Various Artists - Lever

Tsunami's Simple Machines label put out these compilation 7" of bands in the Arlington VA/Washington DC scene (and a few farther afield, like Baltimore's Lungfish and NC's Superchunk), and named the records after, well, simple machines, like lever, screw, pulley, etc. Their stuff always looked fantastic. The bronze on the cover is a metallic ink.

This was a great little DIY label, and it was hard to resist buying their well-packaged and interesting looking stuff. I grabbed this at Main St. Records, I think. I have another one of these around here somewhere, though I missed out on a couple that look particularly good.

"Me & You" is not to be confused with the Egghunt recording, but it's a pretty cool track from a band that I never heard form again.

Scrawl covers Wire's "Reuters". Wire is a tough band to cover. The music is simple as can be, but it sounds so damn full and thick that this sounds tinny by comparison. The vocals don't cut through all the noise the way Colin Newman's does, either. If you're reading this and haven't listened to Wire's Pink Flag, (I know you're out there...) go do that after listening to this.

Autoclave was an all-girl DC act in the vein of a Tsunami or Velocity Girl.

Circus Lupus' "Pacifier" is anything but. The closest thing to mid-western noise rock to come out of the mid-atlantic. Former Soul-Sider Chris Thompson belts out the vocals here.


A: Severin - Me & You, Scrawl - Reuters
B: Autoclave - Summer, Circus Lupus - Pacifier
Enjoy!