So far this has been a frustrating decade to be an Epitaph Records fan. The once trailblazing punk label founded by Bad Religion's Brett Gurewitz started strong in the '80s and briefly broke through to the mainstream in the '90s. In addition to selling millions of Offspring and Rancid records, Epitaph put out great albums from the best parts of punk's spectrum — from the blisteringly political Bad Religion and the fearlessly feminist L7 to the nerdy, self-deprecating Descendents and bratty, pseudo-dumb NOFX. And even with some misses among the hits, Epitaph's catalog was reliable enough to ensure that any record with its logo stamped on the back was worth hearing at least once.
But in the Aughts, Epitaph struggled to find its identity in a new music business landscape that rendered labels an unnecessary middleman between artist and consumer. Consequently, in recent years the label has made some bold choices in its fight to remain relevant, or at least survive.
At first that experimentation looked promising — in 1999 Epitaph founded sister label Anti-, which focuses on indie, folk and country, releasing material by Tom Waits, Neko Case, Merle Haggard and Elliott Smith. And in the mid-Aughts, Epitaph diversified its predictable punk catalog and branched out into hip-hop, signing artists including Sage Francis and The Coup.
But then came the 2010s — we're only halfway through the decade, but Epitaph has obviously given up on trying to find music that presents new ideas worth hearing by giving us albums from artists like Falling in Reverse, a band with about as much musical appeal as the noise that roars out from a dentist's drill as it scrapes away the last bits of a rotting tooth and a singer with a history of arrests for domestic violence.
But confusingly, frustratingly and, I'll admit, thankfully, Epitaph hasn't evolved into a complete wasteland.
For every Falling in Reverse that joins the 35-year-old label's roster, there's a Joyce Manor, a band that's great both musically and socially, as the band's members regularly speak out against sexism in punk rock. And there's also the more recent Epitaph addition, Ohio's The Sidekicks. Their new record Runners in the Nerved World recalls Pacific Northwest favorites the Shins (without the overwrought plays on words) and Built to Spill. From opening track "Hell Is Warm," which opens with a delicate guitar fluttering over warm melodies, to the closing "All Things Run Out," the band crafts the perfect breezy summer album to spin in February. So escape this ice kingdom that's plagued Nashville all week and catch the band's show at The Stone Fox on Thursday. Then consider buying Runners at the merch booth and just hope the money spent on the record doesn't go into the same pool that funds Falling in Reverse's hairspray budget.
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