one of my first shows when I moved out to California was at a place called the Living Room. About 11 bands played (Jenny Piccolo, Leadfoot Broadcast, Locust maybe?) in a warehouse space lined with old couches. It was '96 so I can't remember, but I might've paid $10 for that one. That was a lot of bands.

Sellout documents what happened to some of the bands from that era who left their DIY roots to sign with a major label. In some cases it was a good experience for the band (Green Day), in other cases it essentially destroyed them (Jawbreaker).

As time passed, I lost track of some of my favorite groups from this period. Back then the internet was not the fountain of info that it is today, where you can get live updates via tweets or whatever that let you know where a band is at. Back then you might be informed of an new album or disbanding months after the fact through Maximum Rocknroll, provided you could find a copy, and if Tim decided that particular band was punk-worthy enough for coverage. Hell, I used to do band interviews in my zine to find out more about them and their current situation just for myself! Until I read this book I had remained surprised that Jimmy Eat World actually replied to my mailed questions with thoughtful answers back '97 when they joined a major. Now I know that they were still nobodies desperate for interaction with fans.

It was great to get some closure on those bands I lost track of. It was also wonderful to dive back into the scene. Dan Ozzi does a good job putting you on the road and on stage with them. The sweat, the stink, the back-breaking work, the exuberance of the age, and the fucking tons of fun that was hardcore music in the 90s is all here. Highly recommended!

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun audiobook. I wish they could have afforded rights to play some of the songs! It was great to listen to stories of bands that I had been very invested in.

A very pointed note that the author chose quotes about and referred to members of The Donnas as “girls” throughout their chapter. Although not a surprise, still very disappointing.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun book about a bunch of terrible bands*. Gets a bit repetitive after a while.

*Except At The Drive-In, they were good.

[this_eel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ozzi’s breezy writing and musical passion and generosity with his subjects and cited (with bibliography) research combine into a great survey/snapshot that didn’t just activate the feelings I have already about some of these 11 bands but taught me a lot about bands I previously skipped over. As with most books about music, the best version of this reading experience is the one where you listen to everything he talks about while he’s talking about it. The only downside is that i desperately want to be reading another identical book. Or, since the segments basically go from a band’s inception through its major label debut (with a few notable extensions), I would love to be reading his own book length expansions on every single band he covers. I’d read that! I’d read it all! Completely engrossing and I read it in about two days.

[Nick Spacek · Rating 5 out of 5]

got this in the mail on a saturday, and the only reason it took me until monday to finish it was due to the fact that i had familial and work obligations. as it was, every spare minute was spent burning through ozzi's book. i've always been a fan of his writing, but sellout nails every little scene detail, speaks to the proper folks -- both those integral to the main stories at hand, as well as those with a close enough peripheral perspective to offer insights which flesh out the overall narrative -- and just feels as though it was something which has been in the works for ages.

covering as it does the era which started in my early teens and ended in my late 20s, it's definitely a laser-focused set of bands of whom i've always been aware, if not a rabid fan thereof. the throughline narrative from chapter to chapter makes this a book which not only charts the individual successes and failures of each of the bands profiled, but a longer story of the music industry and underground punk scene as a whole.

[TvdW · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dit boek vertelt de verhalen van (pop)punk- en emobands uit de jaren '90 en '00 die een - destijds controversiële - overstap maakten naar een grote platenmaatschappij. Met name de rampen zijn voor de lezer een genot waarbij de verhalen over Jawbreaker en At The Drive-In eruit springen. De (relatieve) successen komen telkens op hetzelfde, vrij ongeloofwaardige verhaal neer: 'Wij zouden nooit bij een grote platenmaatschappij tekenen." --> "We gingen enkel voor de grap met ze praten." --> "Het geld speelde geen rol. De overstap stelde ons slechts in staat onze boodschap beter te verspreiden." Al met al toch een boeiend inkijkje waarbij het loont na ieder hoofdstuk het bijbehorende album te luisteren, hoewel het niet allemaal meesterwerken zijn.

