The turbulent history of influential independent label SST Records told

By Lisa R. Kuzma Last updated May 7, 2022

A wise man once said “it’s a long way to the top if you want rock n roll”. But once you get there, it’s also a long hard road.

In Corporate Rock Sucks, Jim Ruland provides a detailed account of how SST Records went from a selling point to releasing records by Black Flag and their South Bay pals to one of the biggest independent labels. 1980s before collapsing in on itself and, arguably, becoming just another cog in the corporate rock machine.

Corporate rock sucks

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Corporate Rock Sucks

“For a while, SST Records was the most important label on the planet,” writes Ruland, a California-based journalist who cut his teeth in punk rock zines before co-writing Do What You Want: The Story of Bad Religion (with the band) and my damage with Keith Morris (of Black Flag, Circle Jerks and Off!). “Even those who criticize the label for its business practices (and its owner’s propensity to sue its artists) grudgingly acknowledge SST’s rich history.”

Founded by Black Flag guitarist Greg Ginn in 1979 to release the band’s first EP, Nervous breakdown, the label went on to release seminal underground records by the Minutemen, Hüsker Dü, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Soundgarden, Bad Brains, and the Meat Puppets, among others. In the meantime, Ginn and his associates at SST, often punk and underground musicians themselves, paved the way for countless other independent musicians, bands and labels to follow in their wake, including Sub Pop Records and Nirvana (which SST notoriously decided not to sign).