Last year, Lana Del Rey released a cover of Sublime’s ‘Doin’ Time’ in a move so exciting to me (and seemingly only me) that I could barely contain myself. Sublime are hardly an underground band – their self-titled album went five times platinum. Get into any LA taxi even now – some twenty-four years after the death of the band’s lead singer, Bradley Nowell – and you only need to sit in traffic for a moment before one of their songs comes on the radio. But in the UK, they didn’t quite permeate the consciousness as they did in the US.
For a teenage, skateboard loving, SoCal culture stan, Sublime in the late 90s represented everything that London didn’t. 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. By the time I was into them – as is true for most of their fans – Bradley Nowell, had died from a heroin overdose, aged 28. Much like Kurt Cobain and Blind Melon’s Shannon Hoon, he left behind a partner and baby. In many ways, their stories are eerily similar, all three gone within two years of each other.
Nowell would never know the huge success that came with the release of Sublime’s self-titled third album, released posthumously. Its singles are the ones that are still played on Los Angeles’ KROQ FM now – the impossibly 90s ‘What I Got’, sweet-but-problematic love song ‘Santeria’ and Lana’s favourite: the ‘Summertime’-referencing, ‘Doin Time’.
Even now, when I hear these songs – and so many more from their back catalogue (‘Pool Shark’, ‘Scarlet Begonias’, ‘Romeo’…) – they take me back to a time, sitting through endless nu-metal videos on MTV2 for a rare, once-a-day glimpse of Bradley and his dalmation, Lou Dog, longboarding up the Long Beach boardwalk in the video for ‘What I Got’.
Nostalgia is a trip – but some things are best left in the past.
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. This usually happens late at night, when playing Pass The Aux at someone’s house and typically, it goes badly. The jovial ‘Date Rape’, a comedy-cautionary tale about a man who date rapes a woman at a bar, really has not aged well. The view that some things shouldn’t be joked about seems particularly pertinent here.
Then we have ‘Mary’, a song about sex with a minor, which includes the line: “Fifteen years old plus one/ Hotter than a microwave oven“. Oh, and there’s ‘Wrong Way’, a tale about a child prostitute who is “rescued” from her pimp dad by some sort of protagonist (Nowell, perhaps?), who then goes on to fuck her all the same.
“A cigarette pressed between her lips/ But I’m staring at her tits/ It’s the wrong way
Strong if I can but I am only a man/ So I take her to the can/ It’s the wrong way“
It’s dark, dark stuff all tied up in a neat reggae ribbon, which quite frankly, seventeen-year-old me had no business listening to. If you can get past the messed-up lyrics – hey, it’s hardly a first in rock music and perhaps merely a reflection of 90s Long Beach – then perhaps, the blatant cultural appropriation will give you reason to leave Sublime off your next ‘ULTIMATE 90S’ playlist. Three white dudes from LA covering Bob Marley is not something anyone needs. Three white dudes from LA singing in what sounds like Jamaican accent? No. Just no.
When stripped back and writing about his own experiences of drug addiction and relationships, there are moments where Nowell’s beautiful tone shines through in songs that are simple yet deeply affecting (‘Badfish’, ‘Pool Shark’). But though there is a little gold, it’s tarnished by too many deeply problematic tracks.
I always thought of myself as having “good taste” (read as: loved Blur) from a young age, so the internal revelation that I liked this kinda-shit and gross band, is deeply troubling to me. Also, sad! ‘Santeria’ is still a bop. I covered ‘What I Got’ in my first band. Are these memories, I now need to be ashamed of?
Maybe I get a pass: teenagers aren’t famed for their excellent choices. But as sad as it might be to never hear the Gwen Stefani-featuring ‘Saw Red’ alongside ‘Parklife’ at my next living room disco, it is perhaps time to accept that Sublime are best enjoyed in the confines of my mind – or the relative anonymity of an LA Uber ride.
I had a similar experience. I was into Sublime as a teenager on the East Coast – I loved the exotic California flavor and found their music to be a great summertime companion.
