This Is The Plague & This Is The Punk

New York City college students decide to make a record.  In the eighties. 

When was the last time this particular arithmetic resulted in anything less than embarrassment or a Pavlovian gag reflex? 

And the db’s don’t count cos they were from Winston-Salem. 

Maybe The Speedies? Certainly well before the Feelies made the world safe for jumpy rhythms and nerd glasses. And I haven’t ever even heard the Feelies!

What I have heard though is The Plague:  two guys from Long Island attending The University Of West Hartford Connecticut who are seemingly pissed off at just about everything happening in America circa 1983. 

The Cold War, MTV, Jewish American Princesses, gonorrhea  - all this has gotta go says The Plague (no ‘hey-hey’s’, no ‘ho-ho’s’, no Ramones and thankfully also no trace of hardcore)!  While pursuing their academic studies in the Nutmeg State, our bubonic duo spent their summers back home in the loving embrace of Strong Island (birthplace of Lou Reed AND Eddie Money) and, as legend has it, aired out all their many grievances in the guitar-player-slash-singer’s parents’ house over the course of two days. 

First take, last take, good enough (not sure who played the piano parts).

What you’re left with is nothing less than a cruddy milestone mess of a record.  Giving O.Rex, Afrika Korps and The Screamin’ Mee-Mee’s a run for their money, the ineptitude and bile of The Plague burns brighter than a thousand tanning bed lamps and alone more than compensates for the existence and career of Vinny Testaverde.  Even Maximum Rock ‘N’ Roll agreed, calling ‘Catch The Plague’ “A great example of the true spirit of D.I.Y. punk, the likes of which haven't been heard in many a year.”

But please - don’t allow the imprimatur of MRR to dissuade you from enjoying these wonderful sounds.  Everyone knows they’re lame and the Plague are the furthest thing from MDC.

As a final uninteresting aside as to how a perpetual low-hanging-fruit grabber like myself reached up to fondle this particular top-shelf teet that has in the past changed hands for multiple of hundreds of dollars, I employed the ole ‘my uncle/dad/near relation was in the band and is sick/is dying/is dying to have a copy before he dies’ end-the-auction-early ebay gambit.  May not be Colt 45, but it works more-than-most of the time and it did here.  More importantly, this time it allowed me to catch and now to spread The Plague.

It's My Life | Kill All Japs | Superheroes | Addiction | This Is The Punk | Resting On Your Laurels | Getting Ready | The Clap | War Dreams | World War III | Do The Garbarge | MTV

Comments

[Kip W]

The piano interludes are someone taking a stab at Bartok's Rumanian Folk Dances. If anyone was wondering. Thanks for another great download. Though it's hard to top Chew Tobacco Rag.

[jimson]

When did the University of Hartford become the "University of WEST Hartford"?

Growing up in CT in that era, and digging punk and underground weirdness in general, I never heard of these guys.

[Abercrombie]

Da stili classici ma sobria che si basano su colori neutri e disegni di veramente stili occhio popping e innovativi che caratterizzano gli ultimi look per pezzi di tempo, si è sicuri di trovare proprio quello che serve per tutte le vostre occasioni importanti.

[MBT Shoes]

When did the University of Hartford become the "University of WEST Hartford"?

Growing up in CT in that era, and digging punk and underground weirdness in general, I never heard of these guys.

[D.C.]

Wow, I had this album back in the 1980s. I notice full scans of album art at discogs.com (http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=4000417), including lyric sheet and track list on actual LP show a couple of differences from what you have here. First, missing(!?) here is a song called “Destruction” listed as starting side two. Second, the album lyric sheet and track list both show “World War III” coming before “War Dreams” (lyrics confirm you have the songs themselves labeled correctly). So, the WFMU upload incorrect, or is the album art incorrect on both of these problems, not matching what’s actually in the grooves?

[Plague bass]

I played bass on this album. The writer/singer/guitarist wrote all songs during his second year of college (he and drummer went to Hartford together, I was in a different college in upstate NY). During the summer of 83 he tells me he wrote a bunch of punk songs and wanted to make an album, so he and I practiced them in his basement for a few weeks on guitar and bass. The drummer came down near the end of summer break (I had never met or played with him before) and it only took two days to record, totally live. The Plague really only existed for two days, all three of us never played all together again after that. I think I suggested that instead of silence between tracks we fill it in with something, so Chris recorded himself on piano and it got stuck in between the tracks. This album was recorded on a cassette tape, two track, with cheap microphones and 500 copies of the album were pressed a few months later. He shipped me a few boxes of albums to my college dorm and I sold them to friends and family for $5 a piece. And that is the story of The Plague.