I use hatred to express fear.

There's been talk about the Mudhoney reunion tour. (Anyone see them at the Highline on Saturday? Did they still serve wine in stemware?) I myself am not a fan. Never fully embraced the grunge movement, though I was okay with the aesthetic, favoring as I did flannel shirts and cardigans and band tees and baggy jeans as a teenager. It was more a Flyin' the Flannel sort of thing. (When I went off to college, I abandoned the flannels. A few years ago I discovered my dad incorporated them into his wardrobe.) I'm pretty sure I was never without eight layers of clothing.

I spent a lot of time at all-ages shows at a local community center. Their fashion: Champion sweatshirts, skate shoes, black Xs on their hands, and those stupid Krishna beads. Because everyone loved Shelter. (Except me. Fuck that noise. There was a rumor at the time that Ray Cappo paid underage girls to watch him jerk off. I'm amazed they didn't do it for free, considering underage boys were willing to pay $5 for the privilege of seeing him, Porcell, et al, do it onstage.)

But I went to see them anyhow. And 108, Burn, Bold, Inside Out...everything on the Revelation Records roster. And a bunch of stoopit NYHC bands. Because that's what you did when you lived in a town of 2,000 people and one stoplight.

Of course, there was also the Albany scene (Wolf Pack was before my time). It wasn't all that bad, really, though there were the bands from Troy that were a little too metally for me. And all these bands had a pretty wide testosterone streak. (But my favorite local band, All Fall Down, were cool and not scary dudes. The first time I ever ate acid was at the lead singer's apartment. Ah, memories.)

And then there were the awesome times when a band might come from outside of the Mid-Atlantic region. The time I remember best was when 411 played. 411!* Not only did they have the SxE cred, but they also had legendary skateboarder Mario Rubalcaba on drums. Oh, it was like Christmas for the local boys.

They had just released "This Isn't Me," this scathing diatribe, loud fast guitars, shouted choruses, and lyrics about blind patriotism, homophobia, and--naturally--people who aren't true to themselves. And the boys were climbing over each other to sing along to the chorus of "Those Homophobic." Even though most of them were homophobes. And after they finished their set, and we all stood around outside fawning over Dan O'Mahony, he turned to me and said, "So what exactly do you guys do for fun around here?"

"You're looking at it," I said.

411, Destroy the Dream

*Dan O'Mahony (No For An Answer, Speak 714, Carry Nation, John Henry Holiday) on vocals, Mario Rubalcaba (Rocket From The Crypt, Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes) on drums, Kevin Murphy on guitar (Farside), Josh Stanton (Farside) on bass. (Look at the 411 Family Tree. An embarrassment of riches!)