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Everyone knows Flex Your Head is theDCHC comp with a a yearbook type compilation of the Dischord crew circa ‘81.  There were a couple other compilations from DC that came out around the same time that are also worth taking note of though, one of which is the Bouncing Babies compilation.

Bouncing Babies was issued on Fountain Of Youth records which was for a while kind of the other Dischord as they issued a number of key documents in DC by bands like Government Issue, Black Market Baby, and Artificial Peace. Unfortunately some bad creative decisions and a presumably bad distribution deal with Dutch East India sealed their eventual demise.

When Bouncing Babies was released it was over a year in the works and originally planned as half DCHC bands and half Midwest bands (supplied by Version Sound). The finished product was quite a bit different with all DC area bands, and a number of them having tentative at best connections to punk. Some of the high school kids from a couple years earlier had already outgrown their punk roots and were making “art” musics, others were laying out the foundation of what would be the “Revolution Summer” sound, still others were sticking to their guns with meat and potatoes hc/punk. I haven’t owned a copy of this comp in a while, but I’ll try and run through a breakdown of what’s on it here…

1. DOVE “Ambivalence” — Dove was the band that Double O eventually morphed into and this song is absolutely incredible. I’ve never heard other songs from this session but if they exist I’d really like to. This kind of predicts the super melodic but still fast and aggressive territory Swiz would tread a few years later. Sadly I think they went pop-rock shortly after this. One of the best tracks on the comp.

2. CRIPPLED PILGRAMS “Black & White” — Crippled Pilgrims were sorta easy listening post punk if I remember right. Fountain of Youth did one or two records for them too. Uninteresting.

3. BODY COUNT “Bull in a China Shop” — No joking, this is kind of like early Ska-Core. As you can see this compilation is all over the place from the outset. Seriously this is like Against All Authority or something.

4. LUCKY PIERRE “Looking Back” — Don’t remember anything about this track except how funny the band’s name is. Next.

5. UNDERGROUND SOLDIER “Sunday Slaughter” — Underground Soldier had an lp on some no-name DC label, this song is slower and moody i think. Might have female vocals. I remember being disappointed by this when I heard it because I heard they were hardcore.

6. ARTIFICIAL PEACE “Frustration” — An average offering by a 2nd tier band. Artificial Peace were big in their day in DC, but only had one actual record (a split), and haven’t aged terribly well. Fairly tuneful Minor Threat/Scream style but not quite as good. Eventually became Marginal Man.

7. EXILED “Guilt Trip” — Generic tier 3 DCHC. Right up there with Media Disease and Assault and Battery.

8. SCREAM “Ultra Violence/Screaming” — Hey here’s a jam! I think this is taken from a demo tape. Scream rules hard. I need a copy of their demo actually, I heard it once and it was maybe better than the lp.

9. GLEE CLUB “Disguise (A Lie)” — No idea.

10. BLACK MARKET BABY “Suzie Dear” — Here’s a pretty great Black Market Baby track. I’m not like some people who love every song they ever wrote, but they have some definite hits. Just don’t buy that piece of shit anthology on Dr. Strange. Great power-pop/punk hybrid.

11. REPTILE HOUSE “Talons & Claws” — Reptile House are known for being pre-Samhain. As such they’re kinda goth, and I’m pretty sure they’re on a Sisters Of Mercy vibe, but nowhere near as good. Then again I should revisit this.

12. 9353 “Ten Witches” — Known more for their excessive drug use than their music. Psychedelic-ish post HC noise stuff… I wish they were better though.

13. THE LAST MINUTE “Infinite Regression” — This is actually United Mutation, I forget why they’re under the name The Last Minute on here. Infinite Regression is a classic freak-out track by them, and this version is only available on here. NECESSARY.

14. BEAVER “Punch Him in the Head” — Beaver get filed in the same bin as Exiled, but this song aint bad.

15. ASSAULT & BATTERY “Evidence” — See Beaver description.

16. BRAILLE PARTY “Terrorist” — I seem to remember this song getting kinda ska unfortunately. Braille Party were from Maryland and also released an Lp on Fountain of Youth, which for the most part is pretty good Husker Du style melodic hardcore. Unfortunately there are a few tracks where they experiment with ska on the album, and I think that carries over to this track (at least from memory). Buy the lp if you see it though, it’s pretty cool.

17. VOID “Get Out of My Way” — Arguably the best Void song, this is from what was eventually issued in the 90’s as the “Condensed Flesh” demo. Originally that session was used as the source for a number of comp tracks including this song which just rips, with awesome feedback breaks and classic Weifenbach vocals. This version is a different mix with some added echo effects than the 90’s issuing.

18. GOVERNMENT ISSUE “Dead Dog” — Who the fuck left this song off the GI complete history discs? This is easily one of the best on the comp. GI composed it as a tribute to the Obsessed, and as such, it’s a 4+ minute doomed out dirge in the vein of their classic Sheer Terror. Seriously it’s a lost classic, and I don’t even like GI that much. Maybe I would if they did more tracks like this. If you’ve ever heard the first Upside Down Cross lp w/ J Mascis on drums, that’s what this song is like.

So okay, I admit this isn’t the greatest comp ever, but there’s a few tracks that I think are legitimately essential, and of course if you’re a DCHC completest, you’ve gotta have this.