Well, the Boston stations were always competing with Nu Yawk, so we always had this huge range of stations ranging from old school country to garage rock to punk. The only way to avoid the various genres was to pretty much shut off the radio.

So, it's funny you mention emo-before-emo was hip for your part of the country. It was nothing to see people in a suit and tie hitting up the Rat after work to watch the blood spill. You want to talk cognitive dissodance? Try bankers in their regular work clothes running to see Plasmatics.

Which is to say, yeah, the coastal people can be snobs. Sometimes we live down to stereotypes, too.

Anyway, seriously, there's a ton of artists that I know zero about. There are people on my Flist who put me to shame on the musical front. I just have a huge collection.

But really, check out the Pogues.