Poison Girls
Chappaquiddick Bridge [LP + 7-inch; Water Wing]

Be honest: How many of you actually were around back when Poison Girls were playing shows with Crass and Annie Anxiety? Two of you? Three of you? Negative-one of you? Yeah, a lot of TMT’s readers are young ‘uns, and that’s how we like it, but y’all have got to understand how much greatness came to pass before you started imbibing the current 24-hour music news cycle. For instance: Punk used to be rebellious! Punk used to be disdained by the majority! Punk used to be… Punk! Any understanding you hope to have for the assembly line thrum of today’s ‘scene’ should be augmented by fervent listening to albums like Chappaquiddick Bridge, a lost gem circa 1980 that not only keeps up the punk pride of the Girls’ last reissue on Water Wing, Hex, but peppers in a lot of Gang Of Four basslines I didn’t notice last time around (though they might have been there), not to mention some jangly riffs a lot of bands would turn into MTV gold later in the decade. It all comes down to Vi Subversa, however; she’s the fulcrum on which these tunes rest, and her J-Rotten delivery and quite-sexual lyrics were way ahead of their time (she even delved into the concept of gender before the age of cis-this and that). It’s almost impossible for me to believe she was a middle-aged mother at the time these tracks were recorded; yet there she is, attached to one of the most creative backing bands in punk’s short late 70s/early 80s heyday and taking it all in stride. Perhaps most surprising of all is the fact that Poison Girls challenged the status quo of not only 1980, but 2014! In other words, it’s STILL rare to find a punk band that traverses so many disparate, spread-out corners of the outre-music map. I can only imagine what the average person thought of them in 1980 (likely a mix of perverse fascination, disgust, and ultimately disdain); maybe this is the year they finally get their due?

Links: Water Wing

Cerberus

Cerberus seeks to document the spate of home recorders and backyard labels pressing limited-run LPs, 7-inches, cassettes, and objet d’art with unique packaging and unknown sound. We love everything about the overlooked or unappreciated. If you feel you fit such a category, email us here.

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