Taang! Records is an

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

with a roster of

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...

, punk rock,

Oi! Oi! is a subgenre of punk rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The music and its associated subculture had the goal of bringing together punks, skinheads, and other disaffected working-class youth. The movement was p ...

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, and ch ...

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...

, and

ambient Ambient or Ambiance or Ambience may refer to: Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgrounds * Ambient music, a genre of music that puts an emphasis on tone and atmosphere * ''Ambient'' (album), by Moby * ...

artists and bands founded by Curtis Casella in Boston, Massachusetts in 1983.

History

Taang! Records started as a singles-only label, recording acts in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

's early hardcore and punk scene such as Gang Green, Negative FX, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and

The Lemonheads The Lemonheads are an American alternative rock band formed in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1986 by Evan Dando, Ben Deily, and Jesse Peretz. Dando has remained the band's only constant member. After their initial punk-influenced releases and tour ...

. The name is an

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

for the phrase "Teen Agers Are No Good!" The label gained prominence with the rise of Boston hardcore in the punk culture of the 1980s which had strong ties to the scene in nearby Washington D.C. the strong popularity of the 45 rpm format in the punk and indie underground scene, and the strong network of independent distribution, zines, retail outlets, and college radio stations that had already developed around the format. By the early 1990s, the label developed close ties to the punk scene in Southern California and moved its headquarters to

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

, where it remains. Today, the Taang! catalogue includes over 200 releases in multiple formats, with international distribution.

1983 to 1993

Curtis Casella, a Boston native, started Taang! to promote the burgeoning Boston hardcore punk scene. “In the early 80's, frustrated with the scene in Boston with all the greatest bands in the USA I felt that there should a place they could call home. No one else was doing it. Washington, DC had Dischord, UK. had No Future, Clay & Secret and Crass, LA had SST, Boston needed Taang!" The label's first full-length release was Negative FX's self-titled album, which was recorded in 1982. In 1986, Taang! released five vinyl titles: ''Burning in Water'' by Moving Targets, ''Back on the Map'' by Slapshot, ''

Another Wasted Night ''Another Wasted Night'' was the first full-length album from Boston, Massachusetts hardcore punk/speed metal band, Gang Green. It is perhaps best remembered for their punk cover of the tune " Voices Carry", written by Aimee Mann for her band 'T ...

'' by Gang Green, the 7-inch ''Mine Caroline'' by The Oysters, and a bonus 7-inch by

. Gang Green's ''Another Wasted Night'' spawned three videos that received MTV play, and their non-stop tour propelled sales of their release to upwards of 30,000 units. The label achieved wide airplay on college radio stations with releases from The Lemonheads and Bullet LaVolta, and expanded its repertoire to include acts with a more diverse sound such as

Poison Idea Poison Idea was an American punk rock band formed in Portland, Oregon, in 1980. History Formation, 1980s, and 1990s Poison Idea was formed in 1980 by vocalist Jerry A. (aka Jerry Lang). The initial lineup consisted of Jerry A., Chris Te ...

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (informally referred to as The Bosstones and often stylized as The Mighty Mighty BossToneS) were an American ska punk band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1983. From the band's inception, lead vocalist Dicky ...

Swirlies Swirlies is an American indie rock band formed in Boston in 1990. Since their first records in the early 1990s, the band has released studio and home recordings that blend shoegaze and twee pop with electronica and lo-fi music. Swirlies release ...

and Spacemen 3. In 1992, Taang! produced an archival release of early material from San Diego hardcore band

Battalion of Saints Battalion of Saints was an American hardcore punk band from San Diego, California, that was founded in 1980. The band went through numerous lineup changes before touring the United States and Canada from 1984–1985 with George Anthony, Chris ...

. Casella, who had been dividing his time between Los Angeles and Boston, moved the label's headquarters to

Mission Beach, San Diego Mission Beach is a community built on a sandbar between the Pacific Ocean and Mission Bay. It is part of the city of San Diego, California. Mission Beach spans nearly two miles of ocean front. It is bounded by the San Diego River estuary on the s ...

and simultaneously opened a retail outlet in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

. Shortly after moving to San Diego, Taang! issued two releases by local ska band Buck-O-Nine (the album ''

Barfly Barfly may refer to: * ''Barfly'' (album), 1995 album by the band Buck-O-Nine * Barfly (club), a music venue in Camden Town, London, UK * ''Barfly'' (film), 1987 American film starring Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway * Barfly, a bar in Montreal o ...

