Sellout

Dan Ozzi's history follows punk, emo and hardcore through the commercial scramble that reshaped them in the 1990s and again in the mid-2000s. Major labels, hoping to recreate Nirvana's breakout with Nevermind, began pursuing bands from the underground. That scene had built its identity on independence and opposition to the mainstream, and many of its acts were not ready to trade that for a contract.

Ozzi, an experienced music journalist, centers the book on eleven prominent groups that moved from independent labels to major ones. Some of them became unexpectedly huge, while others were crushed by the pressure that came with success. Taken together, the stories trace the final large-scale boom in the music business and show how it changed the bands and their listeners.

The book is part industry history and part guide to the bands that defined the post-grunge years. It draws on original interviews and firsthand accounts from members of Green Day, Jawbreaker, Jimmy Eat World, Blink-182, At the Drive-In, The Donnas, Thursday, The Distillers, My Chemical Romance, Rise Against and Against Me!