Justin Taylor Remembers Florida Punk Rock/Grindcore

Over at the Annalemma blog:

A: Did you listen to a lot of Hot Water Music at all?

I actually didn’t. I know some of their stuff, and I’ve seen them play a few times, but I don’t think I own any of their records. Before I lived in Gainesville, I think the only No Idea band I knew was Less Than Jake. And of course when you’re just listening to music and going to shows, you aren’t always keeping track of what bands are on what label—at least I wasn’t, but then I was never that dedicated to the punk scene; I’m not very good at being part of scenes, really, but I find them fascinating which is one reason I write about them. When I’m out somewhere and I can feel a real cliqueish or sceney vibe, it just captures my interest—it’s like getting a glimpse of some secret society that you really would not want to join but might happily watch a documentary on. Anyway, I pulled up the No Idea wikipedia page, so let’s see here, bands from this list I know for sure I saw (that I haven’t already mentioned)—Alkaline Trio,  Army of Ponch, Asshole Parade, Atom & His Package, Defiance Ohio, Fiya, Ghost Mice, the Grabass Charlestons, Rumbleseat, This Bike is a Pipe Bomb, Twelve Hour Turn. Also, I should mention that I recognize several grindcore-verging bands I don’t think I ever saw, but which via my friend Jamie I definitely listened to: Trapdoor Fucking Exit, Combatwoundedveteran, Small Brown Bike. I think if you’re that kind of band, you have to have a three-word name.