The Scene
An appropriately scruffy hole-in-the-wall located within the alternative strip of Lakewood's Madison Village. Flyers for seemingly every below-radar band that is dragging their amps into Cleveland adorn the window and walls. Couple that with all the up-to-date promotional posters that line the store, and you could spend 30 minutes just gazing around this artistic accumulation. Because of the surplus of underground sounds, the employees have a strong grasp of their stuff--but come up blissfully blank when it comes to anything on the charts. Also on the block is a compelling selection of regular and 7-inch vinyl, and a magazine rack that features rags like Skin Art, Punk Planet and Gearhead (plus one mag with Fred Sanford on the cover).
The Flyer
Warped's spectrum is best described by their flyer--"F*** corporate record stores! We have the best selection of your favorite underground, emo, punk, pop, metal, garage, hardcore, and straight up rock bands around!!" The store walks the walk by carrying plenty of independent labels like Shredder, Tooth&Nail, Edison, Go Kart and Uprising.