Welcome to the Lehigh Valley Underground Music Archive at the Bethlehem Area Public Library, a collection of recordings from several decades of punk, alternative and underground rock bands from Bethlehem and beyond. 

Some audio tracks may contain offensive lyrics. Listener discretion is advised.

Liner Notes: Many of these bands have had their works collected and digitized by Frank FOE, who compiled demo tapes and published albums under his record label F.O.E. (Freedom of Expression). From the 2000s to the present, Chris “Reject” and his Bethlehem-based label Square of Opposition has taken up the mantle of publishing albums for the Lehigh Valley underground scene, as well as punk and hardcore bands from all around the USA. They were both kind enough to donate their recordings to BAPL, as was Lance LaBar’s Bethlehem-based Killer Tofu Records. Killer Tofu Records has released a wide variety of punk, indie, electronic, and experimental bands from the Lehigh Valley. We are thrilled to preserve and showcase this unique collection here!

This collection includes professionally recorded CDs, digitized 7″ vinyl records, lo-fi demos, recordings of live shows, homemade tapes, and sessions literally recorded in somebody’s basement. (Ray’s basement, to be exact.)

To support this project and projects like it, make a donation here!

TILE
Lehigh Valley punk rock fronted by Ray Gurz. The above track is a live show from 2013.

Turnbul AC
Speedy punk/hardcore from the Lehigh Valley, active in the early 1990s.

Ultimate Warriors
Early 1990s grindcore from the Lehigh Valley with a warped sense of humor.

Wackers
Punk rock from Easton, active in the 1990s.

Walter Krug
One of the seminal artists of the Lehigh Valley’s mid-1990s pop-punk scene.

Weston
The most popular and influential band of the Lehigh Valley’s 1990s pop-punk scene.

Wilsons Wackos
Early 1990s Lehigh Valley punk rock, including members from the Scranton area, and also members of Bethlehem’s Mr. Yuk.

Yo Man Go!
Catchy, pop punk from Bethlehem (2013).

Youthquake
Early Lehigh Valley punk rock from the 1980s.

Various Artists (Compilation Albums & Split LPs)

Abysmal Popcorn Compilation #1

Government Satire / Defiant Trespass

Live in Ray’s Basement – Robert Blake & Erik Peterson

FOE — Get the Hell Out compilation, FOE Records, 1994