punk

Pennywise was formed in 1988 in Hermosa Beach, California by four members Jim Lindberg (vocals), Fletcher Dragge (guitar), Byron McMackin (drums) and Jason Thirsk (bass). They released two EPs: A Word from the Wise (1989) and Wildcard (1992). Each of the band members had played in other bands in the Hermosa Beach, California area and attended the same high school. The group signed to Epitaph Records in 1990 and released their first album Pennywise (1991). The album quickly spread throughout the punk community, earning the band some nation-wide recognition.

Busting out of Austin’s country and blues mold in the late ’70s, The Skunks were Austin’s first genuine punk band, playing everything so fast and loud that it cut through the city’s “cosmic cowboy” crap like a rusty straight razor. Led by Jesse Sublett and Eddie Muñoz (also of The Plimsouls), later replaced by acclaimed singer-songwriter Jon Dee Graham, The Skunks regularly opened for the likes of Elvis Costello and The Police before splintering in 1983, leaving behind a legacy that can still be heard in every slash-and-burn Austin group since.

Hot Snakes was an American post-hardcore band led by Rick Froberg and John Reis, formed in 1999. Reis and Froberg had previously performed together in Pitchfork and Drive Like Jehu while living in San Diego, CA during their youth. Although they share sonic similarities with bands its members had previously been involved with, Hot Snakes' sound was much more punk-influenced than Drive Like Jehu and Pitchfork.