Operation Ivy was a legendary band by the time I first encountered them, even though they'd only been split up for a few years when I heard them for the first time. Here were these Berkeley (NOT San Francisco) kids who'd pitched in on building their own spaces to play. They, like the Specials and the Offs before them, melded contemporary punk with ska to create something new and unheard. OpIV packed their gear into sedans and toured the US at a time when Hüsker Dü, Bad Religion, and Fugazi were the only punk bands that could successfully conduct a national tour. And they all did it when they were snot nosed teenagers, the same age I was then.
I picked up a tape of the discography before I moved to Baltimore, which would have been 1993, and snagged a copy of the "Hectic" EP for $3 the week before I left Roanoke in 1994. I found this copy of "Unreleased Energy" in the small "Punk" section of the Sound Garden in Fells Point. I remember thinking, "Whew; $15 is a lot for a CD." But it was, ostensibly, three sets of demos cut by Operation Ivy in 1987 & 1988. So I picked it up. I swear I copped it in 1995, but Discogs sources it to 1996, and I'll own my cruddy memory.
This sounds like shit, which definitely makes sense considering how many generations in these source recordings must have been before being committed to CD. But it also suits things, because it captures teenagers making a racket at their least polished. And it's summer music, which is why I've been blaring it from car stereos and back porches for 30 years. It's a great spin for a weekend, or for sharing with your pre-teen niece.
No comments:
Post a Comment