The Lonely Now – Captive

The Lonely Now
Captive
1986 Narrowpath Records
Pleasant Hill, California, USA

Coach (Greg Sostrom) – Lead vocals, guitar
Kevin (Riemer) – Vocals, drums
Phil (Watson) – Vocals, bass guitar

Side 1:

1. Reject a Thought
2. If I Could
3. Running Faster
4. R.C.
5. All My Dreams

Side 2:

1. Captive
2. Dead of Night
3. Thunderclouds
4. Traitor
5. No Secrets
6. How Many More

The Lonely Now is a relatively somewhat-known and respected alternative rock band in the Christian tape underground. This is also one of the first releases on Narrowpath Records, which went on to release classic albums by Breakfast with Amy, The Crucified, and many other artists. Greg Sostrom was the person behind Narrowpath, as well as The Lonely Now (although he was just listed as “Coach” on this release). Sostrom also released some solo albums under the name of “Greg Strange” after The Lonely Now called it quits. This demo found the band being influenced by all kinds of 80s alt – except for U2. It seems like they often tried to avoid a U2 influence, which was probably what made them stand out. The U2 clones were impossible to get away from, but to these ears I hear Sting and The Police mixed with The Smiths more than anything else. After this album, they released two more full length albums (Original Intentions in 1987 and Honest Tear in 1990) before calling it a day. You can hear a low quality rip of the entire cassette on YouTube as well: