I grew up in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and graduated from high school in 1993. I hung out with some of the “weird kids,” kids in accelerated classes and the high school swim team. Though traditional “cool” probably wasn’t seeping out of my pores, I managed to have a good time and had arguably okay taste in music fueled equally by a young uncle, Thrasher skateboard magazine, 120 Minutes, snowboard video soundtracks, KJ104 and the Flipside fanzine.

Today I give you a few selections courtesy of my high school self. I’m giving myself bonus points for including a couple of bands I’d entirely forgotten about (Buffalo Tom and Seaweed). Enjoy!

Buffalo Tom – Birdbrain. I forgot all about this band, but played their first couple of albums pretty heavily in high school. No surprise that J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.) produced this album.

Pixies – Head On. High school friends introduced me to the Pixies and I fell in love. This seems fitting as I didn’t have a girlfriend for the bulk of my high school years. This song is a Jesus and Mary Chain cover… I never cared for Jesus and Mary Chain, but whatever. This is good.

All – She’s My Ex. I’m fairly sure I became familiar with the Descendents offshoot band, ALL, thanks to 1990’s “Snowboarders In Exile.”

Seaweed – Bill. Much like my “discovery” of Sunny Day Real Estate, Seaweed fell into my lap thanks to the fact that they were on Sub Pop records and grunge was huge at the time. I never really thought of the band as a “grunge” band per se… I just thought they rocked out pretty hard.

NOFX – Bob. Again, I have my snowboard days to thank for this one…