Originally lumped in with the unfortunately christened “grunge” movement, Tacoma, Washington’s Seaweed were really just a gritty pop-punk band that rose to prominence with a seemingly endless arsenal of memorable hooks and raucous riffs. Using Sub Pop as a springboard to the majors on the backs of two stellar LP’s (Weak and Four, respectively), Seaweed signed with Hollywood Records in 1995. Back then signing to a major label carried quite a bit more stigma than it seems to now, but Seaweed weathered the storm musically, as the resulting Spanaway album did little to diminish the band’s signature energy and plethora of sing-along choruses. They just happened to get in bed with the wrong devil. In the 90’s the Disney-owned Hollywood Records had a reputation for magically making bands disappear off the face of the planet.  Back then when you read of a Hollywood Records signing in CMJ you instinctively shook your head knowing that some unlucky band was about to enter commercial purgatory. Seaweed didn’t go down without a fight. The band landed a few spins on prime-time MTV with “Start With,” but the vortex of the Hollywood Records curse landed Seaweed right where everyone feared: dropped. Three years later Seaweed resurfaced on the indie circuit with a solid follow-up for Merge Records (Actions and Indications), but it was a short-lived resurgence. So, I suppose it shouldn’t have surprised me that over twelve years after having last seen Seaweed live, I read that the band is putting out a new 7″ on No Idea Records. The reunion circuit obviously casts a wide net these days, but being annoyed by reunions at this point is almost akin to being annoyed by the wind. Plus, I’ll always be a loyal Seaweed fan, since the lead singer once pulled me back into a show from which I had been unceremoniously ejected. Some idiot moshing fruitcake had smashed into me during Seaweed’s set, so I retaliated with a pointed shove. The bouncer only caught my reaction and quickly booted me out of the show. Arron from Seaweed left the stage and immediately came outside to tell the bouncer I was cool and to let me back in. I had just interviewed the whole band on WUSC, so Aaron kind of knew me, but I like to think he would have done it anyway. Fan for life.