Tag: Crass Records

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Absence of Ceramics – Surgery

Absence of Ceramics
Surgery
1991 Crass Records
Willingboro, New Jersey, USA

Thom L. Inglin – Guitars, vocals, bass guitar, drums
Garth Kolbeck – Bass guitar, vocals, guitars
Keni Warner: Drums, Vocals

Side 1:

  1. Inseparable
  2. Heart
  3. Ostracized
  4. Faces
  5. Deadly Arms
  6. Rope

Side 2:

  1. Running Away
  2. Mirror
  3. Working Title
  4. Sculpture
  5. Soul Surgery
  6. Just Come Home
  7. Mister Danger

This is the last of the Absence of Ceramics albums for me to purchase digitally, and their last complete album as well. Chalk was a lost 5th album, but I believe it was a collection of pre-production recordings that would have become that album. This is also the only album on their BandCamp site that does not come with surprise bonus tracks – but I guess at 13 tracks long, they put them all on the album. I actually own this one on tape, but I got the digital files just to have a cleaner version. The sound is still 80s alternative rock as on past releases, but you can hear the 90s alternative influences showing up all over the place as well. The music scene evolved, and so did AoC.

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Absence of Ceramics – Soft Drinks for Terrorists

Absence of Ceramics
Soft Drinks for Terrorists
1989 Crass Records
Willingboro, New Jersey, USA

Thom Inglin – Guitars, vocals, bass, harmonica, drum programming, keyboards
Garth Kolbeck – Bass, vocals, guitars, drums

K.J. Warener – Drums on “November Sixth”
Bennett Griffin – Drums on “Burning Sensations”
NRBQ – dynamite version of the Bonanza! theme
Bruce Cockburn – “Nicaragua”

Side 1:

  1. Burning Sensations (3:32)
  2. Anger (4:28)
  3. Life By Numbers (2:45)
  4. Lifting (3:20)
  5. Hold (2:05)
  6. November Sixth (3:23)
  7. Black Sheep (2:45)
  8. New Generation (3:43)
  9. Avalanche (3:54)

BandCamp bonus tracks:

  1. Despair (4:07)
  2. Like the Weather (3:42)

Absence of Ceramics delivers another quality underground release. This one sounds a bit heavier to my ears – or at least, there are more loud guitars on more songs here than the last two demos. Like the other demos, you can now get this at BandCamp with bonus tracks that sound like they were recorded at the same time period. The sound here, while still a bit heavier, is still the same alternative rock that they were known for on their other releases. I’m a fan, and have almost completed my set from BandCamp 🙂

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Absence of Ceramics – The Exception to the Rule

Absence of Ceramics
The Exception to the Rule
1987 Crass Records

Them L. Inglin – Vocals, all instruments and drum programming

  1. Running Away
  2. Dare to be Damned
  3. How Do I Know You Are Real?
  4. We Cannot Pretend
  5. It’s Love?
  6. My Child, I Love You
  7. JX-1Y (Extended)

BandCamp bonus tracks:

  1. On the Other Side
  2. I Need You
  3. New

This, I believe, is the first Absence of Ceramics release. As such, it is a bit rougher in quality and production. But it also looks to be a one person project with programmed drums, so not bad for 1987. This is basically alternative rock, with a bit more regular rock leaning than later albums. I got the files for this on BandCamp for a decent price, and it came with three bonus tracks that you can’t preview on BandCamp. So far, 4 of the 5 AoC albums I have gotten off of BandCamp have bonus tracks, so I need to grab Surgery to see what it there as well. The bonus tracks here sound like there were recorded at the same time as the official tracks.