I went back to listen to them a year ago after a 17 year hiatus. There are some good songs in there for sure. But the reaction I mostly had was: ‘Wow, these songs are disgusting!’ Really degenerate stuff.
Glad to know I’m not alone.
When I was a teen I loved Sublime. I just find those song I once loved extremely corny now. I’m kinda embarrassed I used to bump them so hard ? I still like Badfish, though.
So sick of these articles about cultural appropriation. UNLIKE ELVIS Brad always gave credit to the original artists he covered, sampled, or influenced a particular track. READ THE LINER NOTES, the listen to the last track of 40oz to freedom or watch ok’d live performances. Sublime introduced reggae, dub, ska, punk, and old school hip hop to a whole new generation of kids. If it wasn’t for sublime I would have never picked up records by Barrington Levy, Bad Brains, Mad Professor, Peter Tosh, or KRS-One.
Stop being a self loathing Brit for one second and dig deeper into the record crate. Give Robbin in the Hood and 40 oz to freedom another listen from start to finish and then do a little research about the band members before righting this GARBAGE ARTICLE.
Exactly!!
Came here to write exactly this. This article and many others like it are trash just to rile people up. The only thing problematic about Sublime was Bradley’s crippling drug addiction.
Lighten up. It’s art.
I’ve lived in the LBC, Garden Grove, and Los Angeles. If you have ever lived in the seedy underbelly of where sublime is from you would encounter the things sublime sings about. I’m in my 40s and I still love them. Garden Grove is my favorite song.
I live on garden grove lane and without fail i always sing that song going home
While I’ve never lived in or seen those areas, the imagery that sublime can generate for me through their music has shown me exactly this. It’s like time travel back to the late 80s and early 90s when these guys were living this grungy dirty life. In my opinion, sublime captures THAT and serves it back better than a lot of artists.
You should listen to Downset if you want a band with a positive message coming out of LA in the 90s.
Otherwise everything is going to be an ugly but perfect description of the seeedy underbelly of LA.
Not the most positive lyrics but it’s free speech. Also, a dead guy can’t defend his side in explaining his reasons for choice of words in a song. So if you are offended by his lyrics just change the channel.
Damn, son, calm down. It’s just music, not politics. Sometimes a great song has disgusting lyrics, a great movie has horrific visuals, a book or a painting can be even more so viscerally shocking. Point is? It’s art and freedom of expression. If nothing else, appreciate the fantastic groove and melody. AND? Simply shut your ears to the lyrics if it bothers you. Why so serious?
i disagree. sublime has always been very open about who has inspired their style. there’s a difference between appropriation and appreciation.
as far as the lyrics in wrong way go, yes they’re not the most appropriate lyrics however there is much worse out there and it’s not meant to be taken seriously.
compared to other bands from the time sublime is pretty fkn clean.
Strange.. The English have morals? 400 years of tyranny, war, and enslavement of other lands and people? Robbin the hood is about everything England holds dear. Sorry your an old beefeater lol. Sublime created a whole new genre pip.. besides the Beatles and the clash. English music sucks. Now piss off!
What do you expect. They were a bunch of talented junkies.
I tried to tell people for years about the lyrics you cited. You can probably find my writings online. Yes he sings about a 12 years old girl, getting into trouble for the first time, drinking, smoking, hanging out with the wrong people.
The “can” is a 1990’s slang for the toilet. Or bathroom. Literally the sub-slime ball is singing he took her to the bathroom for sex. How vile disgusting and degrading. A total sexual predator and that might qualify as “Pedo”.
I hate this guy with a passion. How is it possible he is not burning in hell as we speak.
Above all, what I remember about him, is he was “dirty” and shirtless. No showers for days while sweating, partying doing drugs, etc.He looks dirty in every single photo you see. Just a filthy band whose music has probably accompanied millions of drug overdoses since the 1990’s.
I would spit on their graves if I could. Filthy vile animals.
I never got the impression the songs were advocating doing these things, more that they sadly occur in real life. Sort of like Immortal Technique’s ‘Dance with the Devil’