#1,616 – “Sell Out”

The idea of “selling out” was a huge deal in the 90s, but as the decade wore on, the term completely lost its meaning. Selling out wasn’t just about money (though the money didn’t hurt), it was about ditching your underground bonafides to join the mainstream and bask in the glow of capitalism. Green Day and Jawbreaker were viewed as “sellouts” for turning their backs on the ethos of the East Bay punk scene, but Reel Big Fish was a ska-punk band from Orange county. I find it hard to believe that UC Irvine frat boys were scolding them for signing to a subsidiary of Universal music – which makes this song more wish fulfillment than ironic scolding. Not to mention a lot of ska punk, including this song, just plain sucks.