I've mentioned before that I borrowed an unlabeled mix tape off of a co-worker of mine when I was an intern. I found so, so many bands from that one tape. Some I'd heard of, many I hadn't. I couple I just didn't get into, but others I just loved.
One of the ones I loved was Infra-Riot, based on this one song, Catch-22.
Trouble on the streets means trouble in the home. Trouble in the home means there is no where to go.
Short and angry and awesome. It sounds like The Stiff Little Fingers crossed with Sham 69 fronted by Mick Jones.
Here I am twenty years on, and it's still a chore finding their stuff. I've found a full album video, which is excellent:
But for a long, long time I almost felt like I was imagining this band. Couldn't find them. Record store owners didn't recognize the name (clearly, I went to the wrong places.) The one that did didn't have any (The Record Exchange). Years later I found a mention of them in a punk-related book and thought, "Yes, I'm not crazy! That guy wasn't just humoring me!" Then I found "Emergency" and "Catch-22" again, finally.
But it was Catch-22 that grabbed me.*
* Probably didn't hurt that I love punk and loved the Joseph Heller novel. It's why I know what Callypigian means.
Showing posts with label that unlabeled mix tape. Show all posts
Showing posts with label that unlabeled mix tape. Show all posts
Saturday, June 4, 2016
Thursday, June 4, 2015
Wire - Map Ref. 41N 93W
The is my favorite song by Wire. I happened to turn on WFMU just in time to catch it on Fabio's show, Strength Through Failure.
"Map Ref. 41N 93W"
I especially love that they introduce the chorus by saying, "Chorus!"
I must have worn out the section of audiotape where I had that song back in the mid-90s. That's when I discovered Wire and a lot of other UK punk I'd missed when I was younger - Wire, the Stiff Little Fingers, the Undertones, Poly Styrene and X-Ray Specs, Infrariot, Television, and more. Some bands I'd heard of, but never heard - some neither. Some I knew the catalog backward and forward - Sex Pistols, The Clash, Buzzcocks. Wire was a "neither." This song just blew me away . . . and I hadn't listened to it in years. Time to pull out all my Wire stuff and re-listen. They're touring the NY area right now, but work means I won't see them. Maybe someday.
"Map Ref. 41N 93W"
I especially love that they introduce the chorus by saying, "Chorus!"
I must have worn out the section of audiotape where I had that song back in the mid-90s. That's when I discovered Wire and a lot of other UK punk I'd missed when I was younger - Wire, the Stiff Little Fingers, the Undertones, Poly Styrene and X-Ray Specs, Infrariot, Television, and more. Some bands I'd heard of, but never heard - some neither. Some I knew the catalog backward and forward - Sex Pistols, The Clash, Buzzcocks. Wire was a "neither." This song just blew me away . . . and I hadn't listened to it in years. Time to pull out all my Wire stuff and re-listen. They're touring the NY area right now, but work means I won't see them. Maybe someday.
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