Volcano Suns - Blue Rib

One of my favorite bands from Boston. From anywhere, really. I got into them right around 1987, as a cook at the Grog (I was a dishwasher) mentioned them to me. Apparently the record-exec judges walked out on them at the WBCN Rock n' Roll rumble the year before. This was at the height of big hair, so that was instant credibility. The Rumble redeemed themselves a couple of years later with sludge-rock gods The Bags winning. Get your hands on a copy of The Bags' Rock Starved if you can.

Anyway, the Suns' Mission of Burma connection (Peter Prescott played drums in both, and sings in the Suns) helped pushed me into buying Farced via mail order from SST and I was hooked. Just a thunderously loud band. The drums, the shouted vocals, everything. Loud. 

This was near the end of the line for the Suns. "Blue Rib" is from Career in Rock, their final LP (recorded by Steve Albini. It's all inter-related here). I have most of the LPs in vinyl, but also bought them on CD later, so I'm not about to rip them. No clue where I got this, though I'm pretty sure I bought this right when it came out. It's on flawless bright red vinyl. No pops, skips...nothing. If only all of these 7" were this good. The most pristine recording I've had so far. Just clean loud noise.

Prescott is back behind the drums with Mission of Burma again after a stint as frontman/guitarist for Kustomized, and bassist Bob Weston now plays with Albini in Shellac (and also works as studio engineer with Albini). Weston also fills in for Martin Swope in the re-formed Burma lineup. They played a Volcano Suns reunion show some time ago, which I missed, sadly. I'd probably spend the show standing there like Dorothy on the album cover, but it'd still be fun to see it.

A: Blue Rib
B: Openings
Enjoy!