2008 reissue, originally issued on the Lexicon Devil label in 2005. In 1982, the Tar Babies were burning up half-pipes and blazing venues with their hyper-speed punk rock. More well known for their late '80s LPs on the famed SST label, in which they veered towards a more DC-influenced "punk-funk" sound, and the subsequent acclaim that their drummer, Dan Bitney, acquired with Tortoise, the Babies were also one of the great, and tragically overlooked Midwestern hardcore bands of the original era, releasing two phenomenal 12" EPs on their own Bone Air imprint in '83 and '85, respectively. This CD hopes to rectify that obscurity by putting these two long-out-of-print discs back onto the marketplace for the first time on CD, with a ton of bonus material as a special treat. Inside you will find: The complete Face The Music and Respect Your Nightmares EPs, which featured early production work by Bob Mould and Butch Vig; "The Ocean" track from the Master Tapes 2LP; "Caleb's Getting Mad" from their 5-song demo cassette from 1982 (the other tracks are on FTM); five previously-unreleased songs from the era, taken from the vaults of the TB's Bucky Pope, as well as alternate versions of two EP tracks; reproductions of the original artwork from the EPs, plus a collage of flyers, photos and reviews from the era in a 10-panel booklet. Liner notes from Bucky Pope himself. All of this has been digitally edited, sequenced and fiddled with by Melbourne-via-Chicago audio whiz-kid, Casey Rice. The music the Tar Babies were pumping out in '82/'83 was an awesome collision course of Black Flag-style tension/release and heart-thumping thrash copped from a heavy diet of Minor Threat 7"s. Think the ferocity of early Die Kreuzen, Negative Approach, Necros, and you're in the ballpark. By '85, things had changed. The pace had slowed a touch, and most of all, Bucky was pumping out highly inventive riffs in an angular Eddie Hazel/Hendrix/Greg Ginn vein. Sharing the stage with a host of HC heroes and a bevy of SST folks criss-crossing the U.S. on their never-ending tours, the band caught the attention of Mr. Ginn and the rest is history. That is, of course, except for their 1982-1985 output. That is all here, and it's a rip-snorting collection. 25 tracks and 47 minutes of trailblazing, fist-pumping slampit rama-lama from a time when people really meant it.
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