We at Sub Pop Records are quite pleased with ourselves in announcing that Melbourne rockers, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, have joined our ever-growing family. Now let us get on with never shutting up about them, as follows:

Born from late night jam sessions in singer/guitarist Fran Keaney’s bedroom and honed in the thrumming confines of Melbourne’s live music venues, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever began to take shape as audiences got moving. Sharing tastes and songwriting duties, cousins Joe White and Fran Keaney, brothers Tom and Joe Russo, and drummer Marcel Tussie started out with softer, melody-focused songs. The more shows they played, the more those driving rhythms that now trademark their songs emerged. Since then, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever rode that wave from strength to strength. Touring around the country on headline bills and festival slots, they entrenched themselves with their thrilling live shows.

[Photo Credit: McLean Stephenson]

In early 2016, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever released Talk Tight, their first EP. That effort put the group on the map with glowing support from SPIN, Stereogum, and Pitchfork, praising them as standouts even among the fertile landscape of Melbourne music. Chock full of snappy riffs, spritely drumming and quick-witted wordplay, Talk Tight was praised by Pitchfork “for the precision of their melodies, the streamlined sophistication of their arrangements, and the undercurrent of melancholy that motivates every note.”

“Julie’s Place,” the first single off Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever’s forthcoming EP (out in 2017, and premiered via Stereogum on Nov. 2), levels up on everything that made Talk Tight such an immediate draw. It’s about being young and dumb but full of bravado. Sprinting guitars mimic singer Keaney’s pangs of heartache, his awkwardly sensual lyrics calling to mind the chaos and confusion of being around someone you can’t get off your mind.

You can (and should) follow Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever everywhere in the known universe… and also via their Facebook  |  Instagram  |  Twitter .

The long-unavailable, classic discography of beloved and iconic Seattle band, TAD – God’s Balls (1989), Salt Lick (1990), 8-Way Santa (1991), and assorted singles from the band’s 1988-1992 run – finally received the deluxe reissue treatment. Producer & engineer Jack Endino (who produced God’s Balls, TAD’s first full-length) has remastered all of the recordings from the original tapes. God’s Balls, Salt Lick and 8-Way Santa are available today from Sub Pop.  

As if that weren’t life-changing enough, you can also stream all three remastered albums via YouTube:  8-Way Santa | Gods Balls | Salt Lick.

Might we also suggest you treat yourself to TAD’s deluxe unboxing video (as seen on Facebook & Instagram), and spend some quality time with Tad Doyle as he sits for an enlightening interview with Sub Pop Podcast, which you can listen to here.

The deluxe editions of God’s Balls, Salt Lick, and 8-Way Santa feature new images from celebrated photographer Charles Peterson, bonus tracks, and expansive liner notes from the band and Jack Endino. The bonus material associated with each release will be included on the CD and digital formats. And each of the gatefold vinyl LPs will include that album’s bonus material as part of its free, associated download. All of the bonus material, from all three of these monumental heavy rock/punk albums will be collected on an additional bonus LP available for free with purchase of all three (3) albums on vinyl from the Sub Pop Mega Mart and also from select independent retailers.

BUT WAIT! There’s more…

For those in the Seattle area, TAD’s original line up – Tad Doyle, Kurt Danielsen, Steve Wied, and Gary Thornstensen – have scheduled a Q&A session at Easy Street Records on November 9th at 7pm. The event is hosted by Sub Pop’s Jonathan Poneman. 

For the rest of the world, we’ll be streaming the above referenced Q&A via Facebook Live.

As 2016 finally limps to a close, we’re happy to provide you the pleasant distraction of this the November edition of thee No Fly List! This month’s dispatch is stuffed with plenty of product placement and peppered with the sort of almost-humor you might expect from a tippling uncle at Thanksgiving. In what follows we’re going to explore what is perhaps Sub Pop’s most well-known, provocative, overused, and frequently misunderstood expression: “LOSER.”

If you have been keeping up with No Fly List posts from Sub Pop’s airport store since the beginning, you’ve probably wondered what our fourth most asked question is! (See top three FAQ’s) 

Wonder no more! It’s “What is loser, and why loser?” (Which, yes, is kind of actually two questions, but they’re related and we’re calling the shots here, so deal with it.) Let’s dig in…

According to LOSER; the recently expanded book by Clark Humphrey that chronicles the diverse Seattle sound and punk scene, it’s, “a statement of defiance against the yuppies’ obsession with ‘winners.’” The term “LOSER” or “losers of the music industry” was a reaction to corporate industry driven trends and views.

First developed/stumbled upon in the summer of 1988, “LOSER” made its way onto a Sub Pop t-shirt that very year. Consistent with the label’s aesthetic embrace of apathy (and characteristic of the time), images were sporadically misprinted, contained gaps, and sometimes were even screened in reverse. You can scope photos of the original “LOSER” shirt in such books as Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge by Mark Yarm, and Experiencing Nirvana: Grunge in Europe by Bruce Pavitt.

In grunge speak, courtesy of Sub Pop’s current CEO Megan Jasper back when she was still the label’s receptionist, a loser is a “cob nobbler.” And, the greeting “Dear Loser” was used endearingly in the infamous Sub Pop rejection letters of the early nineties. The term was later used to market a Sorachi Ace-forward American pale ale developed in Seattle by local brewery Elysian. It’s also a term used in the card game contract bridge.

So that’s why Loser Editions! And, why don’t you have Bloom, Fear Fun, or King Tuff on colored wax? It might be because you didn’t pop in to the Sub Pop store at SeaTac. The Sub Pop airport shop is often the last place you might be able find one of these limited slick discs before they hit the wicked online aftermarket. When the pre-sale is sold out and the stash at your favorite shop has dwindled to nothing, your Loser Edition might just be one plane ticket away.

More “LOSER” related fact and fiction…

One of the earliest singles I’ve scored since becoming a Sub Pop employee is TAD’s long-out-of-print 7” single for “Loser” b/w “Cooking With Gas” (SP55).  While this release was limited to 3,000 copies on a green transparent vinyl 7”, both tracks are now available on the deluxe edition reissue of 1990’s Salt Lick. The 45 has a killer back cover by celebrated local cartoonist Peter Bagge, which exists now on a fine black t-shirt.

Are we forever going on about “LOSER” this and “LOSER” that because of the Beck song? Fuck no! Beck was/is not on Sub Pop. He did, however, put out the 1994 release One Foot in the Grave on Olympia-based label K Records (the latter day reissue of which is occasionally stocked on vinyl in the ‘non-Sub Pop’ section of the airport store with the rest of the PNW titles and related artists). 

Life as a “LOSER” is not for everyone. Tourists regularly walk by the store and stare. Some stop and think out-loud how unsuitable something like this would be for their youngster. Others imagine their choice of relative sporting a big, bold “LOSER” (as punishment or gift, who can say?). For those daring and/or proudly unambitious enough to let their “LOSER” flag fly, however… As the holiday season approaches, this charming stocking awaits, (available online only!), as does a great heap of other shit that says LOSER on it. 

Now if you don’t have any other questions; beat it LOSER!