SMC: EP ~ Negative Trend
transplant
Posts: 1,088
moving right along........
I changed my mind at the last minute. I had a sweet metal release all lined up. Neurosis - Times of Grace. After listening today, I figured that one may have been too much. Very long and punishing at times. I also figured that many are trying to keep up with the releases and have fallen behind.
We have also not yet had an old school punk release. So I thought I would just throw out this EP. 4 songs that clock in under 12 minutes. I think it came out originally in '80 - 81 and this was their only release. Henry Rollins dug it out of the grave and stuck it on his own 2.13.61 label. I have always enjoyed his opinions.
I think it sounds very current, not what you would have expected during that time frame. I think Black and Red grooves....
enjoy.
I changed my mind at the last minute. I had a sweet metal release all lined up. Neurosis - Times of Grace. After listening today, I figured that one may have been too much. Very long and punishing at times. I also figured that many are trying to keep up with the releases and have fallen behind.
We have also not yet had an old school punk release. So I thought I would just throw out this EP. 4 songs that clock in under 12 minutes. I think it came out originally in '80 - 81 and this was their only release. Henry Rollins dug it out of the grave and stuck it on his own 2.13.61 label. I have always enjoyed his opinions.
I think it sounds very current, not what you would have expected during that time frame. I think Black and Red grooves....
enjoy.
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments
~it is shining it is shining~
You have been banned for the following reason:
inappropriate post.
'Too many people on this earth. We need a new plague.' - Dwight Schrute
I liked the slower pace from Black and Red but i didn't cacth the 1st 2 sentences from the chorus. (My english is a bit rusty...). 'Live a life of suicide'?
'...top...crying eyes '?
I read that they formed another band. Is the sound the same?
You have been banned for the following reason:
inappropriate post.
'Too many people on this earth. We need a new plague.' - Dwight Schrute
This was Rollins' write up on it that got me interested. Oh, the EP came out in '78 I guess.
A Negative Trend in Music: About 25 years ago, I found a single at Skip Groff’s Yesterday and Today record store that has remained one of my favorite 7” records of all time: The Negative Trend EP. I knew nothing about the band and probably bought it because it was only two dollars. The first time I played the four song EP, I was blown away by the heaviness of the band and the dark intensity of the singer. It occurred to me that these were not boys but angry men who played with malice. Many of us in the DC scene got the record and immediately became fans. Over the years I would see the Negative Trend record here and there, mostly bootlegged versions of the 7” and the occasional copy of the 12” re-release. At one point in the late 90’s, I asked the band’s drummer Steve DePace what was happening with the Negative Trend record and told him if I ever found out where the tapes were, I was going to put that record out so everyone could hear it. Early this year, I found them and we’re releasing the EP on CD. Steve from Subterranean Records mastered the record from the master mix tapes at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley CA and we worked off my single for the artwork. The tape held up over all these years and the mastering is fantastic. The Negative Trend EP never sounded better. I am so excited to be releasing this record on my label. The EP contains four songs: Mercenaries, Meat House, Black and Red, How Ya Feelin’. Four bludgeoning, savage, Stooges-like punches in the face that have not lost any power in over a quarter century. The Negative Trend EP and Black Flag’s Nervous Breakdown EP are in my opinion, the two most intense 7” EPs from the whole American Punk Rock-Hardcore shootin’ match. We are offering the Negative Trend EP on CD for five dollars. If you are a fan of pop music, this is not the record for you. If you are someone who digs Black Flag, the Misfits, Flipper and other heavy music—this record was made for you. We’re offering the record at the cheapest possible price in the hopes that you will be so taken with my enthusiasm and overcome with curiosity, or perhaps just want to hear this gem again, that you will just get it. Those of you who checked out my radio show, Harmony In My Head, last year may have heard some of these songs. I got a lot of mail about the Negative Trend tracks. Getting this record out has been a long standing ambition of mine and a labor of love to get over the wall. I hope you check it out and dig it. Here’s some info on the EP: Mercenaries (Shatter / Gray), Meat House (Shatter / Gray), Black and Red (Gray), How Ya Feelin’? (Waters / Gray) -- Steve DePace – Drums (Later in Flipper), Will Shatter – Bass (Later in Flipper), Craig Gray – Guitar (Later in the Toiling Midgets), Mikal Waters – Vocal -- Produced by Debbie Dub and Negative Trend, Engineered by Stu the hippy, June 1978 - San Francisco CA
I thought it was ok but nothing really jumped out at me. I did really like How Ya Feelin. Did anyone else think the very beginning of Mercanaries sounded like You Are (PJ)? I listened to Riot Act yesterday so maybe it's just fresh on my mind.
I've dl'd the Negative Trend disc. I'll give it a listen. I, too, am behind on our picks.
Thanks for giving it a listen. They don't floor me either. I have recently been spinning it while putting Black Flag's Nervous Breakdown EP right after. a quick pick me up in the morning.
I guess it's my turn. I'll up this weekend or on Monday. Thanks for the pick, tp.