Slip It In

SST is (was) one of the most important labels in underground rock and punk music. It was started in the late 70's by the guitarist of Black Flag, Greg Ginn. The roster of bands that Ginn put out music by were to forever change the face of music as well as promoting the DIY aesthetic that is now echoed in small home run labels. Open up your ears bitches...

First Black Flag EP. Keith Morris late of Circle Jerks fame on the mic. Beginnings of hardcore and SoCal punk in general. 

The Minutemen. D. Boon on guitar. Mike Watt on bass. George Hurley on drums. Unlike anything before or after. Punk as a medium to do whatever, and they did it better then anyone else.

Husker Du started off as a speed oriented hardcore band from the Midwest. They now are the blueprint for modern day alternative rock. Frank Black of the Pixies claimed he only owned four albums when he formed his band and three of them were Husker Du records.

Bad Brains. After they created hardcore and blew every other act off the stage they joined the SST roster to put out I Against I. This album veered off in a more metal-inflected sound. H.R.'s vocals are all over the place in a true display of pain and love. Apparently during the tour for this album the band would play their set and then don ski masks and rob some of the clubs who decided to underpay them.
Essential listening: Bad Brains (ROIR Cassette)

Meat Puppets are probably most famous for being championed by Nirvana (they covered two songs on their Unplugged album with aid from members of the band). The band was comprised of the two Kirkwood bros, Curt and Cris, and Derrick Bostrom. They hailed from the desert in Tempe, Arizona. You can hear the vast expansive openness of the desert in their songs as well as slightly off sensibilities. The boys claimed that they didn't need drugs to make their music they only needed to rake their twisted minds for the sounds they created. I'm pretty sure drugs helped.

This is just a taste of what the SST label had to offer. They also put out amazing albums by LA jazz inflected punk band Saccharine Trust, Dinosaur Jr., indie godfathers Sonic Youth, fIREHOSE, and sludge metal purveyors Saint Vitus, as well as countless others. Here's one more jam for you to weez some juice from (Natas Kaupus skate vid with fIREHOSE's "Brave Captain" playing)...