SHATTERBOX - Strung Out on the Line LP
• Rare & Raw Seattle Punk Rock'n'roll from ’81
• Official Reissue
• Restored and Remastered from Original Reels
DIG! Records Archeological Division presents Strung Out on the Line, the
all but lost private press powerhouse LP from SHATTERBOX.
The band formed in 1979, at a major and sketchy (read: majorly sketchy)
generational crossroads for what threatened to be the last gasp of
Rock’n’roll in the ‘70s, and the new directions it’d take in the ‘80s.
Recorded in their Seattle basement, the band utilized a mobile studio
unit ala a low-rent D.I.Y. Exile Main on St., and self-released the
album on New Year’s Day 1981 in an unknown – or, at least now forgotten –
quantity, and an array of handmade album art designs: stencil and spray
paint; paste-on Xerox cutout; and bare-white factory sleeves,
SHATTERBOX never followed standard operating procedures and Strung Out
on the Line captures the band’s wild and ragged original sound and style
in full.
Newly restored and re-mastered by David Eck from the original
quarter-inch reels and housed in properly printed jackets with liner
notes displaying the numerous versions of album art and an oral history
from the band’s sole surviving member, Richard Pleasant, this LP is finally receiving the presentation it deserves – now, nearly forty years down the line.
Rocketing through twelve brash and energetic cuts of exuberant Punk Rock
and raw Power Pop, the album sonically falls somewhere between THE
HEARTBREAKERS, NERVOUS EATERS and either –or, better yet – both
iterations of THE GIZMOS. Archetypal subject matter ranging from Sex to
Drugs and onto Rock‘n’roll are all addressed on tracks like “Anytime”,
“Got To Have It”, “Dance Tonight”, “Just Can’t Help It”, “Go Down” and
“Brand New Girl” – typically all in the same song! More complex themes
surface on a Proustian examination of time (“Time”) and the quantifiable
burden of modern life (“Too Much Traffic”), while the band’s own
creative force can be summed up by the chorus to “Pop City”: Ain’t
nothin but a rock song. Ain’t nothin but a pop song. Ain’t nothin but a
punk song. So whose doin right or wrong?
Strung Out on the Line is an unlikely album for rediscovery, given its
diamond in the rough mystique – the precious few remaining copies fetch
hundreds in collector circles – but fortunately for today’s rocker,
there’s no expiration date on the musical contents contained herein.
SHATTERBOX made their own way, shirking record industry conventions and
sidestepping the musical trends touted by their Hardcore Punk and New
Wave peers, to create something at once their own, and now ours again.
MODERN LISTENERS - RECOMMENDED IF YOU DIG: DIRTY FENCES, KING TUFF & DANCER
Related Products
PACK - s/t LP
PACK - Pack LP Nobody can tell us that this 1978 German monster isn't one of the best footlongs..
21.00€
AR-KAICS, THE - Tour T-Shirt
We have some leftovers from their two european tours from 2016. Please let us know your preferred si..
5.00€
RAMBLERS, THE - Ramblin' Back To The Grave 7"
A true 80's garage punk classic, probably one of the best.....And they were sat in a dusty attic for..
6.00€
PROTEX - Strange Obsessions LP
Reissue of the 2010 release on Sing Sing Records, NYC, USA.This is the first album of PROTEX, record..
16.50€
SHIVVERS, THE - s/t LP
IN STOCK AGAIN!!! YES WE REPRESSED ANOTHER BATCH OF THIS CLASSIC! Untouchable early '80s Power Pop..
17.00€
SHIVVERS, THE - s/t CD
PLEASE NOTICE: THIS IS A PRE-ORDER. RELEASE AND SHIPPING DATE IS FEBRUARY 21, 2020. THIS IS THE..
12.00€
PROTEX - Strange Obsessions CD (Digipak)
Reissue of the 2010 release on Sing Sing Records, NYC, USA.This is the first album of PROTEX, record..
12.00€
BROWER - Buzzsaws LP
BUZZSAWS is the debut album by BROWER, the solo project of Nat Brower, resident of Ridgewood Queen..
18.00€
LAZY - Rock n Roller / Am I dreaming 7"
Intuiting what so many of their contemporaries did not, i.e. that VAN HALEN and KISS had a lot mor..
10.00€