Micro-Genres: American Underground
by 
Repo 
7"s
==========================
• 15 Minutes - That's what you always say (1981)
Down There Records ( DT-1) ( Down There's first release)
Written-By, Producer, Performer, Guitar [Uncredited], Vocals [Uncredited] – Steve Wynn
Comment: Holy shit! Does anyone else hear the MASSIVE Closer-era Joy Division influence on this very first slab of sonic goodness from Steve Wynn?!?! This is pre-Dream Syndicate when I guess the band was going by the name 15 Minutes.
• The Fix - Vengeance/In This Town (1981)
Lansing, MI
Touch & Go Records
(T&G 02; First Band signed to Touch & Go)
RIYL: Early American Hardcore with a touch of Late '70s NYC Punk
EPs
=============
• The Flesh Eaters - s/t (1978)
LA; debut EP
Upsetter / UPSET 8
• Black Flag - Nervous Breakdown
Release Date: January 1979
Label: SST / SST-001 (1st release on SST records)
Vocals: Keith Morris (Black Flag's 1st Vocalist)
Rating: 🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻 (Essential; A Landmark in Punk History)
The first two songs - "Nervous Breakdown" & "Fix Me" - are two of Black Flag's best songs. "Fix Me" in particular shows that Black Flag's signature sound was already in place. "Wasted" was the perfect parting shot from vocalist Keith Morris who was notorious for his substance use & abuse which contributed to him leaving Black Flack shortly after the release of this EP. Aptly, he would take "Wasted" with him to his new band Circle Jerks.
• V/A - Cracks in The Sidewalk (1980)
1980
San Pedro
New Alliance / NAR-001 (Mike Watt's Record Label; 1st release on his label)
• The Dream Syndicate - s/t (1982)
LA; EP released before their debut.
Enigma / E-1025
Rating: 🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻
- Chart updated: 06/11/2026 03:45
- (Created: 02/25/2026 16:46).
- Chart size: 25 albums.
There is 1 comment for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Micro-Genres: American Underground has an average rating of 87 out of 100 (from 1 vote). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
View the complete list of 59,000 charts on BestEverAlbums.com from The Charts page.
1976
Chapel Hill, NC (by way of Winston-Salem)
Car Records/ Cs-1 (Founded by Chris Stamey soley to put this out thus beating Gregg Ginn & SST to the DIY game by a good two years!
Rating: 🌻🌻🌻🌻 ( A Power Pop hidden gem that really shouldn't be considering how recognized The dB's are.)
• One of those super-groups before they even knew it, Sneakers in part consisted of Winston-Salem boys & massive Big Star fans Chris Stamey on guitar & vocals, Will Rigby on drums, & Mitch Easter contributing when & where where necessary. As Mitch himself explains, "... Sneakers is Chris’ baby. He wrote this batch of songs … great songs. He was playing an acoustic guitar and singing a lot, but the neck of the acoustic guitar was broken...so I played acoustic guitar on the session. One figures that somebody had to, what with Stamey’s guitar being broken and all. I’ve known Chris for a really long time, and whenever he asked me to get involved in things, I would do it."
• Released in 1976 on Stamey’s own label, Carnivorous Records, as a 7” vinyl EP
• Priced at a reasonable $1.98, the six-song EP sold about 3,500 copies. [First added to this chart: 06/10/2026]
Chapel Hill, NC (by way of Winston-Salem)
Car Records/ Cs-1 (Founded by Chris Stamey soley to put this out thus beating Gregg Ginn & SST to the DIY game by a good two years!
Rating: 🌻🌻🌻🌻 ( A Power Pop hidden gem that really shouldn't be considering how recognized The dB's are.)
• One of those super-groups before they even knew it, Sneakers in part consisted of Winston-Salem boys & massive Big Star fans Chris Stamey on guitar & vocals, Will Rigby on drums, & Mitch Easter contributing when & where where necessary. As Mitch himself explains, "... Sneakers is Chris’ baby. He wrote this batch of songs … great songs. He was playing an acoustic guitar and singing a lot, but the neck of the acoustic guitar was broken...so I played acoustic guitar on the session. One figures that somebody had to, what with Stamey’s guitar being broken and all. I’ve known Chris for a really long time, and whenever he asked me to get involved in things, I would do it."
• Released in 1976 on Stamey’s own label, Carnivorous Records, as a 7” vinyl EP
• Priced at a reasonable $1.98, the six-song EP sold about 3,500 copies. [First added to this chart: 06/10/2026]
Year of Release:
1976
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2
Rank in 1976:
Rank in 1970s:
Average Rating:
Comments:
1980.
Hoboken, NJ/NYC
Stiff / SEEZ 20
Rating: 🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻 (GOLD STANDARD) [First added to this chart: 04/06/2026]
Hoboken, NJ/NYC
Stiff / SEEZ 20
Rating: 🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻 (GOLD STANDARD) [First added to this chart: 04/06/2026]
Year of Release:
1980
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,543
Rank in 1980:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
1982.
