Local H / The Blank Theory - Split - Full color picture disc 7 inch on 4 Alarm Records

Extremely cool and limited edition picture disc in a heavy plastic sleeve

Local H / The Blank Theory - Split - Full color picture disc 7 inch on 4 Alarm Records

Dag Nasty - 1985-86 - Cassette tape on Selfless Records

Dag Nasty kept roaring D.C.-styled hardcore alive during the mid-'80s. Although the group was more accessible and melodic than Minor Threat, they never lost their bracing, blistering edge. Formed by former-Minor Threat and Meatmen guitarist Brian Baker and ex-DYS vocalist Dave Smalley, Dag Nasty recorded their first album, Can I Say (1986), with D.C.-punk guru Ian MacKaye assisting on the production. The following year, Smalley left the group; he was replaced by Peter Cortner, who added more pop elements to the band's sound. Dag Nasty moved from MacKaye's Dischord label to Giant in 1988, releasing their last album, Field Day. Along with former-Big Boy Chris Gates, Baker formed the metal band Junkyard in 1989, which released two records on Geffen before fading away. Dag Nasty came back together in 1992, releasing Four on the Floor for the growing underground punk scene that was only a few short years from breaking into the mainstream. The response was enthusiastic, but the band stepped away from the business again. Ten years later, they reunited with the emo rock call-to-arms Minority of One and released it on Revelation Records.

Dag Nasty - 1985-86 - Cassette tape on Selfless Records

What Makes Donna Twirl - Amber Skin - 7 inch vinyl featuring Steve Stain and The Blue Daisies on New Alliance Records 1986

Another project featuring Steve Stain with members of LA's dance industrialists, The Blue Daisies. These songs have a more industrial feel than the solo album but still retain that same incrdeible stain

What Makes Donna Twirl - Amber Skin - 7 inch vinyl featuring Steve Stain and The Blue Daisies on New Alliance Records 1986

Black Angel's Death Song - Nothing Equals Nothing - Colored vinyl 7 inch on Dionysus Records

Taking their name but not their sound from the most experimental track on the 1967 classic The Velvet Underground and Nico, the Los Angeles-based indie rockers Black Angel's Death Song are either (depending on one's point of view) admirably eclectic or frustratingly all over the map. Elements of folk, pop, punk, and noise show up at various times, but they're rarely integrated within the same song.

Black Angel's Death Song was formed in October 1989 by a pair of songwriting guitarist-singers, Jack Gould and Jim Miller (formerly of '80s art punks Trash Can School). The original lineup was filled out with bassist J. Francis Connors, percussionist Carol Symington, and drummer Brett Gutierrez. This lineup recorded several tracks in early 1990 that remained unreleased for over two years, but it fractured when Gutierrez entered rehab. Gutierrez was replaced by an ongoing series of part-time drummers, including Jennifer Finch of L7, but after Lisa Nardoni came into the band to replace Symington in 1991, she eventually took over the drums as well as her percussion duties.

The reformulated quartet recorded a handful of singles for small Los Angeles indies before finally completing their first full-length, Sinning With a Policy, in 1992. (The CD came with an additional eight tracks, The Brett Sessions, from those early 1990 recording dates.) Connors left the band in December 1993, replaced by the mono-named Bianca in time for the recording of the group's second album. Peculiarly, the same set of 14 tracks was released on vinyl by the Italian label Helter Skelter as Two Girls and on CD by the Los Angeles label Hell Yeah as Due Ragazze.

Black Angel's Death Song split up in late 1994, with Miller going on to re-form Trash Can School with his ex-partner Adam Seven. However, a final album, Super Everything, came out in 1996.

Black Angel's Death Song - Nothing Equals Nothing - Colored vinyl 7 inch on Dionysus Records

Lydia Lunch - Queen Of Siam - Cassette tape on Triple X Records

Her laconic slur of a voice has never sounded sexier, and her off-key rendition of "Spooky" is so lazily erotic that it nearly sucks the life out of you. A putrid classic of style and substance.

Lydia Lunch - Queen Of Siam - Cassette tape on Triple X Records

Big Dipper - All Going Out Together - Vinyl album with members of Volcano Suns on Homestead Records

In 1986, former members of Volcano Suns, Gary Waleik and Steve Michener (the latter was also in Dumptruck), recruited guitarist/vocalist Bill Goffrier (formerly of The Embarrassment), and drummer Jeff Oliphant (formerly of XS and the Iron Gerbils), who was Gary's cousin. Goffrier struck up a friendship with Waleik when he attended a Volcano Suns gig in mid-1985, and the next year the band was formed.Their first release was the 1987 mini-album Boo-Boo on Homestead Records (released on Demon Records in the UK). The full-length album Heavens, which was released later in 1987, has been described as "one of the finest American indie albums of its era". Their second full-length album, Craps, followed in 1988. Three of the band contributed with songwriting. One of the tracks on the album reflected Goffrier's interest in extra-terrestrial phenomena, with the song "Semjase" about a Swiss farmer who in the 1970s claimed to have been regularly visited by Semjase, a woman from the constellation Pleides. They signed to Epic Records for 1990's Slam. This would prove to be their final album. Michener left the band and they continued with various players for two years, splitting up in 1992 after releasing a 45 and recording more than an albums worth of material. In 2008, Merge Records released a 3-CD anthology of Big Dipper's Homestead recordings, with additional material,including the unreleased tracks recorded after Michener left, titled Supercluster: The Big Dipper Anthology. This renewed interest has prompted the band to reform for some live shows in April 2008

Big Dipper - All Going Out Together - Vinyl album with members of Volcano Suns on Homestead Records

SWA - Evolution 1985 - 1987 - Compact Disc

Damaged-era Black Flag bassist Dukowski now leads this LA power-rock quartet which unconsciously draws on the sound of the '70s for likable, original music that stop well short of metal. Former Bandmate Greg Ginn produced the hard-driving, intelligent debut album which revolves around Merrill Ward, a singer who can really project. Sex Doctor refines the concept on a batch of new tunes, penned mostly by Ward. The lyrics are generally presentable without saying much; tight group playing lends the music conviction and dignity.

SWA - Evolution 1985 - 1987 - Compact Disc