LOVED grabbing a piece of nostalgia and reading about the punk rock scene. I so enjoy reading abut the 1990's and reliving those fun times, and now I'm a fan of Dan Ozzi's writing! Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for an advanced reader copy of this book for an honest review.

It may be hard to fathom given today’s stan culture where fans actively push for the success of their favourtie artists, but in the punk, emo, and hardcore scenes, the idea of “selling out” has long been verboten. Even while many of the earliest punk bands were on major labels (including the Ramones, The Clash, and The Sex Pistols), as punk evolved the scene moved further underground. The DIY stance was central; it meant not only that bands should be on independent labels that kept their prices low for fans, but that bands should book their own tours, keep their merch affordable, and in general, be active participants in the scene that nurtured them from the beginning.

The idea of a punk band signing to a major label was considered the epitome of selling out, a get-rich-quick scheme for a band more interested in landing a big cash advance than in maintaining the tight-knit bonds of the punk community. Author and music critic Dan Ozzi puts that theory to the test in his new book, Sellout: The Major-Label Feeding Frenzy That Swept Punk, Emo, and Hardcore (1994–2007) (Mariner Books).

Ozzi looks at eleven punk bands that made the jump from the cozy confines of their underground scenes to MTV and the mall, along with the personal and professional consequences that came from those risky moves; Green Day, Jawbreaker, Jimmy Eat World, Blink-182, At the Drive-In, The Donnas, Thursday, The Distillers, My Chemical Romance, Rise Against, and Against Me! Each band gets its own chapter, allowing Ozzi to focus on the band’s background and their relationship to their respective scenes before their major-label signing. There are some very familiar names (Green Day, Blink-182), along with bands like Jawbreaker and The Distillers that have rabid fan bases but never achieved the mainstream recognition that the ‘90s punk explosion promised.

What becomes abundantly clear with Sellout is how different each band’s dalliance with the mainstream was. For every band like Green Day, who achieved massive success even while being ostracized from the very punk community they cherished, there are acts like the melodic punk band Rise Against, who toiled in the underground with little success eventually breaking through with their major-label debut.

Then there are bands like Jawbreaker, who devastated their passionate fan base when they signed to a major-label after passionately denying that they ever would. Even with the backing of DGC, the band’s major-label debut, 1995’s Dear You, was trashed by fans upon its initial release. Audiences went so far as to physically turn their backs on the band when they played new songs on the Dear You tour, and Jawbreaker subsequently broke up soon after its release. (The band would reunite in 2017 to headline Chicago’s Riot Fest, and are enjoying a far more successful second act of their career some two decades later.)

With open interviews with the bands, fans, record label staff, fanzine writers, and more, Ozzi has crafted eleven highly readable vignettes that paint a picture of punk rock at a crossroads. After the punk explosion in the mid-‘90s, major labels were signing up countless acts looking for the next Offspring or Green Day, and that promise was hard to turn down for many working-class bands who were hoping to reach the biggest audience possible with their music (and hopefully, be able to pay their bills).

Sellout is far from a polemic on the evils of major labels and the bands who “sold out”; while the wasteful and often ridiculous antics of major labels get their due time here, some of these bands did benefit from taking the leap, which makes their stories all the more fascinating. It’s those divergent experiences that make Sellout such an enthralling read, even if you’re not necessarily a fan of every band that Ozzi profiles here. Together, these eleven stories create a patchwork of ideas about what bands owe their audience and the ever-present push and pull between art and commerce that every band still has to navigate in their own way.

Sellout: The Major-Label Feeding Frenzy That Swept Punk, Emo, and Hardcore (1994–2007) is available now.

My main issue is that this kind of veers wildly between and can’t decide if it wants to be solely a history of specific albums, or a look at the idea of “selling out” and how it played out over the decades in the scene, or how many so many of these bands fed into each other and grew off of each other. The last chapter is probably the most thorough, and it turns out that that is probably because Ozzi has written an entire book about Against Me!. Admittedly for a good chunk of some of these stories I would turn to my partner who is more intimately involved in the Chicago emo/punk scene and ask “hey is this actually accurate” and get some (I feel) better told stories. Still worth a page through.

Fascinating history of a micro-moment in punk. Ozzi's prose is engaging, insightful and accessible, I was fully invested even when reading about a couple band's whose music I was previously unfamiliar with, though I imagine some prior awareness of the scene may be necessary to fully appreciate this book.

4.25/5

**Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review**

Dan Ozzi doesn't exactly reinvent the wheel when it comes to his descriptions of music, but what he may lack in originality he more than makes up for with cohesion and wit. For what is essentially an essay collection, the book manages to weave a compelling and fluid narrative throughout. Some of the artists covered here have had their credibility discussed at length for decades (Jawbreaker being the prime example) but Ozzi manages to offer new and worthy insights while showing us how the goalposts of what constitutes authenticity in punk rock continue to move.

