Sub Pop: The Barely Legal Label

Iconic Seattle imprint Sub Pop is closing in on 20 years in the grunge game, two decades having passed since they first foisted Soundgarden and Mudhoney upon the world. In honor of such, this July finds the legendary record label celebrating its near-drinking-age antiquity with a mighty jamboree over two days in Marymoore Park in Redmond, Washington. The impressive bill features current Sub Pop heavyweights like Wolf Parade, Fleet Foxes, No Age, and Iron And Wine.

But no grand anniversary would be complete without reformations. And, sure enough, SP20 will find performances from: Sub Pop's first-ever non-Seattle signing The Fluid; Kurt Cobain-beloved Scottish indie-poppers The Vaselines; grunge's "hindsight supergroup" Green River; forgotten exuberant indie-rockers Seaweed; Canadian art-rock hands Eric's Trip; Sub Pop house producer Brian Deck's old outfit Red Red Meat; and Los Angelino retro-hippy country-psych crooners Beachwood Sparks.

Message boards were alive, recently, with the salacious gossip that a 'reformed' Nirvana would take to the SP20 stage with Pat Smear on guitar and Courtney Love on vocals. Such ridiculous rumor-mongering was even 'confirmed' when someone posing as Sub Pop co-founder Jonathan Poneman posted claiming it was all true.

Given said 'Poneman post' also said supports would be The Gits, Dickless, the Afghan Whigs, and Steven Jesse Bernstein —all of whom either feature or are dead people— the joke was obviously in. Still, whilst attendees may not get to see Courtney wailing "Negative Creep," Flight Of The Conchords should be almost as funny.

Full details here. My picks of Sub Pop's first 20 years here.