V/A Colorado Springs Underground 1983–1994: Volume 1 LP
A vastly interesting snapshot of a scene that I was heretofore entirely ignorant of. The seventeen bands featured on this compilation span a wide gamut of genres, offering up a little something for everyone. The KBD-style opener “Meister Brau” by DEAD HEIR is just what I had hoped for (and expected) from a record whose cover has a picture of some punk taking a dump. Beyond that are some proper hardcore bangers, barely decipherable noise punk, melodic skatecore, a goth-y industrial jam, as well as more standard punk numbers. Accompanying the album is a fat, 40-page zine that puts everything into context and has a write-up for each and every band. It’s a fantastic glimpse into a scene that clearly had a lasting impact on the lives of many of the folks involved, and tells a story that will ring familiar to anyone that grew up in a smaller scene where most of the bands share members. Since the recordings were mostly culled from old cassettes, the quality fluctuates, but what else could you possibly expect given the scope of the project? A lot of care went into making this collection. It’s limited to 300 copies with hand-numbered, screenprinted covers, and the aforementioned booklet. I’d consider this a no-brainer for anyone with an interest in obscure bands from lesser known scenes, and especially punks that hail from Colorado.