3414 Fremont Ave North
Seattle, WA
206-547-BOOM
sonicboomrecords.com

Seattle wears its rock ‘n’ roll snobbery like a vintage, two-sizes-two-small “I’m With Stupid” tee, but Sonic Boom Records ain’t havin’ it. Their “D” section includes Death Cab For Cutie and Destiny’s Child. Trick is, there’s one cup of Beyonce for every 20 triple shots of Ben Gibbard. Co-owners Nabil Ayers and Jason Hughes were sharing the register at the similarly lo-fi-friendly East Street Records in 1997 when they decided to go duo in Seattle’s yuppified Fremont neighborhood; since then, they’ve expanded to Ballard and Capitol Hill. Dave Matthews and R.E.M.’s Peter Buck frequent the three stores, but Ayers rues one celeb nonsighting: “Unfortunately, Fred Durst didn’t come in. We heard all these stories about him terrorizing Fremont with Carmen Electra for a couple days, trying to start fights…”