'' and the EP ''

Water In My Head ''Water in My Head'' is a Buck-O-Nine EP released in 1996 on Taang! Records, and features a recording of the classic Greek folk song Miserlou, recorded with members of Agent Orange Track listing #"Water in My Head" #"Milk?" #"Dr. Kitch" #"Positi ...

''), which was spurred on by a national tour in support of the ska band

The Specials The Specials, also known as The Special AKA, are an English Two-tone (music genre), 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall (singer), Terr ...

1994 to 1999

In the mid- to late 1990s, there were no new signings and the label focused primarily on archival releases by bands such as:

Cock Sparrer Cock Sparrer () is an English punk rock band formed in 1972 in the East End of London. Although they have never enjoyed commercial success, they helped pave the way for the early '80s punk scene and the Oi! subgenre., Their songs have been cov ...

(four releases), The Adicts (three releases), The Business (seven releases), The Exploited (two releases), The Boys (two releases), Last Resort, The Ruts, Slaughter and The Dogs, and Stiff Little Fingers (two releases), a total of twenty-six releases over five years.

2001 to 2006

While operating in California, the label continued its focus on Boston-based bands. Full catalogue releases were produced for the Proletariat, Bruisers and The F.U.s. Bands such as Gang Green, Slapshot and Poison Idea, which had previously left Taang! for other labels returned, each producing new releases for the label.

2007 to 2012

In 2007, the label started to sign more new bands, including Everybody Out!, featuring Rick Barton of

Dropkick Murphys Dropkick Murphys are an American Celtic punk band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1996. Singer and bassist Ken Casey has been the band's only constant member. Other current members include drummer Matt Kelly (1997– ), singer Al Barr (199 ...

, Bill Close of The Freeze and Sweeney Todd of The Dead Pets as well as Southern California's Evacuate, led by Mike Virus of

Cheap Sex Cheap Sex is an American street punk band formed in December 2002, based in San Diego, California. Besides releasing three albums, the band participated in some compilations, including the Pure Punk Rock DVD, released by Punk Core Records, also f ...

and The Virus, who released their debut in 2009. Taang! also released a DVD from Cheap Sex from San Diego. An addition to the label in this period was Negative Approach. Marking the label's 200th release was their work ''Friends of No One'', a lost six-song recording from 1984 that was discovered in 2009 in a basement in Detroit. Taang!'s next released ''Nothing Will Stand In Our Way,'' a full album by the band, which focused on its earliest recordings (a total of 53 songs). In 2011 the label released works by two legendary bands from the San Francisco Bay area – Attitude Adjustment and Part Time Christians. Both releases contained the bands' complete recorded works and were released digitally as well as on vinyl editions. Attitude Adjustment released a new recording entitled ''No Way Back'' in 2012.

2013 to present

In 2013, the label announced plans to release a series of more than fifty vinyl records from its catalogue over the span of 10 years. In April 2014, the label released ''The First 10 Singles 1984-88, 7" Vinyl Box Set'' to celebrate the Boston-based punk label's 30th anniversary. Included in the boxset were ten seven-inch discs. Each disc included a full re-creation of the original jacket except for the Oysters which was redone for this box set. There was also a 24-song CD that combined all of the musical selections. This vinyl boxset was limited to 2,000 numbered copies. The bands featured were Gang Green, Last Rights, Stranglehold, Noonday, Underground, Last Stand, Negative FX, Oysters, Lemonheads, Moving Targets, and Slapshot. There are plans to release the singles box set as an LP version as well as a CD in 2021. The label also released the KILLER OF SHEEP from Pittsburgh PA. As well as NEGATIVE APPROACH original mix of their only Lp titled Tied Down From 1983 along with a newly recorded track with the current LINE UP

Artists

* The Adicts *

Anti-Heros Anti-Heros were an American Oi!/ street punk band formed in 1984 in Georgia, United States. They took a hiatus from 1989 to 1993, but continued to record and play concerts through the early 2000s. Anti-Heros are one of the first and most popular ...

Attitude Adjustment Attitude Adjustment is an American crossover thrash band from the San Francisco Bay Area. Their debut album, ''American Paranoia'', is considered to be an early "crossover" between hardcore punk and thrash metal. Formation The band was formed ...

