''Before You Were Punk'' is a compilation album released in 1997 by

Vagrant Records Vagrant Records is an American record label based in California. It was founded in 1995 by Rich Egan and Jon Cohen. The label focuses on rock, but features artists in a variety of other genres including folk, soul, electronic, and pop. It is hom ...

. It consists of a number of mid-1990s punk rock bands (most of them from southern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

) covering songs that were popularised during the 1980s " new wave" musical movement. It was an ambitious release for the label, which was still in its early stages, and proved to be a success by selling over 70,000 copies.

Andy Greenwald Andy Greenwald (born May 19, 1977) is an American author, critic, podcaster, screenwriter, and television producer. Life and career Greenwald grew up in Philadelphia and currently lives in Los Angeles, California. He graduated from Friends' C ...

. '' Nothing Feels Good: Punk Rock, Teenagers and Emo''. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2003, p. 76 It was followed by an equally successful sequel, '' Before You Were Punk 2'', in 1999. Because Vagrant Records did not yet have an extensive roster of artists, the compilation relied mostly on contributions from bands on other record labels. Only Face to Face and

Automatic 7 Automatic 7 is an American rock trio. Formed in 1993, they have released three albums to date. They released their debut album self-titled ''Automatic 7'' on November 22, 1995, on BYO Records. Band members John Hulett (vocals and guitar), Nic Ni ...

had previously released records through Vagrant. By contrast, ''Before You Were Punk 2'' would feature more bands that had signed to the label between 1997 and 1999.

Track listing

Album information

* Record label:

* Art direction by Andrew Lenoski, Rich Egan and Jon Cohen * Recording and mixing: ** Tracks 1 and 2 recorded and mixed by

Ryan Greene Ryan Greene is an American record producer, sound engineer, former owner of Crush Recording Studios in Scottsdale, Arizona and founder of Area 52 Entertainment in Los Angeles, California. In an over 25-year-long career he has worked with many art ...

at Razor's Edge Studios in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

** Track 3 recorded and mixed by Ryan Greene at Razor's Edge Studios in San Francisco, California ** Tracks 4, 5, 7, 9, and 11 recorded and mixed by Kiley and Dan at Doghouse Studios in

Van Nuys, California Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909, ...

** Track 6 recorded and mixed by Scott Axum and Don Lithgow at DML Studios. ** Track 8 recorded and mixed by Kevin Army at Roof Bros. Studios in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

** Track 10 recorded and mixed by Jeff Bridges at Big Noise Studios ** Track 12 recorded and mixed by Jowe Marquez at Prairie Sun Studios *

Horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...

on track 6 performed by

Buck-O-Nine Buck-O-Nine is an American ska punk band which was formed in San Diego in 1991. The band has toured internationally and released several albums and EPs, as well as appearing on compilations and film soundtracks. During the mid-to-late 1990s, t ...

horn section

References

{{Authority control 1997 compilation albums Punk rock compilation albums New wave compilation albums Covers albums