Vinyl Noize | killed by death

First and only proper release by this GREAT Los Angeles punk band, on the Playgems label from 1980. They had four tracks between a couple of comps, though the three songs on this 7″ are their most memorable material to these ears. As far as proto-hardcore “Killed By Death” punk goes in Southern California, these guys really stand above the competition to me—most notably, Jerry Koskie’s throaty rasp sounding infinitely more interesting and original than the faux UK accents or monotonous talk-really-fast styles that were prevalent at the time. The A-side, “Blues”, is a slow depression-laden grinder, while the B-side picks up the pace with a couple of uptempo beach punkers—”Tower 18,” about a late night gay hookup spot, and “Knocked Out,” which sings the trials and tribulations of Los Angeles’ notorious police-on-punk violence.

Scum info: Only 500 made of the original. My copy came sealed in a foldover bag, Dangerhouse style, but I’m not 100% if that’s original gear or not. For the less monetarily adventurous, there are several easily obtained LP/CD reissues comping together all of their recorded material, as well as a straight reissue of the 7″ from a couple of years ago (which has a blue logo as opposed to the original red logo.) Just say away from the poorly made Cheifs/Black Flag demos bootleg, it‘s a waste of money.

Check out the seller’s other listings for a Nirvana “Love Buzz” promo that will probably fetch a couple kilobucks (and some other nice punk records.)