Halibut Head, a Sacramento punk band inspired by the East Bay DIY scene, just released their cover of Dramarama’s classic song “Anything, Anything.” If you’re a fan of Green Day’s early recordings or Operation Ivy’s raw energy, their relatively unknown album Shrimpcrine might be your next favorite discovery.
Spotify may be going to hell in a handbasket with its obsession over podcasts, but it still knows one thing about me: if a band covers “Anything, Anything” by Dramarama, I’m pressing play. And this morning, I stumbled across a brand-new cover by a Sacramento punk band I’d never heard of — Halibut Head.
Who Is Halibut Head?
Halibut Head isn’t exactly lighting up the Spotify charts. As of this writing, they have 117 monthly listeners. Their “Popular” songs tab on their profile shows every song sitting under 1,000 streams. Not a single one has cracked that milestone.
Does this deter me? Absolutely not. In fact, after hearing their take on “Anything, Anything,” I dug deeper into their album Shrimpcrine — a nod to legendary East Bay punk band Crimpshrine, formed in 1982 with future members of Operation Ivy, Fifteen, and Rancid.
The East Bay Punk Connection
Halibut Head describes themselves on Spotify as:
We’re a punk band from Sacramento trying to bring back the East Bay DIY punk sound that was pouring out the doors of 924 Gilman in the 90s.
That’s basically a busted neon light sign flickering: “Yes, please.” If you’re into early Green Day or Operation Ivy, you’ll feel right at home with their throwback sound.
Album Highlight: Shrimpcrine
Listening to Shrimpcrine feels like stumbling onto a lost Gilman Street demo tape. The track “Reunion’ in particular has the bounce of a Green Day deep cut I can’t quite put my finger on. The whole record sits somewhere between 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours and an Op Ivy basement tape — and I mean that in the best possible way.
Other DIY Punk Bands Worth Discovering
If Halibut Head scratches an itch, here are a few more DIY punk bands worth queuing up:
- F—k Yeah, Dinosaurs! (The F-word spelled out)1
- Nervous Kids
- Problems
Spotify Gets It Right, Again — Finally
I’ll admit, Spotify recommendations usually miss for me these days. But today they nailed it. I tapped “Follow” on Halibut Head’s profile, nudging them from 117 to 118 monthly listeners. You should be 119.
Listen to Halibut Head on Spotify — or wherever you get your music these days — and their cover of Dramarama’s “Anything, Anything.” Then tell me if it doesn’t feel like a time-warp back to the East Bay punk scene of the early 90s.
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- Intentional self-censorship so I don’t get my website flagged. I know. ↩︎