Fresh Sounds from Middle America (vol 1)
Compilation album by
Various Artists
ReleasedDecember 12, 1981
Recorded1981
GenrePost-punk
LabelFresh Sounds
ProducerFresh Tape 101
Various Artists chronology
Fresh Sounds from Middle America (vol 1)
(1981)		 Fresh Sounds from Middle America (vol 2)
(1981)

Fresh Sounds From Middle America (vol 1) was the first in a series of compilations featuring bands from the Midwest region of America. Volume 1 was a split compilation cassette-only release featuring 22 tracks from 4 bands and is sometimes referred to as "the Buffalo tape" because of the Buffalo imprint on the cover of the tape.[1]

A "tape release party" concert was held on December 12, 1981, featuring all four bands, at Off The Wall Hall (now called The Bottleneck) in Lawrence, KS.[2]

The "Fresh Sounds" series was organized by Bill Rich, of Talk Talk magazine,[3] as a way to promote regional bands nationally.[4][5]

Reception

Snippets of the review from "Capitol Punishment":[6]

  • "While listening to this tape over a period of several weeks, all I can say is why are these bands so talented?"
  • "Get Smart! start things off with a group of songs much crisper and more alive than their recent "Words Move" EP.
  • "Mortal Micronots are nothing to get thrilled about".
  • "The Yardapes are happy and fun but not frivolous".
  • "The Embarrassment are quite possibly the best band in America".

Snippets of the review from "The Offense":[7]

  • "Sub Pop's not the only fanzine with a tape comp. Talk Talk, never one to be beaten to the punch, takes charge here with what I assume are the area's four sharpest bands."
  • "Get Smart! plays their darkest and coolest music to date. Call them my favorite bunch east of the Cal and west of Chi."
  • "Mortal Micronotz are still in high school... let's hope they don't just get older and think they have to play a lot faster. Right now it's slow, soary, soft-spoken voice."
  • "The Yardapes take after 'Human Sexual Response' by adopting the multi-front man stance and playing unpalatable music."

Track listing / personnel

Side 1

Artist Tracks Personnel
Get Smart!
  1. "In The Dark"
  2. "Face"
  3. "One More Circle"
  4. "They Walk In Pairs"
  5. "That's What They Tell Me"
  • Marc Koch - vocals, guitar
  • Lisa Wertman Crowe - vocals, bass
  • Frank Loose - vocals, drums
Mortal Micronots
  1. "The Controllers"
  2. "Blond Haired Ghost"
  3. "Individuality"
  4. "The Police Song"
  5. "Daydream"
  6. "subterfuge"
  • Dean Lubensky - vocals
  • John Harper - guitar
  • David Dale - bass
  • Steve Eddy - drums

Side 2

Artist Tracks Personnel
The Yard Apes
  1. "Playing With Snakes"
  2. "Living On Welfare"
  3. "Your Pretty Face"
  4. "The Long Walk"
  5. "Jungle Rots"
  6. "Never You Mind"
  • Steve Deno Beai
  • Devin Snell
  • Elisa Anne Hodes
  • Lisa Vader
  • Christopher B. Fowler
  • Bruce Andrew Eddy
  • Ronald B. Achelpohl
The Embarrassment
  1. "Dino In The Congo"
  2. "Godfrey Harold Hardy"
  3. "D-Rings"
  4. "Chapter Twelve"
  5. "Jazz Face"
  • John Nichols - lead vocals, keyboards
  • Bill Goffrier - guitar
  • Ron Klaus - bass
  • Brent Giessmann - drums

References

  1. ↑ "The Embarrassment Blisterpop". embos.org.
  2. ↑ Loose, Frank. "Get Smart! time line". sledbag.com.
  3. ↑ Blush, Steven; Petros, George (October 19, 2010). American Hardcore: A Tribal History. Feral House. p. 262. ISBN 978-1-932595-89-5. Bill Rich of Fresh Sounds (and Talk Talk zine) put out the Fresh Sounds From Middle America comp tape and early cassettes by local greats The Embarrassment and Mortal Micronots (later The Micronotz).
  4. ↑ Jensen, Ron (January 17, 1982). "Local music critic promotes 'Fresh Sounds' of Midwest". Lawrence Journal-World. p. 16. Retrieved February 15, 2011.
  5. ↑ Fricke, David (December 18, 1986). "The Underground Empire". Rolling Stone. pp. 116–122. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Lawrence, Kansas, has been a hotbed of alternative music for several years, thanks principally to the indefatigable Bill Rich, who runs the hardy, little Fresh Sounds label there. As far back as 1981, Rich was issuing the first pressings by the Lawrence bands Get Smart! and the Embarrassment, both of whom went on to underground-cult fame. More recently, Rich, the University of Kansas radio station KJHK and Redline Productions (a local concert promoter) issued a sampler album entitled Fresh Sounds from Middle America #3 (#1 and #2 were cassette only releases put out by Rich in 1981). Of the sixteen bands featured on the LP, twelve are from Lawrence or nearby Topeka.
  6. ↑ Jones, Jim (July 17, 2009). The Complete Capitol Punishment. Nebraska: CP Publishing. pp. 150–151. ISBN 978-0-9638594-3-3. Archived from the original on December 14, 2009.
  7. ↑ Anstaett, Tim (February 11, 1982). "Fresh Sounds from Middle America #1 review". Columbus, OH: The Offense, Book 14. p. 16.
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