Loud galloping guitars… thumping bass… chest-hammering drums… soaring vocals. The pop punk surge blasted out of my college dorm window. Dookie. Enema of the State. 24 Hour Revenge Therapy. These albums were part of the soundtrack of my young life… uh yeah, I still listen to them!

Dan Ozzi’s book Sellout tells the story of these bands… from small-town formation to big-city tours and major-label signings. I loved every minute of the basement rehearsals and especially the back and forth about: What exactly is Punk? What is selling out? What is this post-grunge rebel music going to sound like and who will produce and sell these songs?

Reacting to the wild success of Nirvana, the major labels saw dollar signs on the faces of these young punk, but many didn’t see eye to eye with these stuffed shirts. They thought that the signature on the dotted line meant that authenticity would be thrown out the window and over-production would ruin the raw sound… The answer: Some bands could have given a shit… and for some, signing ruined everything. There was great pressure to put out the absolute best album for your major label debut. These story lines set up a fascinating look at the music industry. In many ways my angsty friend and I were only witness to the end result: the album and the rock show, but so much goes on behind the scenes and this is that story. Interviews with all the major players: the musicians, the hit makers, the reporters, and the fans. A complete piece of journalism that digs into all the whys and hows of the 90s and 00s music scene.

Sellout is the story of 11 bands on the precipice of their indie career… Will they or won’t they “sellout?”

I loved it. If you ever entered the mosh pit, pumped your fist to “Am I just paranoid/ Or am I just stoned?,” or ran to Tower Records looking for the latest emo sound, Get this book!

5 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Mariner Books, and the author for an advanced copy for review.

I'm not the biggest emo fan, but I'm a sucker for stories about independent bands trying to navigate the major label waters. I especially enjoyed the chapter on At The Drive-In, an endlessly fascinating band that's begging for a book length write-up. Also, no one ever talks about The Donnas! Very cool to see them get a chapter as well.

As a product of the early 2000s New Jersey punk rock scene, this book was like candy to me. Reading references to the Wayne Firehouse, TheNJScene, New Brunswick basement shows, and Vintage Vinyl (RIP) was like a trip back in time.

On the other hand, the format of the book focusing on a different band and pivotal album in each chapter allowed me to learn a lot more about parts of the scene I was less immersed in, and I completely enjoyed every little tidbit.

Even though parts of this book feel totally tailored to me (even though I don't know him, I'm utterly convinced Dan and I have been at some of the same shows), I'm confident that any music enthusiast could find something to love here. A great read.

Good writing and compelling stories. Interesting, despite being ground well-trod (even by the same author in previous books).

Not a lot of new facts or information, but a great telling of bands walking the tightrope between being perceived as authentic and somehow making a living playing music.

It's always good to see excellent music-related books here on NetGalley.

Dan Ozzi pens passionate stories of the bands spawned from the post-grunge punk/emo explosion and the major label feeding frenzy surrounding them. At turns success story and cautionary tale, Ozzi chronicles well known luminaries such as Green Day, Jimmy Eat World, and Thursday as they “sell out” to a major label and the ramifications of that decision, as we see them either succeed or implode.

Ozzi is clearly very enamored by his subject matter and it makes for an easygoing and sociable read, whether he’s talking about blink-182’s scatological humor or At the Drive-in’s use of increasing quantities of recreational drugs to alleviate the pressure of fame. High school me would undoubtedly have loved this book a ton more but it was still an enjoyable history lesson from a chaotic time in music history.

**I was given a copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt**

This was a fascinating read. Covering bands coming up from the punk scene to the majors, from Green Day to Against Me. The stories contained within are great and read like mini-biographies. I doubt a band like Jimmy Eat World ever gets a tell-all; so if you're a fan of them this is as close as it will get.

The best parts of these stories are the will they or won't they make it. Sometimes the bands you consider successful really aren't. Even the bands I wasn't a fan of had interesting stories here.

Perfect for fans of rock music or the music industry in general.

For fans of "Our Band Could Be Your Life" this book specifically focuses on how some punk bands jumped to major labels in the 90s. It gives insight in personalities involved on both sides of the contracts and the creative process.

As close to an Our Band Could Be Your Life Volume 2 as we're ever going to get, but picking up each story at their moment of major label "glory", rather than ending it there. Some stories were already familiar to me (Jawbreaker, Against Me!), but the ones that weren't (Thursday, The Donnas) ended up being most interesting - and most significant to the book's trajectory in general. A worthy capstone to the era when selling out was the biggest moral a band of a certain stature could find themselves facing.

This was a really interest trip down my emo memory lane. I loved the insight to former bands that I loved and I will definitely be purchasing it for some of my friends!