Ben Deily Ben Deily is an American musician and songwriter, most famous as one of the founders, writers and lead singers (along with Evan Dando) of the Boston-based alternative rock band The Lemonheads. Deily and Dando met while students at the Commonwealth ...

The Boys Boys are young male humans. Boys or The Boys may also refer to: Film and television Films * ''The Boys'' (1962 British film), a courtroom drama by Sidney J. Furie * ''The Boys'' (1962 Finnish film), a war drama by Mikko Niskanen * ''Boys'' ( ...

The Bruisers The Bruisers were a punk band that pioneered the American streetpunk/oi! movement, formed in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1988. The original lineup included: Al Barr (vocals, now the lead singer of the Boston punk band Dropkick Murphys), Scotty ...

* Buck-O-Nine *

Bullet LaVolta Bullet LaVolta was an alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in January 1987 by four college disk jockeys: Clay Tarver (guitar, now of Chavez), Bill Whelan (bass), Corey "Loog" Brennan (guitar) and Chris "Cruster" Guttmacher ( ...

* The Business * Brandon Cruz * Ken Chambers *

* D.Y.S. * The Dickies * Dicky B Hardy *

* Evacuate * Everybody Out! * The Exploited * Eye For An Eye *

The F.U.'s The F.U.'s are a hardcore punk band from Boston, Massachusetts. They formed in 1981 as a three-piece band, released two records and appeared on the compilation ''This Is Boston, Not L.A.'' before changing their name to Straw Dogs in 1986 to marke ...

* Forced Reality *

The Freeze ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

The 4-Skins The 4-Skins are an English people, English Working class, working-class Oi! band from the East End of London, England. Originally composed of Gary Hodges (vocals), Hoxton Tom McCourt, 'Hoxton' Tom McCourt (Guitarist, guitar), Steve 'H' Hamer (B ...

* Gang Green *

Hard-Ons The Hard-Ons are an Australian punk rock band, which formed in 1982 in Punchbowl, New South Wales. Its founding members were Keish de Silva on lead vocals and drums, Peter "Blackie" Black on guitar and backing vocals, and Ray Ahn on bass guit ...

* Jerry's Kids * Kilslug * Last Resort * Last Rights * Last Stand *

Keith Levene Julian Keith Levene (18 July 1957 – 11 November 2022) was an English musician who was a founding member of both the Clash and Public Image Ltd (PiL). While Levene was in PiL, their 1978 debut album '' Public Image: First Issue'' reached No 22 ...

Lyres Yoke lutes, commonly called lyres, are a class of string instruments, subfamily of lutes, indicated with the code 321.2 in the Hornbostel–Sachs classification. Description Yoke lutes are defined as instruments with one or more strings, arrange ...

* Maelstrom * Menace *

* Mission of Burma * Moving Targets * Negative Approach * Negative FX *

The Newtown Neurotics The Newtown Neurotics (later just The Neurotics) are an English punk rock group formed in Harlow, Essex, England, in 1979. They are noted for their openly political music. History As The Newtown Neurotics, the band began their career playing ...

* Oysters * Part Time Christians *

The Proletariat The Proletariat are a punk rock band from Southeastern Massachusetts, whose heyday was during the 1980s, when they were active in the early Boston hardcore scene, sharing the bill with many of the best punk and hardcore punk acts of the time, ...

* Rat City Riot * Reverberation *

The Ruts The Ruts (later known as Ruts DC) are an English reggae-influenced punk rock band, notable for the 1979 UK top 10 hit single "Babylon's Burning", and an earlier single "In a Rut", which was not a hit but was highly regarded and regularly pla ...

* Sam Black Church * Seka * Slapshot * Slaughter & The Dogs *

Sloppy Seconds Sloppy Seconds is an American, Ramones-influenced punk band sometimes referred to as a ''junk rock band'' from Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, that started in 1984. They gained notoriety in the underground punk scene with gritty and con ...

* Spacemen 3 *

Spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, f ...

SSD A solid-state drive (SSD) is a solid-state storage device that uses integrated circuit assemblies to store data persistently, typically using flash memory, and functioning as secondary storage in the hierarchy of computer storage. It is ...

* Stars & Stripes * Stiff Little Fingers * Stranglehold *

* The Titanics * Upsidedown Cross * The Worthless

References

External links

*
Taang! Records at Discog.com
{{Authority control Punk record labels Record labels established in 1984 Ska record labels