"The impact of Sub Pop Records on the music industry isn’t in doubt. What Attfield does in this brilliant, impeccably researched, and beautifully written book is to illuminate the label’s cultural identity and aesthetic, through a deep dive into its origins, politics, and relationship with the mainstream. The result is one of the best and most thought-provoking books I’ve ever read about a record label."
— David Barker, University of Derby
"At the heart of Lamestains—Attfield's overview of grunge and the contradictions surrounding its formation and popularity—lies a core truth: rock sells individuality and exclusivity to anyone and everyone. To the author's credit, he never shies away from this paradox, instead using it as the jumping off point for a deep dive into a world of distortion, divergence and musical deconstruction. A thoroughly engaging read that is at once heady, harrowing and way insightful. Yes, I recommend it."
— Everett True, author of "Nirvana: The True Story" and "Live Through This: American Rock Music in the Nineties"
“Viewing the label as both a brilliant marketing tool and a crass, misogynistic, and unabashedly commercial venture, the author chronicles the selling of Sub Pop’s regional punk/metal by using the antihero, anti-corporate, tongue-in-cheek caricature of the bands as primitive losers. The label reinforced this with album inserts, Charles Peterson’s blurry photos, Lame Fest concerts, the limited-edition, colored-vinyl Singles Club, and even ‘secret’ messages hand-etched in records. . . . A solid analysis.”
— Library Journal