We Were Over Here When It Was There

"Guillotined at the Hangar" is kinda sketchy as regional punk comps go; the liner notes are unnecessarily vague about the exact year the songs are from as well as the original releases they can be found on, and some of the bands on here couldn't spell "punk" if you spotted them the "pee" and the "you". A lot of this stuff doesn't seem all that aggressive once you realize that the first wave of American hardcore (Minor Threat, Negative Approach-- you know, stuff like that) had already hit a couple of years before a good number of the songs on this compilation were recorded.

Still, thanks go out to Keith Grave, the guy who put this comp together, as there's some worthwhile stuff here-- especially if you're a fan of Ct. punk. Keith was also in a few Ct. punk/HC bands back in the '80s, such as Sanity Assassins and White Pigs. White Pigs, in particular, were sort of demonized back then for being the first Ct. hardcore band to "go metal", although I think Violent Children may have tied them on that point.

So here's what we got:

The Reducers - The first independently-released punk album I ever bought was the Reducers' debut LP, back in 1984. The town I was living in at the time didn't have a punk record store, but since The Reducers were local and kinda well known, the chain store at the mall carried their LP. I remember that "Out of Step" was edited on the LP, so that "fucking blind" was bleeped out as "veel-flup blind", which was kinda lame. You can still find the original 45 posted on Killed By Death Records or 7-Inch Punk or one of those places, I'm pretty sure.

October Days - I've said before that October Days' "West Coast"/"Don't Give Yourself Away" and the Reducers' "Out of Step"/"No Ambition" are Ct.'s two best early punk 45s (with the Stratford Survivors also in there somewhere), so now's your chance to hear both of them side-by-side. I'm re-upping my rip from the 45 here, instead of using the weaker-sounding copy found on the compilation.

Peer Pressure - "Sound of the '80s" (recorded in 1980) is brilliant; check out Killed By Death, where the full Peer Pressure EP is posted, as well as a link to the amazing story on Break My Face about trying to track down the original members of the band.

Chronic Disorder - From their very first 7", I'm pretty sure; somehow, Jason could be running out of breath and still keep the fake British accent. Chronic Disorder were on the "Make It Work" compilation that I put out, and that's about all I'm gonna say here.

Jack Tragic and The Unfortunates - A band that's way overrated, I think ("I Kill Hippies" is not even one-tenth as good as the Deadbeats "Kill The Hippies", and that's my point), which might be why you can still find a couple of Jack Tragic 7"-ers at Brass City Records for a few fins each. Still, the imagery of lyrics like "The Dead go on about 8 o'clock/Hippies all lined up for twenty blocks" is hilarious enough to make this one worth a few listens.

8th Route Army - The only band I'm posting here that's not from Connecticut, just because the song's pretty damn good and reminds me a lot of early Naked Raygun. Never liked these guys when they were around, though.

The Reducers -

"Out of Step"

October Days -

"West Coast"

Peer Pressure -

"Sound of The '80s"

Chronic Disorder -

"The Final Line"

Jack Tragic and The Unfortunates -

"I Kill Hippies"

8th Route Army -

"Professional Killer"

(these files are now listen-only)

Fight To Get Out Of This

October Days released a 45 and a 12" EP in '81 and '82-- two brilliant records that no like-minded Connecticut band has surpassed since, as far as I'm concerned. I first bought both of them in the mid-80's, back when you could still find copies here and there. At that point October Days had attained near-legendary status in Connecticut, but were no more as of a few years earlier and remained pretty much unknown elsewhere. I can't say all that much has improved on that end since then, actually.

I'd already posted the "West Coast" 45 back in April; now, here's the 12" EP, "Do The Right Thing". October Days also have a compilation track on "It Happened But Nobody Noticed", which was first pressed in '82 and then re-issued on CD just a couple of months ago; my original vinyl copy is in poor shape and has skips in it, which is why I haven't been able to post it yet. Oddly enough, the compilation track is "Do The Right Thing", the title track to the EP that doesn't appear on the EP itself.

October Days are most often compared to The Wipers and Agent Orange, and again, I wouldn't know (not my thing, sorry). What I do know is that October Days' songwriting skills and mastery of dynamics are unreal, especially when you consider the time and place they were operating in. The slinky opening lines to "Out Of This Place", or the chords that rip open the intro to "Take Back The Night", is the kind of stuff that makes my hair stand on end. Then I listen to what the guy in "Hardwood Floor" is up to and I think, yup, that's me sometimes, too.




October Days -

"Out Of This Place"

"Take Back The Night"

"Hardwood Floor"

(these files are now listen-only)

Better Off Blending In With The Crowd

This is the best Connecticut punk 7"-er of it's time, in my opinion, although the Reducers "Out Of Step"/"No Ambition" 45 and maybe the Stratford Survivors record are the only other legitimate contenders.

I guess October Days get compared to the Wipers a lot, but it would take having listened to the Wipers more than once or twice for me to figure that one out. What I like the most about October Days in general, and this record in particular (besides the awesome sleeve, of course, which is one of my all-time favorites), is that they wrote really ambitious songs that have a bunch of different things going on in them, but they don't have a lot of show-offy bullshit. October Days understood the value of punk's aggression, and in keeping things catchy and memorable. Plus, the chorus to "West Coast" goes, "Champagne new-rich new wave punk bitch," which isn't what he really says but it sure sounds like it, at least.

I've chosen ignore the reggae aspects of "Don't Give Yourself Away", preferring instead to think of it as a close relation to the Circle Jerks' "Back Against The Wall" while marveling at that cool pre-Dr.Dre organ riff bubbling along in the background.




October Days -

"West Coast"

"Don't Give Yourself Away"

(these files are now listen-only)