***THE GERBILS were a high school hardcore punk band (with Moog!), from Farmington Hills/Detroit, Michigan in the early 1980s. Relative unknowns on the national stage during their short existence, they gigged regularly at the regional level, sharing noteworthy bills at Bookies and The Freezer Theater with the likes of Social Distortion, Whipping Boy and DC's Youth Brigade. The band recorded this collection of tunes back in the summer of 1982, but despite their impressive by-way-of 2016 pedigree (various members went on to play in THE NECROS, NEGATIVE APPROACH, SHOCK THERAPY, LAUGHING HYENEAS, DADA, GLASS HEROES, BUSTED HEARTS and THE AFFLICTED), the master tapes were lost and the songs remained unreleased. The discovery and rescue of those master tapes in 2015 at the hands of Lysergic Sound Distributors changed the equation. This record not only showcases the band's obvious skills but also pays tribute to the aggressive DIY aesthetics of the early 1980s U.S. hardcore/punk scene and recognizes The Gerbils' place in the Detroit and Midwest hardcore scene. Seventeen warp speed songs with classic doom and gloom Reagan-era song titles like: 'What Don't I Hate?,' 'Now I Want To Die,' 'Kill Everyone' and 'I Don't Like Cops.' This record is like a super-concentrated met hit of punk rock negativity and nihilism. Here come the Gerbils.... and they despise everyone.
LP $19.95
08/26/2016