Skene! Records
DIY punk label from Connecticut to Minneapolis.
Last updated
Skene! Records was a DIY punk label started by Jeff Spiegel in Connecticut in 1988, later operating out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Its first releases included the compilation Better Yet Connecticut Hardcore, which featured Bug Gulp, Fallback, Freedom of Choice, Forced Reality, and Scooter X. Spiegel also organized local punk shows in central Connecticut, the most notorious being a VFW hall event in New Britain that was shut down by police after a fight broke out during Fallback's set; footage of the incident was recorded but has since been lost.
Over time, the label put out records by Green Day, Trenchmouth, Shades Apart, AWAKE!, The People's Court, Slap of Reality, Candy Machine, Bob Evans, Lifter Puller, Actionslacks, Everready, Fuel (not the well-known rock band), Angry Son, Go!, Phleg Camp, Jawbreaker, Crimpshrine, Dog Tired, The Deviators, Gneissmaker, Walt Mink, and many others. It was seen as a peer to No Idea Records, Very Small Records, and Lookout! Records. The label remained active at least through 1996, and Matt Diehl discussed it in his 2007 book My So-Called Punk, linking its DIY ethos to the later neo-punk scene of the Warped Tour and major labels like Epitaph Records.
Quick Facts
- Founded
- 1988
- Founder
- Jeff Spiegel
- Original location
- Connecticut
- Later location
- Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Genre
- DIY punk rock
- Notable releases
- Better Yet Connecticut Hardcore
Facts from the source article.
Background
Spiegel also promoted local punk shows in central Connecticut. The most infamous of which being "the greatest show that never happened", showcased at the New Britain VFW hall and featuring bands such as Big Gulp, Freedom of Choice, and Fallback. Shortly after the show began, during Fallback's set, a fight broke out and the show was forcibly shut down by the New Britain Police department; some of the footage was caught on a video tape that seems to have been lost.
That show, with its abrupt end and lost tape, became a local legend—a turning point that underscored the raw, unpredictable energy of the DIY scene Spiegel was part of. The label's catalog, spanning from the early compilation Better Yet Connecticut Hardcore to later releases by Green Day and Jawbreaker, placed it alongside No Idea Records, Very Small Records, and Lookout! Records as a key player in the 1990s punk underground. By 1996, Skene! was still active, and its legacy was noted in Matt Diehl's My So-Called Punk (2007), which used the label to illustrate the shift from DIY punk to the commercialized "neo-punk" of the Warped Tour and Epitaph Records.
More in Independent Record Labels Based in Minnesota
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Skene! Records (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced