Conceived and birthed in the homogenous suburbs of Chicago, Screeching Weasel have been at it for almost forty years.Formed in 1986 by lead singer/songwriter Benjamin Foster—who soon took the nom de plume Ben Weasel—Screeching Weasel’s first, self-titled album earned airplay on John Peel’s radio show, a glowing review in NME, and a 10/10 in Sounds. 1988’s BoogadaBoogadaBoogada, released on a small bedroom label out of Chicago, immediately went into heavy rotation on every turntable in the punk universe. It remains the band’s best-selling album and a staple of the punk diet.Boogada caught the attention of Lookout Records, who made the band their first signing from outside the San Francisco Bay Area. My Brain Hurts, released in 1991, cemented the band’s status as one of the premier bands of the pop-punk genre, along with labelmates Green Day and the Queers.

While punk rock often wears black, Hayley and the Crushers paint the scene in hot pink – and make no apologies for it. The Detroit band is a turbo-charged, glitter-bombed tsunami of bold, bad girl power. Born in the sunny surf town of San Luis Obispo, California, their sound exists in a retro-futuristic sweet spot where 80s daydreams collide with underground ferocity, always delivered with a wink and a nod to the classics. Led by guitarist Hayley Cain and bassist Dr. Cain Esq., they caught the ear of New Wave icon Josie Cotton in 2021, who signed the group to LA’s Kitten Robot Records, and proclaimed the band “the naked embodiment of power pop punk.” The Crushers’ subsequent album Modern Adult Kicks (2022) was produced by Paul Roessler of The Screamers, whose producer credits include Richie Ramone and labelmates TSOL. Kicks solidified the band’s ability to dance between grit and glitz, matching raw power with radio-ready hooks. A 2022 move to Detroit energized new audiences and has infused the band’s poolside antics with Motor City muscle. Unsubscribe from the Underground (2024) doubles down on sticky, shimmering melodies and ever-present quirkiness: Bright blasts of sugary punk collide with 60s girl group romance and fist-pumping adrenaline—all par for the course in the Crusherverse.