De albums:
Green Day - Dookie 4/5
Jawbreaker - Dear You 4/5
Jimmy Eat World - Static Prevails 1/5
blink-182 - Dude Ranch 4/5
At The Drive-In - Relationship of Command 4/5
The Donnas - Spend the Night 1/5
Thursday - Full Collapse 3/5
The Distillers - Coral Fang 1/5
My Chemical Romance - Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge 2/5
Rise Against - Siren Song for Counter-Culture 2/5
Against Me! - New Wave 1/5

[Mackenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great balance of fact and narrative. I think this was also super accessible, I don’t think you’d have to be a fan of any of these bands to get into this book.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

(4.5)

I have to round up for any book that mentions Mineral, even in passing. Despite the “sellout” premise, this book is much closer to Our Band Could Be Your Life than an insider look at music industry machinations and scene politics. The biographies aren’t as comprehensive as in Azzerad’s excellent book. Ozzi instead focuses critical moments in each band’s career as they’re poised for major label success (or failure).

Through these bands’ stories, Ozzi makes the case for the concept of “selling out” as complete bullshit. At the same time, major labels aren’t made out to be anything they’re not; they’re presented as the faceless profit-generating machines that they are. As there is no editorializing, the indie labels and punk scene conservatives are also shown in an honest light through the eyes of the people who were there. (I love seeing Victory Records as somewhat of a villain.)

As big fan of a couple of these bands and with an extensive knowledge of most of the rest, there was a lot of material to hold my interest. For the unfamiliar this text might not be particularly instructive. For that reason, I didn’t take away much from the chapters on Rise Against or Against Me, whose music I don’t know well. My nostalgia was tickled, however, reliving amazing shows from 90s (especially At the Drive-In) and memorable moments like dissecting Dookie with the one punk rock girl at my school or buying Clarity at Bionic Records when it finally was released by Capitol.

I was dreading the My Chemical Romance section as I wish I could wipe the existence of 3rd wave emo from my mind. The book says that witnessing the events of 9/11 motivated Gerard Way to pivot from comic art to music, as if we needed more evidence that the terrorists won. Blake Schwarzenbach (of Jawbreaker) is quoted as saying, “I don't like the boy-centric stuff that was really ubiquitous after us, and with which we were constantly associated […] I totally don't like those people, personally. I dislike the personalities behind that music."

Schwarzenbach went on to say, however, that he liked MCR for having a vision unlike the rest of the scene. In that section I learned that they were aspiring more to be Queen than any major post-hardcore bands. It also showed how inclusive their live experiences were, in stark contrast to the predatory and gross scenes surrounding 00s-era Warped Tour/mall-punk/Hot Topic emo. Instead it puts them in company with most of the bands in this book and the ethics that the best punk and hardcore scenes espouse. 3rd wave emo is still a blight on music history, but perhaps these guys were the unlikely torch bearers for something they wanted nothing to do with. I don’t want to listen to them, but I’ll point my ire somewhere else.

[Benjamin Van Buren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love love LOVED this book. I devoured every chapter of this—wherever it was on bands I loved (Jawbreaker, At The Drive-In), sorta liked (Green Day, Jimmy Eat World), not a fan of but curious to read about (Donnas, Blink-182, Distilers) or even the emo/screamo bands I couldn’t give a shit about (all the rest), this was perfectly written and always completely engrossing. Some nice side stories along the way on 924 Gilman St, Fat Wreck Chords, Epitaph Records, Grand Royal Records, and bonus points for pointing out what a piece of shit Tony Victory is too. Hell, this even made Thursday seem interesting! The ATDI chapter in particular gave me goosebumps and took me back to my last year of college—had tickets to see them twice but they broke up first. Bummer. Ah memories.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of my anticipated reads this year and it did not disappoint at all!

