The Empire LP, "Expensive Sound", is one of those rarities, a record notable for its members' lineage and the influence it had on a few key players in the DC hardcore scene. Those members were Mark Laff and Bob Derwood Andrews, late of Generation X before that outfit turned outright into the Billy Idol show. Andrews and Laff both found themselves at odds with Idol's and bassist Tony James' goals to embrace a more mainstream sound and look for the band, and started Empire in London with Simon Bernal from experimental collective MLR.
What they turned out was a post-punk record that one could argue is proto-emo in sound. When I listen to this, I hear exactly where the fellas in Embrace were coming from musically when they made their self-titled record in 1986. That continues throughout the Dischord catalog into the 90s, with bands like Ignition, Soul Side, and 3 wearing the influence on their musical sleeves.
What I'm sharing here comes from the 2003 reissue of "Expensive Sound", expanded with seven unreleased tracks and a quartet of live cuts from 1981. Released by Northern Virginia's Poorly Packaged Products, it was followed up in 2006 with another CD of previously unissued Empire recordings; I've never seen a copy of that one in the wild. The folks at Drastic Plastic in Omaha also put out a really nice vinyl reissue a few years back that is 100% worth snagging at $15.
