Hot Topic

Oh.

And then they played Mayhem on the Hot Topic stage with Job for a Cowboy, Cannibal Corpse, Behemoth, and the Black Dahlia Murder.

Another Brandon show.

That's what I call the Brandon stage.

I think you can regrow skin.

Well, what if they did the thing that, you know, you ever seen, like, like, a Hot Topic, we're of a similar generation, that gauged ears?

Yes.

What if you did that to your, whatever you got? Like, could you gauge the little dick skin you have to regrow a foreskin? You know how they have those disgusting big earlobes?

Exactly right

... and mold it.

And we can sell the kits at Hot Topic.

The Grow Kit.

And this is where they make one of their greatest mistakes.

Because one of James' friends, as they're walking out of the mall, they pass by a Hot Topic.

And James' friend's like, oh, bro, there's one of the shirts in there I want to get.

Do you mind if I just quickly, like, swoop in and grab it? And James is like, I don't know.

But he's like, yeah, whatever.

Like, that's totally fine.

Little did they know that a Hot Topic is... is truly the turf of the emos, right? No, I'm just kidding, though.

But it happened to be a very, very poor choice of a store to go into.

They used a four-track setup, but recorded live in the studio to preserve the energy of their touring sets, which helped maintain that raw edge while keeping the mix polished enough for radio play.

Epitaph's distribution had just gotten a major upgrade with the help of independent distributors who were willing to stock their records in bigger chains like Hot Topic and Tower Records after they got a small amount of pressing from a Japanese plant.

That allowed Smash to hit more ears at once, even as it stayed true to punk's DIY roots, because the band still financed part of the recording themselves with their own savings and fan support through mail order orders.

The first single, Come Out and Play, exploded on alternative radio and climbed high on the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart.

So

you talked about Hot Topic.

And Hot Topic being the place that sort of like corporate packaged up a like real experience of a scene, right? Hot Topic was so scary when I was young.

I was too scared to go in when I was really young.

This is amazing.

Keep going.

But in some ways, it was like the one way for kids who didn't have a scene in their local area or they were underage and they were interested in that scene for them to be able to get access to it.

So my bone to pick is not with Hot Topic, But with Urban Outfitters selling Nirvana sweatpants to, like, 12-year-olds, that's the one that gets me.

I think so.

I, I think I remember, 'cause Hot Topic used to be really cool.

[laughs]

It once upon a time, yeah.

It was, uh, there was this small window of time [laughs]

Yeah, where they had some good shit.

And I feel like it was seeing, it was seeing Hot Topic...

It sounds so lame.

Mm-hmm

... do you think that's when they found Hot Topic and introduced black goths and vamps?

Hmm.

[laughs] That's a good theory.

I love goth baddies.

Uh, but I, I think that was Lil Wayne.

Lil Wayne made everybody go to Hot Topic.

We found Hot Topic because of Lil Wayne.

Right

... has purchased Hot Topic.

No way.

[laughs]

Right

... that has, like, the hopes of humanity pinned to it.

Spirit, Spencer's Spirit Holdings gets Hot Topic, which also is BoxLunch and Her Universe.

So now Spencer Gifts-