Strung Out: Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues (30th anniversary, neon orange vinyl) [FAT WRECK CHORDS]

Why you'll love it

A 30th anniversary pressing on neon orange vinyl, straight from Fat Wreck Chords, the label Strung Out were among the first to sign to. Thirteen songs in about half an hour, with "Bring Out Your Dead," "Firecracker" and "Wrong Side of the Tracks" showing how melodic hardcore was done in the mid-'90s.

This edition

• 30th anniversary edition
• Neon orange vinyl
• Thirteen tracks, cut seven on Side A and six on Side B

About the album

Strung Out came out of Simi Valley, California, in 1991 and landed on Fat Mike's Fat Wreck Chords early enough to be part of its foundations. Their debut, Another Day in Paradise, arrived in 1994; Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues followed in April 1996, with the classic line-up of Jason Cruz on vocals, Jake Kiley and Rob Ramos on guitars, Jim Cherry on bass and Jordan Burns on drums, and with Max Norman, better known for his metal work, mixing.

That metal-adjacent polish is part of the appeal. The two guitars trade leads constantly, and Cruz writes about the restless, slightly bruised side of growing up in the suburbs without ever slowing the tempo down to wallow. Reviews were warm at the time and the record has only grown in reputation since, which is what happens when a punk album turns out to have actual tunes. Thirty years on, it still sounds like the inside of a skate video, in the best possible way.

Tracklist

Listen

Out October 2, 2026 on Fat Wreck Chords (cat# FAT366), a reissue of the 1996 album.