There has been many an instance over the last decade or so where I have tried to introduce Sublime to friends who went straight from Britpop to indie landfill with no California detour. Its singles are the ones that are still played on Los AngelesвЂ™ KROQ FM now вЂ“ the impossibly 90s вЂWhat I GotвЂ™, sweet-but-problematic love song вЂSanteriaвЂ™ and LanaвЂ™s favourite: the вЂSummertimeвЂ™-referencing, вЂDoin TimeвЂ™. Nowell would never know the huge success that came with the release of SublimeвЂ™s self-titled third album, released posthumously. In many ways, their stories are eerily similar, all three gone within two years of each other. Much like Kurt Cobain and Blind MelonвЂ™s Shannon Hoon, he left behind a partner and baby. By the time I was into them вЂ“ as is true for most of their fans вЂ“ Bradley Nowell, had died from a heroin overdose, aged 28. Their mashup of reggae, ska and punk provided an antidote to the distinctly British sound that had dominated the charts for close to a decade. But in the UK, they didnвЂ™t quite permeate the consciousness as they did in the US.ДЇor a teenage, skateboard loving, SoCal culture stan, Sublime in the late 90s represented everything that London didnвЂ™t.

Get into any LA taxi even now вЂ“ some twenty-four years after the death of the bandвЂ™s lead singer, Bradley Nowell вЂ“ and you only need to sit in traffic for a moment before one of their songs comes on the radio. Sublime are hardly an underground band вЂ“ their self-titled album went five times platinum. Last year, Lana Del Rey released a cover of SublimeвЂ™s вЂDoinвЂ™ TimeвЂ™ in a move so exciting to me (and seemingly only me) that I could barely contain myself.

Sublime what i got