90's Week: Part 4 - Seaweed

Seaweed were a band that I got into way too late. Honestly, during the 90's I don't think that I ever came across their name. My view on music did not extend that far, so I never even had the chance to check them out at the time. I took me until 2014, when I finally paid attention to something Marcus said about them, and decided to check them out. Since then I've been in love with that band, and slowly building a collection. I'm desperate for a green colored vinyl of Spanaway, and for a while I thought that was the last full album I needed on vinyl from them... but then a few years ago I realized that there was a 6 song 12 inch that I needed as well.

I had assumed that the Despised 12 inch would be very easy to pick up. There weren't any limited colored vinyl pressings for me to have to chase... just the simple black vinyl pressing, and I figured that I could grab one without much effort. However, when I started to look for one, the only available copies that I could find were from sellers overseas. I did not expect that... and after waiting years for one to show up on Discogs from a US seller, I just finally committed to those overseas shipping costs and bought one when I was buying some other 90's records from someone.

Feels good to finally have this Seaweed record on the shelf. Now if someone would just sell me that Spanaway on green...

Seaweed Actions

When I first discover an older band, I take my sweet time in digging into their back catalog. I don't want to rush it and be overloaded with every record that the band has released. I'm taking my time and savoring each one. When I first heard Seaweed at the end of 2013, I thought that Four was the only record that I was ever going to need to hear from the band. That album was so perfect, I was afraid to fuck around with anything else the band had released for fear of spoiling my high opinion. Marcus wasn't going to let me sit complacent too long, and a year later he mailed me a bunch of Seaweed records, including the Weak LP. Damn. That made two Seaweed albums that I loved. Around 2019, I finally decided that I'd check out Spanaway. Fuck me. I read somewhere that people that think that Four is the best Seaweed album haven't heard Spanaway, and that may be the truth because now I can't say which record I like more. Now here we are, nine years after first hearing Seaweed, and I'm finally giving the Actions And Indications album my first listen.

Last November, I was out for the day, driving to New Hampshire with my wife. We had just stopped to check out a thrift store along the way for some used books when I got a message from Marcus, giving me a heads up that there was a new reissue of Seaweed's fourth album, Actions And Indications, on colored vinyl. I'd been trying to get my hands on the green vinyl for Spanaway for a couple of years with no luck, and hearing this news from Marcus, I casually drifted to a different part of the store from my wife, and I quickly used my phone to place my order. Thank you technology.

Despite never hearing this album, I still didn't hesitate to order a copy. I've only listened to this record a couple of times, so it will take some time to get familiar with the songs (although the Warsaw cover was an immediate hit with me... although I only knew it because of the Swing Kids version and not the original by Joy Division). So while it might rank at the bottom of the four Seaweed albums, this is still a very good record and I'm looking forward to revisiting it over and over throughout 2023.

300 pressed on "reddish yellow" colored vinyl... or more commonly known as "orange". This reissue includes a song that wasn't on the original album (Everybody's Ok was on the Brazilian release), plus the download gives you three more unreleased songs. 15 new-to-me Seaweed songs.

Measure Inside

Over the years, I've had a few friends that have turned me on to bands that I may not have checked out if it wasn't for their influence. I'm confident that without Marcus blogging about Seaweed, and singing such high praise for the band, I would have never bothered to give them a chance. The band was around back in the early 90's, just when I was diving into the hardcore punk scene, but somehow they never made it onto my radar. I'm assuming that it was because of the Sub Pop label, which I never bothered with, and if this band had dropped a record on Gern Blandsten alongside a band like Garden Variety, I would have been all over it. Instead, I never even heard the name Seaweed until I saw Marcus posting about them some 20 years later.

In addition to turning me on to the band, Marcus also put together a package of Seaweed 7 inches as well as a copy of the Weak LP, and shipped it to me about 8 years ago. A long time has passed since that box of records arrived, and I've recently been itching to pick up more Seaweed vinyl. Ideally, I'd like to get my hands on the green vinyl for the Spanaway album, but since that doesn't come up very often, and when it does, it is for a crazy price, I figured that I'd dive back in on the Seaweed singles collection that Marcus got me started on. I found a copy of the Measure 7 inch on clear for cheap, and I grabbed it. I was happy with the purchase, and thought that I was done chasing Seaweed vinyl for a while. I was wrong.

After I picked up the clear vinyl for the Measure 7 inch, I found myself back reading old Seaweed posts from Marcus and noticed that he had multiple copies of the record on orange vinyl. I didn't need different shades of orange like he did, but I did like how the color vinyl looked with the cover. One more trip back to Discogs and that was sorted.

