Seaweed “Spanaway” CD

I have to admit something right off the bat here: I never fully appreciated Seaweed. I got into this band for one reason and one reason only: "Magic Mountainman". What the fuck is that, you ask? It's the fifth song off of "Spanaway"—the band's lone major label effort from 1995 on Hollywood Records. You see, 10 years ago when I was a freshman in college, my roommate was basically a good for nothing stoner douchebag who did nothing but sleep, run track, sleep more, and be an inconsiderate dick. He was a nice guy, oddly enough, he was just too damn stupid to realize that he was an inconsiderate dick (I'll spare you the countless details on that one). Anyway, I had never really heard Seaweed at the time because I was too busy listening to "Systems Overload" in headphones 500 times a day and despising all existence, but apparently Seaweed was one of the only good bands this dude liked, because he woke up to "Spanaway" every day for like three months straight and it drove me nuts. But you see, every time that fifth song rolled around, I woke up too, thinking to myself, "Holy shit... this song is amazing." But that was pretty much the end of it. A few months later he decided that waking up to Morphine every day would be a better idea and there was no longer a four-minute reprieve from my morning misery when his alarm would go off. I couldn't actually buy the CD back then... it would've cut into my "Systems Overload" time, right!?

Well, years went by and I did eventually buy the disc, because I never forgot how incredible "Magic Mountainman" was. From the liner notes I discovered that Matt Cameron from Soundgarden drummed on the track (whoop-dee-doo), then listened to the CD a few times and filed it away as usual. I'd still listen to it every now and then, but other than that one song, it never really clicked with me for some bizarre reason. But recently it finally happened: I decided to toss this puppy in on the way to work one day, and for the entire ride I was like, "Holy shit, the recording's a little thin, but most of these songs are fuckin' great!" And here I am on a quest to go ahead and grab all of the band's other records.

For anyone that cares, Seaweed formed in the late-80's Seattle-ish scene (specifically Tacoma and Olympia) and initially did a bunch of recordings with Jack Endino, along with several records for Sub Pop. For some unknown reason their brand of catchy, angular indie rock/post-hardcore type of stuff tanked big time when they hit the majors, so four years later their last record came out on another independent label in 1999 with Alan Cage from Quicksand on drums. They broke up soon afterwards.

As with many indie bands that bombed on the majors, there was a time when you could score this disc for dirt ass cheap anywhere you looked, so while it's not so favorable for purchasers (though it's certainly not bad), it could point towards a good sign for the band's belated appreciation that these days this one seems to go for pretty average prices in the used bins once you factor in shipping costs:

Amazon.com
Half.com