Dharma Bums Compass 1987 Tank Top

The unheralded college rock band Dharma Bums garnered a passionate cult of fans, especially in their hometown of Portland, Oregon, but the group broke up just when the Pacific Northwest was attracting media attention for its underground music scene. Originally calling themselves the Afterludes, they later changed it to the Dharma Bums. The group used money from sold-out gigs in Portland to visit Seattle in search of a label, finding one with PopLlama. In 1988, they released the Dharma Bums' first album, Haywire. "Boots of Leather" was a smash on college radio, leading the band to a new deal with Frontier in 1989. Many expected the Dharma Bums to be a breakthrough alt-rock act of the Northwest music scene, but that wasn't in the cards.