Fuckshitupism deluxe.
THE VERGE- Habitual 7″EP (No Crust Records, USA, 1983)
From Albany, NY, came THE VERGE. This great 7″ has 4 calm, atmospheric Post-Punkish songs that won’t be everybody’s cup o’tea (check the da rhyme). If you’re into later MIDDLE CLASS, EMBARRASSEMENT or generally speaking – GANG OF FOURish rhythm-ism, this is for you!
I bought this a long time ago because of the beautiful cover alone. It was 1.- Franken only and I thought, what the hell, this LOOKS good. I never really got into it though, so this ended up in my sales box for it stood there for quite some years. I thought nobody would buy this anyway. When I recently went through that box, desperatly looking for records I could sell to pay rent, I stumbled across it and remembered how much I liked the foldout postersleeve on thick paper. I unfolded it, looked a the picture of the 3 yong men with instruments in their hands – and just like so long ago, I KNEW I would like this! And right I was – it’s great, but maybe it takes a while to get into this. It’s music for elderly people who enjoy themselves on their couch with a good bottle of wine and decent music and much more so, than at a punk concert. And it’s quite the opposite of, say, ULTRAVOX, which Peter is about to post. “I shake my head, I don’t know what to say” (Agent Orange, “The last goodbye” on “Living in Darkness”)
This is the printed innersleeve:
Midge Ure wrote:
Nice sleeve!
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Posted on 24-Nov-06 at 8:56 am | Permalink
mush_room wrote:
This is great! Bummer thou: It made me totally sad listening to these songs. Couldn’t you post more happy music?
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Posted on 24-Nov-06 at 9:55 am | Permalink
Anonymous wrote:
uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
post punk goodness is the effigies “forever grounded”.
timmy
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Posted on 24-Nov-06 at 3:46 pm | Permalink
Anonymous wrote:
sometimes it sounds like Joy Division. Sometimes it sounds like Mission of Burma.
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Posted on 25-Nov-06 at 9:20 am | Permalink
sgt. pepper's lonely heart wrote:
nooo it wasn’t out of scheme! And even if – it’s great!!!!! I’m playing it over and over….
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Posted on 26-Nov-06 at 10:13 am | Permalink
Anonymous wrote:
Good grief..I played traps on this almost 25 years ago..Download away..I never got paid anyway !
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Posted on 02-Dec-06 at 2:40 am | Permalink
Erich wrote:
Dear Anonymous – To say it with ABBA: “Thank you for the music”!
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Posted on 02-Dec-06 at 2:52 am | Permalink
Connie B. wrote:
Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting Habitual. I bought it in 83 or 84, but I haven’t listened to vinyl in years. Thomas R. Murray rocks!
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Posted on 21-Jan-08 at 5:57 pm | Permalink
Adam W wrote:
Looking to re-connect with Tom Murray, the bass player from the Verge. Hung with him in Paris in ’86, and have always wondered what came of him… if somebody knows, would like to know.
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Posted on 31-May-08 at 1:50 pm | Permalink
JJ wrote:
The Verge were the best band in Albany in the early ’80s. They could have been mega. I had a great time all of the many time I heard them. Their style was kind of Jam meets Buzzcocks meets Magazine. In fact their cover of Magazine’s Touch and Go was better than the original. Tommy Rella was a great guitarist/singer/songwriter and had a great look, but was not very friendly. Vince Zandri their original drummer (not on these songs) was a teenage powerhouse. He’s now a published author. Skip Murray was a real sweetheart. I too would love to see him.
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Posted on 02-May-09 at 8:27 pm | Permalink
Geoff Ryan wrote:
These guys were good friends of my brother and I, and they kicked ass live. Very Mission of Burma sounding. Great instrument sounds all around, and I still play Tom Murray bass licks today- they were one of a kind.
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Posted on 30-Sep-09 at 3:30 am | Permalink