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In American rock, it seems like some of the best bands have the saddest stories. For groups like Southern California's Sublime, is it enough to leave a musical legacy that will inspire generations? Sublime brought all of the highs and lows of down-and-out Southern California living to an audience of mainstream American music fans. The band's music mixes groovey dub, reggae, ska, punk and hip hop into an irresistible lyrical narrative. Everyman singer Bradley Nowell's lyrics chronicle a life of beach shack house parties, ex-girlfriends, lackluster day jobs and weed or liquor fueled escapism. Bradley only wanted the best for everyone-he wasn't looking forward to pulling his .22 out of the glove compartment-but he'd been around long enough to discount the peace n' love idealism that's so common within SoCal's surfer scene. Sublime were also comfortable tackling social issues, which can again be trace to the multi-cultural reality of SoCal, and many of their songs discuss racism from a black or Latino perspective. Bradley even wrote several songs in Spanish, and often incorporated Mexican street slang into his lyrics. Sublime got their start in the late 1980's, playing at a house party in Long Beach. After spending years developing their songs and their live show, Sublime released their debut classic 40 Oz. to Freedom, which earned the group an instant cult following in their hometown of California. The disc featured their spastic ska-pink single "Date Rape," which would become one of the band's signature tunes. Local radio exposure brought Sublime to the attention of MCA Records, who signed them and re-released 40 Oz. Lead Singer Nowell was always painfully forthcoming, in his lyrics and in public, about his struggles with addiction and it was right before the release of the band's self-titled Sublime that the charming songwriter succumbed to a heroin overdose in his hotel room. Sublime would go on to be the band's biggest commercial hit, with tracks like "What I Got" and "Santeria" getting MTV play. After Nowell's death, the remaining members of Sublime-Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh-formed the Long Beach Dub Allstars, along with many of the SoCal musicians who had played with Sublime over the years.

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