PROTAGONISTS – 1983 – 1985

OUT NOW ON LP!

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Mid-1980’s suburban Chicago (Naperville!) punk. 13 song LP includes the band’s hard to find 7” alongside unreleased studio tracks, demos & live cuts. Naperville’s Protagonists formed in the wake of the first wave of Chicago hardcore punk. Instead of being inspired by the first generation weirdo Chicago punks like Silver Abuse and Tutu & The Pirates or the hardcore legion that followed (AOF, ROTA, Negative Element, etc.), Protagonists drew their motivation from sources as diverse as punk icons Buzzcocks, The Dickies and The Damned to prime era 50’s and 60’s teen anthems (Buddy Holly, Dell Shannon, and The Monkees). The group formed in a Naperville high school, played local talent shows and teen dance parties, and hooked up with older kids (Reaction Formation) who helped them get radio gigs and put out a tape recorded by Phil Bonnet, influential recording engineer and long time friend. The band followed up with a 7” for Reaction Formation’s label Nova which garnered positive reviews but they were shortly after pulled apart by the usual strains on the end of adolescent trajectories.

This compilation gathers their original tape, unheard outside of the suburban Chicago teen punk scene, and pairs it with the songs from their hard-to-find 7” EP (originally pressed in 1000 copies in 1985). The b-side features basement demos of original songs recorded by the band as well some great covers which show they could rock as a punk dance band.

Limited Edition 160 gram blue vinyl (500 pressed) in a 20pt board jacket with full color printed inner sleeve featuring (lots of) previously unseen photos of the band and detailed liner notes. 

THE CONTENTS ARE – Live Davenport, Iowa 1968

NOW SHIPPING ON LP AND CD!

Previously unreleased live recording featuring unheard originals from 1960’s psychedelic legends The Contents Are. “Until recently, The Contents Are were one of the great forgotten bands of the late 1960’s midwestern psychedelic scene. After their masterpiece LP “Through You” was recorded the band went through their first evolution, switching out bass players Larry Smith for Mick Orton. While honing their new group by hosting a series of live shows in their native Davenport, IA (they were one of the area’s leading draws by this point), Craig was recording the band’s sets using his Ampex two track tape recorder. This album is the result of those recordings. Drawn from his archive of live recordings, they represent the band not only finding their footing after adding a new member but also recording a series of live demos which were then shopped to various producers in the hopes of landing a recording deal and wound up being the catalyst that brought them to Jerry Milam’s Golden Voice Recording Co in South Pekin, IL. It was there they would record their second major album “Four Each Other” which sat unreleased in the band’s archive until it was released via Golden Voice & Alona’s Dream in 2017, to much acclaim!

These are more than just a collection of demos; they represent a band in between making an early psychedelic folk classic in their first album and an expansive acid rock evolution on their second album, with many original songs that were only ever played live. The listener can also hear a band who could keep a dancehall moving, a group as capable of being the evening’s entertainers as well as storytellers and poets in the studio.” These recordings were restored, carefully mastered and pressed into 160 gram vinyl. Housed in a heavy-duty classic style tip-on jacket including previously unseen pictures and informative liner notes. A rare nine song document of The Contents Are’s expansive live sound. Intense jams for the psychedelic dancehall circa 1968 from these true legends of midwestern rock ’n roll.

-Limited edition of 500 black 160 gram 12” vinyl LPs. Housed in a heavy-duty classic style tip-on jacket including pictures and informative liner notes.

-Limited edition of 300 professionally replicated compact discs housed in Digipak style jackets including pictures and informative liner notes.