Shawn O’Keefe | Rock That Font

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Leeds’ The Wedding Present recently wrapped up a North American tour to celebrate the 21st anniversary of Bizarro, their first full-length for RCA (released in October of 1989). Full of fast, jangly, mostly three-chord progressions — it laid a dynamic and melodic foundation that David Gedge would perfect on the masterpiece that is 1991’s Seamonsters. Recorded in under ten days with Steve Albini, Seamonsters’ success within indie circles allowed the band to then experiment with their release format. In 1992, they put out a series of impressive 7″ singles rather presumptuously titled, The Hit Parade. From Wikipedia:
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This 1982 debut album from the Descendents sticks in my memory like few others, mostly because it pretty much made it cool to be a nerd. It’s now common knowledge of course that the album title and cover refers to singer Milo Aukerman’s departure from the band to study biology at the University of California, San Diego (later receiving a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin, Madison).
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Supergroup This Mortal Coil, led by 4AD founder Ivo Watts-Russell, holds a unique place in post-punk and dream pop history. Just like the assortment of innovative artists who made appearances on Blood (from Kim Deal to Tanya Donelly and more), 4AD’s passion for great album cover design continues to influence today.
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The Psychedelic Furs - All of This and Nothing

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At a time when most were watching Miami Vice and sporting Hypercolor, the Psychedelic Furs’ 1988 compilation All of This and Nothing delivers a minimalist black and white composition to near perfection. No bright attention-grabbing neons or funky typefaces here. Simply Univers in all lowercase (likely Univers 49 Light Ultra Condensed with tightened tracking). The neo-grotesque sans-serif was originally designed by Adrian Frutiger in 1954 and released by the French foundry Deberny & Peignot in 1957.
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We all hold dear those bands that forever changed us in our formative teen years. For me, one that often comes to mind is Fugazi.

I was 15 years old (and full of all the naive, idealistic, invincible lust of youth) when I first saw them perform. Throw in a guitar for my birthday, a few power chords and some borrowed stage moves from Guy Picciotto… and before I knew it, I was in my own band. I’m just one of thousands who were inspired in this very manner, back when the word “emo” seemed to reference something very different than it does today.
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