New Underground Records was an American independent record label founded by Danny Phillips (a.k.a. Danny Dean) and Gary Kail. Phillips and Kail were influenced by

D. Boon Dennes Dale Boon (April 1, 1958 – December 22, 1985) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist, singer and songwriter of the punk rock trio Minutemen. He was born on April 1, 1958 in San Pedro, California, and formed the Minuteme ...

and Mike Watt's

New Alliance Records New Alliance Records was an independent record label founded by American musicians D. Boon and Mike Watt (of The Minutemen) and longtime friend and associate Martin Tamburovich. They were inspired by the example of their friends in southern Cali ...

label and decided to create their own to promote bands they knew. Alongside New Alliance, New Underground was one of the first

DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...

labels in the South Bay punk scene of the 1980s.

Albums

Their compilitation album, ''Life Is Ugly So Why Not Kill Yourself'', featured songs by

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

("Rich Brat" from ''

''),

Descendents The Descendents are an American punk rock band formed in 1977 in Manhattan Beach, California, by guitarist Frank Navetta, bassist Tony Lombardo and drummer Bill Stevenson. In 1979, they enlisted Stevenson's school friend Milo Aukerman as a ...

("I Wanna Be a Bear" from ''

Milo Goes to College ''Milo Goes to College'' is the debut studio album by the American punk rock band Descendents, released on September 4, 1982 through New Alliance Records. Its title referred to singer Milo Aukerman's decision to leave the band to attend college, ...

''), Minutemen ("Shit You Hear At Parties" from '' The Politics of Time''),

Saccharine Trust Saccharine Trust is an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1980 by singer Jack Brewer and guitarist Joe Baiza. The band would frequently perform with SST labelmates Minutemen and Black Flag. However, Baiza descri ...

(''Disillusion Fool''), Mood of Defiance ("Empty Me" from ''Now''), and Ill Will ("Paranoid Midnight Deposit".) Kail came up with the title for the compilation. Other compilations were entitled ''Life Is Beautiful So Why Not Eat Health Food?'' and ''Life Is Boring So Why Not Steal This Record?'', with the latter featuring artwork by

Raymond Pettibon Raymond Pettibon (born Raymond Ginn, June 16, 1957) is an American artist who lives and works in New York City. Pettibon came to prominence in the early 1980s in the southern California punk rock scene, creating posters and album art mainly for ...

. Phillips named these albums. A fourth was planned but never completed.

Discography

; Mood of Defiance *''Now'' (1982) ;Anti *''I Don't Want To Die In Your War'' (1982) *''Defy The System'' (1983) *''God Can't Bounce '' (1984) ;Zurich 1916 *''Creative Nihilism'' (1984) ;Compilations *''Life Is Beautiful So Why Not Eat Health Food?'' (1981) *''Life Is Ugly So Why Not Kill Yourself'' (1982) *''Life Is Boring So Why Not Steal This Record?'' (1983)

Legacy

''Life Is Ugly So Why Not Kill Yourself'' was re-released by

Delerium Records Delerium Records was a British independent record label, that specialised in psychedelic music and which existed from 1991 to 2003, and was notable in promoting the careers of bands including Porcupine Tree, Ozric Tentacles, Kava Kava, Ma ...

in 2001.

References

External links

New Underground Records
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...

{{Authority control American independent record labels Record labels established in 1980 Punk record labels Indie rock record labels DIY culture