Anger Fear Sex And Death Various Artist Compilation CD (1992)

1992 was a specific kind of year. The major labels were throwing money at anything with distortion, and meanwhile the actual underground was quietly building something that would outlast all of it.

This compilation pulls together a genuinely stacked cross-section of what was happening in US punk and hardcore at the time, before genre lines got litigated to death online. Bad Religion were mid-stride between Against the Grain and Recipe for Hate, NOFX were still a cult band's cult band, Pennywise were just starting to matter beyond Hermosa Beach, and L7 were one of the most dangerous live acts in America. Coffin Break and Down by Law fill in the Pacific Northwest and straight-edge sides respectively, while Insted and Little Kings round out a set that understood punk as a broad church rather than a dress code. The title is borrowed from a Violent Femmes record, which tells you something about the sensibility at play here.

CD format. 1992 release. Compilation of various artists including Bad Religion, NOFX, Pennywise, Coffin Break, L7, Down by Law, Little Kings, and Insted.

Fans of: Epitaph Records-era punk, Fat Wreck comps, Short Music for Short People, Lookout! Records, 90s alternative and grunge crossover.