It’s an inescapable fact of life that, despite how good a band might have been “back in the day,” there are scads of them throughout time who, for whatever reason, made scarcely an impression outside their own hometowns or states. It’s a shame, of course, but time often has a sly way of evening things out and giving worthy forgotten artists their rightful due. And next month, legendary 1980s South Florida punk scene-builders Morbid Opera will finally get their shot at sweet, historical vindication.
Creating a sound that crash-landed between the hardcore influences of the day (Minor Threat, Meatmen) and female-driven DIY post-punk/-pop (The Raincoats, Marine Girls) but owning an allegiance to neither, Fort Lauderdale’s Morbid Opera embraced everything offbeat and off-putting with great songbursts about relationships, politics, and nonsense. Chiming guitars, urgently-slipped and shouty, pre-riot grrrl gang vocals, and infectious, Fall-like dirges can be found throughout Collection; but the track we are PREMIERING today, “Polyester Pig,” sums the band up nicely and uptightly: it’s an agitated, profanity-laden punk-funk virus that’ll make you itch, and then scratch that itch until you’re bleeding.
Collection was put together by Jeff Hodapp (Roach Motel, spouse of Morbid Opera’s late vocalist Lisa Hodapp) and is out June 16 on the Gainsville, Florida-based Vinyl Rites label. In addition to the track premiere below, the full album can be streamed here and purchased here. Now, go forth and help rewrite HISTORY:
Morbid Opera’s Collection tracklist:
01. One Dimensional
02. Madness
03. Sledgehammer
04. Liar
05. Private Prostitute
06. Deep End
07. L.A. Pucelle
08. White Flag
09. Eat the Rich
10. Polyester Pig
11. War Dream
12. No Dwarfs
13. Rosary of Pain
14. Female Trouble
15. Beyond Every World
16. Love Is Death
More about: Morbid Opera