Apparently I'm collecting multiple copies of Seaweed records now.

I wasn't planning on spending a lot of money on Seaweed 7 inches, but with two copies of Measure in my hands, the record collecting mania hit me, and before I knew what was happening, I'd found and paid for a copy of the band's first 7 inch, Inside.

While this one cost more than the Measure 7 inch, the price wasn't out of this world. Considering it was Seaweed's first record, and on colored vinyl, I was happy to add it to the collection, no matter the price.

Box Of Seaweed

Up until last year, I'd never listened to the band Seaweed...hell, I'd barely heard of them...in fact, the only reason why they popped onto my radar at all, was because of Marcus' blog. He really spoke highly of them, and after reading post after post about their records, I finally broke down and checked out their Four LP. Much to my surprise, I absolutely fell in love with that record, and could not stop playing it. No matter how much I enjoyed that record, I really didn't expand my Seaweed knowledge much beyond that. Four is amazing, and it was all that I really needed. Leave it to Marcus to set me straight once again.

A couple weeks back, I was quite surprised to find a box of Seaweed records on my doorstop. Apparently Marcus had been picking up pieces of vinyl for cheap over the past few months, and in a show of record nerd solidarity, once he had a handful of them, he sent them my way...plus he figured it was the best way to get me to finally post some non-metal records to this blog.

Okay, let's take them in chronological order...starting with Seaweed's second 7 inch, Just A Smirk.

This one was one of my favorites of the bunch, simply because that colored vinyl looks amazing. Had I heard these songs in the early 90's, I would have listened to the shit out of this record. I listened to a lot of bands that played this style at the time, and it still surprises me how I completely overlooked Seaweed until 2014.

Another two song 7 inch that Seaweed released in 1990 was Deertrap. More of that sound that they are great at, and reminds me of bands like Bad Trip, Garden Variety, and that Split Lip LP where they changed their name to Chamberlain..

Up next is the single for the song Bill, which appears on Seaweed's album Weak. Great song, and worth it for the exclusive b-side song, Pumpkin. Released in 1992, this one shows some growth, and while I really dig the earlier work, this is a nice step up for the band.

I believe there are two camps for Seaweed...those that think that Four is their best album, and those that are wrong. Lots of people seem to prefer the band's first album, Weak, and while I think it is still great, it doesn't beat their second LP.

Finally we come to one of the singles from the Four LP...the Go Your Own Way 7 inch. Meh...I really could do without this Fleetwood Mac cover, but it is still a cool 7 inch to own for the exclusive She Cracked b-side song.

The last surprise was inclusion of a record that didn't fit the Seaweed theme. I'm not sure why Marcus included this record in the package, and upon first glance I had zero interest in checking it out. Not wanting to be rude, I put the vinyl on the turntable for the Young Conservatives record. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I really liked what I heard. It is catchy and melodic hardcore, but with a good gritty edge. Quite the surprise.

Sealed Seaweed

I love reading record collector blogs. I love checking out pictures of new and old vinyl, and reading what people have to say. Every once in a while, someone will write something so well, I will feel compelled to check out a band that I would have otherwise ignored. In this case it was a Seaweed test press post from Marcus. This wasn't his first Seaweed post, but test pressings make me sit up and take notice.

Seaweed were around in the early to mid-90′s, right when I first started obsessing about Hardcore/Punk, but somehow, this band never showed up on my radar. I’m not sure if it was because they were on a big label, and I was too cool for that…or maybe it was because I always associated Sub Pop with Nirvana/Grunge and had no interest in that sound. Whatever it was, I’d never bothered to check them out. When Marcus posted the test pressing for Seaweed’s second album, Four, on his blog…and spoke so highly of it, I figured that I’d humor him and check it out. Much to my surprise, it blew me away. I couldn’t get enough of it, and I found myself listening to it 2 or 3 times in a day.

I knew that I needed it on vinyl, and assumed it would be an easy find on eBay. I mean, it was released by Sub Pop, and pressed only on black vinyl…how hard could it be to track one down? Turns out it wasn’t as easy as I thought. The few copies that would pop up on eBay, seemed to always have some ridiculous Buy It Now price. While I desperately wanted a copy, I wasn’t going to blow my load prematurely. Patience was the name of the game, and after waiting it out for a month or so, I received an email from eBay, alerting me that one was available. The price was still a bit high, but it was a dead mint sealed copy, so I pulled the trigger. Easily one of my favorite surprises this year.