Various Artists

Generation Blue

Big Stir

What happens when you put Nirvana and Weezer together? You get Hollywood’s Geek Rock scene of the late 90s and early Aughts. It should’ve had more reach than it did. This was a great scene that never got its due.

I’d already heard one of the bands on this comp, Nerf Herder, with their single “Van Halen,” which is a total goof on said band, a great song and video. They’re also known for the theme music to Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Their contribution here, “We Opened For Weezer,” is sweet, funny, tough, rocking, and geeky. It’s a wonderful tribute and emblematic of the bands on this comp--nerds rocking out AKA Nerd Core--and doing a great job of it.

There’s also a song about Nirvana here, Cockeyed Ghost’s “Keep The Sun (Demo),” that quotes “Come As You Are” (“man I swear I don’t have a gun”), then, at the end, adds “and I’d kill myself if thought it’d be fun.” That bitter, angry, backhanded tribute to Kurt, is like a lot of the lyrics here, dealing with heartbreak and frustration, like Shufflepuck’s “Where The Hell Is She.” When they do have fun, like on Chopper One’s “Touch My Fuzz” it’s ironic.

For all that was going on in the 90s and aughts, it’s sad and not fair that this scene was overlooked, so here’s your chance to remedy that. But be quick about it! It’s a limited edition, with an oral history of the scene included. If you can get this comp, it’s more than worth your while, to hear what might have been for a great scene.

Andrea Weiss