Sellout tracks eleven bands with their major label album debut. But it's more than that. Starting with Green Day in the mid-nineties, every major label is looking for the ~next Nirvana~. Like with Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge, there's a Gen X distain of corporations, consumerism, and anything that could be remotely seen as having ambition (or any emotions other than vague disinterest.) Green Day copes a heavy hand for signing to a major. The scene they came from essentially shunned them, their regular venue banning them from playing. Through the course of the time that Sellout covers, Green Day's career has a couple of lows and a couple of highs, really focusing on just how fickle the music industry is.

Jawbreaker was the only band who scored a chapter that I had no knowledge of. Even most of the bands that were mentioned in passing I had some awareness of, if not actively listening to, so this made for extra fascinating reading. Ozzi did an excellent job at really bringing the band members to life, using their upbringing, experiences and personalities to the forefront of how and why their music became what it did and what influenced them to make the decisions they did.

Sellout also has a loose second thread of the decline in the sale of physical music. Sales decline as the rise of downloads begins while the ending just precludes the rise of streaming. Now any money a band wants to make almost exclusively comes from touring and Ozzi doesn't hold back from how gruelling touring can be for a band. Some of the bands we focus on, in between the touring, the pressure from the label and the scathing reaction from hoop holding punk crowds becomes too much and concludes in implosion. Some ride the waves of popularity followed with disinterest to popularity again. And what's left continue a steady grind.

Sellout is my adolescence in a book really. From a friend giving me a copy of Enema of the State on tape, to downloading individual Thursday songs from Kazaa. Being introduced to the Distillers while driving down Bell St with Young Crazed and Peeling blaring to going to Jimmy Eat World concerts, loudly singing along to every song. This book has prompted me to revisit so many albums I haven't listened to in an age and rediscover them all over again.

[Tom Forrester · Rating 5 out of 5]

A meticulous and loving analysis of the post-nirvana big label gold-rush; where every A&R scout was looking for the next big thing.

From the mid-90’s to the mid-00’s, alternative rock of all types were subject to significant attention from the so-called ‘Big Six’ major record labels, as audiences looked for the next Nirvana to be the voice of their generation. From hardcore, to pop-punk, to emo; America’s underground scenes were raided, and money was thrown at acts, as labels tried to fill the post-grunge void.

In ‘Sellout’, Ozzi chronicles the experiences of 11 bands, who were caught up in this music business maelstrom. From those who hit the big time (Green Day, Blink 182, My Chemical Romance), to those who went back to the basements (Jawbreaker, At the Drive In, Against Me!) to those who just about carried on as normal (Rise Against, Thursday); every band has their story to tell, and a multitude of reasons as to why their careers panned out the way they did.

While the concept of selling out is seen as the cardinal sin in punk-the fear being that acts would change their sounds to break the mainstream-for most of these acts, the fear of being seen as ‘sellouts’ mostly prevented them from doing this. In fact, most-if not all-made the record that meant the most sense to them at that point in their lives.

Indeed, while the bands acknowledged that what they were doing could be seen as going against the ethos of their scene, it was much more of a concern for the fans, and the so-called tastemakers (one could cynically call them gatekeepers). Certainly for those bands in the 90’s were often treated to a very hostile and toxic reaction from supposedly tolerant scenes, once the bands decided to take their art to the next level.

Ultimately, this book suggests that rather than being a malign influence on the bands they signed, the labels were mostly indifferent to the band’s sound, and only cared about the bottom line. They would invest lots of money in promoting their new charges, but would rarely interfere with the recording process (occasional disagreements about producers aside). Mostly, the failure of some of these records to catch on can be put down to incompetence, rather than malicious intent. Indeed, a lot of the bands were treated quite well, when the labels decided to drop them.

This was a fascinating read about the scenes I love, and provided a lot of insight to the business side, which I know very little about. It was also a very welcome dose of nostalgia, and provided the perfect opportunity to listen to some albums I’ve neglected recently.

