Active Ingredients Discography 2xLP
In case you’re not familiar with the humor-infused hardcore of Kentucky old schoolers ACTIVE INGREDIENTS, here’s the whole enchilada, all wrapped up in a tasty gatefold package covered in vintage pics and flyers. This double LP captures everything they did, compiling the band’s two EPs, sole full-length cassette, and unreleased demos. Their first 7” from 1984 is a classic, providing a perfect introduction to their zany ripping with “Service With a Smile,” a swarming guitar attack punctuated by a CRAMPS-ian chorus, followed by “Take From the Poor, Give to the Rich,” a speedy little ditty with DEAD KENNEDYS-style sarcasm. The wise-assery continues across 1985’s Bringing Down the Big Boys EP. When you hear their mocking reappropriation of the famous MTV ad riff on “I Hate MTV,” it’s such a no-brainer that you wonder how no one else thought to do it. And then when you learn that New Jersey’s TEENAGE DEPRESSION had an almost identical song concept around the same time, you nod your head and go, “okay, yeah.” Keeping in line with the fashion of the era, the band had evolved to a heavier sound by the time they released their full-length Fly Again tape in 1987. Tracks like “Sleeping in the White House In ‘88” bring Vicious Circle-era ZERO BOYS to mind, and there’s some ill-advised rapping on there, too. The demos are a particularly interesting portion of this collection, as fans will find that the unreleased songs are just as good as anything that made it onto their records, and there are also alternate versions of old favorites. If you dig it, there’s plenty to dig through.
