Late Century Dream: Movements in the US indie music underground

Late Century Dream: Movements in the US Indie Underground looks in detail at a number of regional music scenes in the US independent music underground through the fertile years of the 1980s and 1990s, encompassing many different genres under the DIY banner.

Featuring newly commissioned essays and extended appendices of new interview and oral material, Late Century Dream takes a fresh, detailed look at both lesser-reported aspects of familiar movements like grunge—by way of progenitors such as Green River and Mudhoney, and other lesser-known but influential groups such as TAD and Skinyard—and the 80s hardcore and punk scene in Washington DC, and in cities and regions with little or no prior discussion around their music scene. These include: the early-90s post-hardcore/early screamo scene which sprang up around Gravity Records in San Diego, including Heroin, Antioch Arrow, Three Mile Pilot and many others; the legacy of the Butthole Surfers and the development of the punk scene in Texas which encompassed groups such as The Dicks and Big Boys; and the three phases of Chapel Hill music, from the mid-80s tail end of proto-indie, through the legendary college-rock boom encompassing bands like Superchunk and Archers of Loaf, to late-90s iterations spearheaded by groups such as the White Octave and Sorry About Dresden, and many others.

Divided simply in to chapters focusing on each different region or city, the book will also be illustrated with a wealth of archival and unseen promo, live and zine imagery. Late Century Dream is an exciting addition to Black Dog Publishing’s music titles, following on from Black Metal and Krautrock, in giving readers an alternative view of the popular music scenes.