[Sean Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Sellout" was a great nostalgia trip for me. The earlier part of the book covered bands that made up the formative years of me discovering punk. I later played in bands, and put out records, and though I never had to consider the question of signing to a major (no one was interested) I have friends and acquaintances who made the jump or opted not to make the jump. The later period of this book, at least the bands focused on, weren't really my cup of tea, but they form an obvious bookend to the period that opened with Green Day.

Apart from questions about "selling out" and whether or not the bands featured made the right call in signing to a major label, the book paints an important snapshot of a moment in popular culture. There was a period in time where for reasons of technology and culture it was possible to form a band with a sizeable following, tour, and put out records without big business support. There was a subculture apart from the mainstream that was able to sustain itself. Elements of that subculture were able to break through into the mainstream and become a part of the mainstream culture. That's just not possible anymore.

The decline of physical media, the closure of small live music venues, and other factors have created a truly homogenous culture. "Sellout" paints a picture of this amazing moment in time when there were greater creative possibilities. I feel fortunate to have been at the right age, in the right place, and at the right time to have experienced it.

[Hannah Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is easily the best book I’ve read about punk/hardcore/emo music and the music industry as a whole. Honestly, it’s some of the best non-fiction I’ve read as a whole.

I love how Ozzi pulls out the connections between these different bands. It would be easy for this book to feel like eleven separate stories, but instead he seamlessly connects sections by comparing and contrasting these bands and their stories. It was lovely for Ozzi to start with Green Day and end with Against Me!, specifically Billie Joe Armstrong signing Laura Jane Grace’s Green Day concert ticket— it’s a lovely full circle ending.

I knew of most of these bands before reading, but I appreciated diving into their histories, especially the sections on Jawbreaker, At The Drive-In, and The Distillers. Brody Dalle’s story is especially interesting!

I also appreciated how this book centered more than just snotty white guy punk bands and addressed issues of misogyny, racism, and queerphobia within the scene. Unlike similar books by Greenwald and Payne, I felt that Sellout discussed these issues with empathy, while crucially not *only* speaking about The Donnas, for example, as a “female” band. Instead, Ozzi paints full pictures of these bands and the personalities of the people in them— their strengths, flaws, challenges, and triumphs alike. This is a great balance that other writers should aspire to.

Finally, I love how this book traced how the music industry changed going into the digital age. The sections on The Donnas, My Chemical Romance and Against Me! especially illuminated these shifts.

Highly recommend.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three things:
1) I thought about it and I was reading, and I realized I’ve listened to “Dookie” probably more than any album in my life. It might be my favorite album of all time? I think I just realized that.
2) I think my original 2001 instinct about The Donnas being kinda lame was right, but “Take It Off” actually does really slap.
3) I couldn’t stop thinking about “Protect Ya Neck” when Ozzi kept quoting the A&R guy who said he hated everyone else in Thursday’s scene and didn’t even seem to really like them either: “First of all, who’s your A&R? A mountain climber who plays an electric guitar? But he don’t know the meanin’ of dope / When he’s lookin’ for a suit-and-tie rap / That’s cleaner than a bar of soap.”

[Danger]

They mentioned the Wayne Fire House. I was there, man! I was playing my little bass guitar! I was once a little punk rocker. Now I'm a middle aged punk rocker. This is a great chronicle of some of the bands that broke out of the basement shows and into the mainstream. Dan Ozzi did a ton of research and clearly knows his stuff. I dug it.

[Creya Casale | cc.shelflove]

My bestie bought this for me. Thank you, bestie!!!!!!

[Brett Hart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely not for everyone, but I loved it.

[Jennifer Reilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Made me nostalgic. Gave me the little feeling of fire I had of logging onto the internet to Napster or Kazaa a new band or signing into MySpace to pick the perfect song that said, “this is me”. Coolest thing was actually listening to some bands catalog I just assumed I didn’t like for no good reason to find out, ‘wow, I like this band.’