The original ‘Our Blowout’, compilation cassette was released in 1983. My first exposure to this San Diego punk compilation was as a teenager hearing a song or two on KCR, the radio station broadcasting out of SDSU. To receive this station I would take the cable connection out of the back of the TV, and touch that pin that comes out of that cable, to the antenna of my basic, AM/FM radio. I had broken off the top of the antenna to get a better connection. The station would fade in and out until I found just the right spot. I would then wrap the cable connection together in tape and wire.  One evening my listening to the station started with the song, ‘Psychedelics’, by San Diego band, District Tradition fading in and out with the station’s reception. Great song, and I’ve always remembered the lyric, “Wanna have your house, wanna have your car, wanna live close, wanna live far”, but what grabbed me was to learn this song was a part of a larger compilation of bands and songs from right here in my town, called, ‘My Blowout’. Next time I took the bus ride out to Off the Record on El Cajon Boulevard, I bought my copy—and probably from the curator/label of the comp, Cliff Cunningham of Social Spit, who was also an employee there. The tape took me deeper into San Diego’s scene, with bands I’d seen and heard, many I had not heard of, and many who would not be around much longer in the ‘fly by the seat of your pants cops are gonna beat your ass get spit on walking down the street’, combustible creativity of that pioneering scene. Now, more than 40 years later, Adult Crash is honored to be a part of ‘Our Blowout 2025’. This one is co-curated by 185 Miles South, and Human Future Records, and like its predecessor, it takes you deeper into San Diego’s scene, exposing you to a wide range of bands you may or may not have heard. What is different this time around is that the bands are evidence of a much broader, more focused, permanent scene. Some of the bands have either been around for years, or their members have been in previous bands for decades. Others are much younger, and are making a name for themselves amongst youth.  Combined, this shows a scene that people are attracted to. A place where people feel welcomed, and at home, free to express themselves in ways that might not otherwise be accepted where their daily lives take them. Yeah, it’s easier to do this in 2025 than it was in 1983, in the sense that much of the groundwork and infrastructure have been laid out. You won’t be taping a wire to your radio antenna. But the human condition remains. The experience of struggle, the feeling that something just ain’t right, and the unknowingness of what’s around the corner, is still here. It might even be greater in 2025. So too, the feelings of love and joy, the desire to right a wrong, the expression of art, and the instinctual desire to be a part of a community and tribe, all of these experiences which brought you punk and hardcore in the first place, remain. It’s what keeps you coming back. When it counts.  – Tim