There aren’t very many people that believe me when I tell them that Stinkweeds (one of Phoenix’s few indie record stores) got their start in Mesa.  Mesa, a city full of conservative religious types, doesn’t seem like a great place to sell indie, grunge, or punk albums.  But it was perfect for me, my high school had open campus and I would frequently stop in and spend some of my lunch money on a few tapes or CDs.  That location was right next to a Subway and always smelled like their bread.  Those 99 cent meatball subs really helped me spend my record money wisely too.

It wasn’t long until Stinkweeds moved to Tempe, right next to Pita Jungle.  This location made more sense and I found myself there frequently too.  While Eastside Records (another classic Tempe record store) catered more towards punk records, Stinkweeds was in the middle of an indie pop phenomenon.   I remember seeing a few bands there, and even more at their show space at Modified.  As a side note, I put on a show at Modified when I was 18 to help fund my zine, they were incredibly supportive and helpful in making that a very successful night.

One of my all time favorite shows at Modified was The Aislers Set.

To celebrate Record Store Day, I stopped by Stinkweeds’ new location in Phoenix.  While they’ve moved, they still have a reliable selection of indie pop records.  There isn’t a Subway near by anymore so the scent of yoga-mat-bread doesn’t fill my nostrils.  Today I picked up The Magnetic Fields’ Realism, Los Campesinos No Blues, and The Julie Ruin 7″.  The Julie Ruin is such an exciting project for me because Kathleen Hanna is making great pop music mixed with punk.  Kathleen Hanna continues to impress me in the way that her music evolves while staying true to her past, present, and future.  Old Julie Ruin is so poppy it has hand claps and “cold coconut ice cream”, the new 7″ doesn’t disappoint either.

But all this reminiscing makes me long for a cooler Tempe.  While I look to purchase a house in Tempe and do the adult thing, I can’t help but be jealous of how cool Phoenix has gotten.  Tempe used to be the spot.  I long for a Tempe that doesn’t cater to drunken jockocracy and completely out of hand fraternities.  I miss dancing in front of Long Wongs and how a walk down Mill Avenue was full of freaks.  I walked up to Mill Avenue last night on a whim and the whole thing made me sad, the only freaks were the ones I was meeting.  I don’t know what it’s gonna take to change Tempe, or if Tempe is a lost cause.  I know a lot of people around here want to defend the neighborhood for the freaks and take back what’s ours.  The free-roaming peacocks seem to be a hint of what change should be coming for Tempe.

While we should support the businesses that we want to see in our neighborhood (Ash Ave Comics, Double Nickels, Tops, etc), that’s an empty way to make a neighborhood cool because duh you’re gonna do that anyway.  I want to see more art everywhere.  I want to see more gardens popping up in empty lots.  I want to see an end to the bro take over.  I want to see less cops.  And more than anything, I want to see more freaks.