LA.
Ruby Records. (JRR 807)
Rating: 🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻 (GOLD STANDARD) [First added to this chart: 03/11/2026]
LA.
Ruby Records. (JRR 807)
Rating: 🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻 (GOLD STANDARD) [First added to this chart: 03/11/2026]
Year of Release:
1982
Appears in:
Rank Score:
878
Rank in 1982:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
1981.
LA.
Ruby Records (JRR 102)
Rating: 🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻 (GOLD STANDARD) [First added to this chart: 03/10/2026]
LA.
Ruby Records (JRR 102)
Rating: 🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻 (GOLD STANDARD) [First added to this chart: 03/10/2026]
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,839
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
1981.
Hoboken/NYC.
Albion Records. (ALB105)
Rating: 🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻 (GOLD STANDARD) [First added to this chart: 03/12/2026]
Hoboken/NYC.
Albion Records. (ALB105)
Rating: 🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻 (GOLD STANDARD) [First added to this chart: 03/12/2026]
1983.
LA/Carleton College
Enigma / ENIGMA 19
Rating: 🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻 (GOLD STANDARD) [First added to this chart: 04/02/2026]
LA/Carleton College
Enigma / ENIGMA 19
Rating: 🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻 (GOLD STANDARD) [First added to this chart: 04/02/2026]
1979.
NYC.
Elektra.
Formative.
Rating: 🌻🌻🌻🌻 [First added to this chart: 03/13/2026]
NYC.
Elektra.
Formative.
Rating: 🌻🌻🌻🌻 [First added to this chart: 03/13/2026]
1979.
NYC.
Elektra.
Formative.
Rating: 🌻🌻🌻🌻 [First added to this chart: 03/12/2026]
NYC.
Elektra.
Formative.
Rating: 🌻🌻🌻🌻 [First added to this chart: 03/12/2026]
1979
LA
BOMP! (BLP 4004)
Rating: Rating: 🌻🌻🌻🌻 [First added to this chart: 03/10/2026]
LA
BOMP! (BLP 4004)
Rating: Rating: 🌻🌻🌻🌻 [First added to this chart: 03/10/2026]
1986.
LA/Punk-Fusion
SST / SST 048 [First added to this chart: 04/18/2026]
LA/Punk-Fusion
SST / SST 048 [First added to this chart: 04/18/2026]
Total albums: 25. Page 1 of 3
Don't agree with this chart? Create your own from the My Charts page!
Micro-Genres: American Underground composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1960s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1970s | 4 | 16% | |
| 1980s | 20 | 80% | |
| 1990s | 1 | 4% | |
| 2000s | 0 | 0% | |
| 2010s | 0 | 0% | |
| 2020s | 0 | 0% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| The Gun Club | 2 | 8% | |
| Richard Lloyd | 2 | 8% | |
| The Leaving Trains | 2 | 8% | |
| The Dream Syndicate | 2 | 8% | |
| Death Of Samantha | 1 | 4% | |
| Volcano Suns | 1 | 4% | |
| The dB's | 1 | 4% | |
| Show all | |||
Micro-Genres: American Underground chart changes
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 1 from 24th to 25thThe Witch Trials by The Witch Trials |
Micro-Genres: American Underground similarity to your chart(s)
Not a member? Registering is quick, easy and FREE!
Join 50,000+ music fans
- Join a passionate community of over 50,000 music fans.
- Create & share your own charts.
- Have your say in the overall rankings.
- Post comments in the forums and vote on polls.
- Comment on or rate any album, artist, track or chart.
- Discover new music & improve your music collection.
- Customise the overall chart using a variety of different filters & metrics.
- Create a wishlist of albums.
- Gain access to a Dark Mode theme.
- Help maintain the BEA database.
- Earn member points and gain access to increasing levels of functionality!
- ... And lots more!
Join now - it only takes a moment!
Other custom charts by Repo
| Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991: Even More Gems | Repo | Custom chart | 2026 | |
| 1992: Even More Gems | Repo | Custom chart | 2026 | |
| Pitchfork Music Fest 2018 | Repo | Custom chart | 2018 | |
Micro-Genres: American Underground ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
N.B. The average rating for this chart will not be reliable as it has been rated very few times.
Showing all 1 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 04/03/2026 17:34 | Johnnyo | 2,632 | 80/100 |
Micro-Genres: American Underground favourites
Micro-Genres: American Underground comments
Showing all 1 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First |
Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)
From
Johnnyo 04/03/2026 17:36 | #313731
Great chart and now I understand the concept of American underground. Totally up my street this one. Dream syndicate! One of my favourite bands of all time.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Your feedback for Micro-Genres: American Underground
Let us know what you think of this chart by adding a comment or assigning a rating below!
Log in or create a FREE account to assign a rating or leave a comment for this chart.
